Murat and his Spanish Guitar
My first introduction to the Spanish Guitar believe it
or not was in the movie Vicky Christina Barcelona staring Javier Bardem,
Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson.
After seeing the movie, I added Barcelona to my bucket
list and said to myself that one day I would be just like the characters of the
movie, sitting under the stars on a warm summer´s night with a glass
of red wine swaying to the romantic melody of the Spanish Guitar. I was
in love! Nowadays, the only thing that has changed is my preference of wine,
I´d rather be sipping on ´´una copa de vino blanco´´. and well now
actually living in Sevilla Spain.
During the week, the museum Manager Juan Diego had
been sending out notifications of a performance by Murat; a guitarist from
Istanbul - Turkey, who was carded to perform later that week.
On the day of the concert, I arrived promptly 7pm to
help set up the room in which the performance was to be held. Around 8pm Murat
walked into the room, tall, extremely handsome and very well dressed, guitar in
hand to practice before the show.
I sat quietly at the computer pretending to work as I
listened to Murat play, it was me, him and the beautiful Spanish guitar alone.
I was having my very own Vicky Christina Barcelona moment, and even more in
love with the music than before. I remember asking myself if this is real and
if I were deserving of hearing something so beautiful!
Later that evening, the room began to fill in
anticipation of the show, I must have run up and down the stairs 3 or more
times bringing 2 chairs at a time till there was no more space left. Finally
the main doors closed and Murat began to play, so interactive, explaining each
piece of music he was about to play in Spanish and English for his guests. He
even sang coming to the end of his performances, but in my opinion, the most
memorable of his performances was a peice he dedicated to his hero Paco de Lucia entitled ‘Adiós
Maestro’ I felt his love, deep pain and joy all at once, I literally
held my breath until the very last note, it was Magic.
I´ll cherish it forever.
