The name Flavio Sala came to my ears for the first time several weeks ago. I was waiting outside Corp Group auditorium for Lexestet’s concert in Caracas when I noticed a poster of a guitarist holding a strange looking guitar. A friend of mine quickly filled me in about the musician so I rapidly began shuffling ideas for an interview. To my surprise, Flavio and his girlfriend Meyber were there. They did not attend the concert, but we set up for an interview in the outskirts of Caracas.

Flavio had been in Caracas more often than I thought. As I started my research on him, I found out he was an extremely accomplished guitarist of astonishing technique and profound sensitivity. He was also very accessible and friendly so he made things really easy for me.

Born in Bojano (Campobasso, Italy) in 1983, Flavio began touring at 18. Motivated to play guitar by his father and encouraged to pursue a career as a concert guitarist by the encounters with Venezuelan master Alirio Díaz and legendary flamenco virtuoso Paco De Lucía. Flavio studied with Pasqualino Garzia and Oscar Ghiglia. To date, the Italian virtuoso has been awarded: First Prize at the "XXVI Concorso Internazionale di Gargnano" (Italy, 2001) and at the "XXXVI Concorso Internazionale Michele Pittaluga" (Alessandria - Italy, 2003); the Audience's First Prize at the "San Francisco International Guitar Master" (USA, 2004); the First Prize at the "Concurso Internacional Alirio Diaz" (Carora - Lara State - Venezuela, 2006) - in that occasion he won also the "Fundación Vicente Emilio Sojo" Special Prize for the Best Performance of Venezuelan Music; the Second Prize at the “VII Alexander Tansman International Competition for Musical Personalities” for six instruments, in Lodz (2008, Poland); the Best Talent Golden Guitar at the "XI International Guitar Meeting" (Alessandria - Italy).

Although young, Flavio has extensively toured Europe, North and South America, Russia and many other countries. The young maestro has four recordings under his belt up to date: "Flavio Sala at the Hermitage Theatre" (Map); "Encuentro", in duo with Juan Lorenzo; “Mi Alma Llanera – Music from Venezuela” (FelMay/Egea International); and the new CD “De La Buena Onda” (2010). The later one his most ambitious recording to date, not only for taking 8 months to record, but for including a cast of 19 superb musicians that include Venezuelans Otmaro Ruíz and Huáscar Barradas; Carlo Brunetti; legendary Brazilian composer Toninho Horta; Antonio De Donato; super bassists Marcus Miller and Carlos Benevant; and Jorge Pardo just to mention some of a list of equal stature.

The following interview took almost four hours since Flavio’s candid persona paved a warm conversation that felt like to old friends catching up.

Were there musicians in your family?

Certainly. It’s been a musical family for four generations. Most of them accomplished pianists who are into teaching. I did not only brake the pianist tradition, but the teaching one as well. I also decided to become a concert guitarist.  All of us have been active in music.

When did you really start playing guitar?

I started at 7 with a private professor because in Italy you can’t enter a conservatory until you are 10 years old. I began giving concerts at 18.

How long did it take you to complete that first phase?

About 8 years.

Flavio, you came out the classical school. However, you seem to have a special affection for popular music. Is it so?

Yes, it is. I’ve been criticized for doing that. I’ve allowed myself to play music from the flamenco repertoire. Someone immediately said that I had abandoned classical music for the flamenco so I was labeled as a flamenco guitarist right away. Then, when I recorded the Venezuelan music album, someone said I was playing B series popular music. So I assume that if I get into singing, they’ll say I am a singer. I must say that I am not interested in the guitarists’ opinions.

You have performed Santana’s Europa and Clapton’s Tears In Heaven. Why?

I’ve been doing that as an experiment in several places to see how people react to them. Both are famous pieces and I want to see if the audience can recognize them. I wanted a very different arrangement that can speak for the piece and myself as guitarist.

At the concert, you said the guitar has been considered a 2^nd class instrument. How is that?

The guitar had a great status during the 60’s and 70’s. Andrés Segovia, Julian Bream and Alirio Díaz played at sold out concerts everywhere. Paco de Lucía and John Williams also enjoyed that experience. However, the story has been quite different in recent years. Manuel Barruecos played at Teatro Real de Madrid two years ago. He was surprised to see a half empty hall.

What does that mean?

It is a symptom that indicates something is not working. I blame the guitarists for it as well as the composers.

Why is it so?

First, they believe they’re going to change the world with the guitar by having such narrow concept of the instrument. They treat it like if it were a religion. The guitar is not that. Second, the guitarist isn’t interested in the music, and third they choose a repertoire people don’t like.

How is it in your case?

My concern is music. I am not interested in people saying “wow, you are and awesome guitarist”. Instead, I prefer they come to me to say “what a beautiful piece of music you played”.

Looking back, Joaquín Rodrigo did a lot for the guitar, didn’t he?

Yes, he did. He was a pianist who had a relationship with the best musicians of his time like Manuel Ponce, Manuel De Falla and Heitor Villalobos. In fact, they were in the same composition class. They were great. What I criticized about today’s composers is that thanks to the ugly music they compose, the public are attending guitar concerts less. When people go to a concert and they don’t like the music, they won’t return. This is what has happened to contemporary music, aleatory music etc… it was a bit different with the guitar because Andrés Segovia and Narciso Yépez died, Díaz stopped playing and so on. t;

Does that mean classical guitar is dead?

Well, it is in a halt. There are exception like Paco de Lucía and John Williams. I insist that I am more concern about people going home wanting to return to another guitar concert. It has happened to me that I’ve taken friends to concerts by great guitarists and the come out bored telling me not to invite them again. They don’t understand what is going on. You have to give the audience new things and things they know.

lt;span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Flavio, tell me about the audience and their response here in Caracas compared to other places you’ve played?

Caracas was great. The audience were mostly adults. When I am about to give a concert, I always ask what the audience is like so that I can have a suitable repertoire. Russia is a bit different because you find children, adult and young people in a concert. It is always different.

You seem to know the Venezuelan traditional repertoire very well and your playing is just like if your were one of us. How people here in Venezuela have reacted to that?

It’s been great especially among young people because they don’t know Rodrigo Riera or Alirio Díaz. I have been at universities in Venezuela and they ignore these composers so there’s something wrong. There isn’t a concern among musicians all around. The thing is that whenever there’s a festival you invite someone and that someone invites you and that’s it. There is no one that could stand up for the guitar so we lack a real voice that speaks for us like Segovia did.

What about John Williams?

He is an excellent guitarist, but he’s into his own things. He is one of my most admired guitarists. He’s done so much for the guitar from transcriptions to playing electric. He has recorded three or four times the classical repertoire yet guitarists criticize him for playing Venezuelan music or African music. That is really a very stupid posture.

And Christopher Parkening?

I must say that he’s made Segovia’s style his style. He’s excellent. Unfortunately, he retired.

What do you have to say about the guitar as an instrument?

Well, the importance of the guitar as an instrument is in its colors, the colors you can get out of them, otherwise it would be a very boring instrument. I do insist that the greatest guitarists are really musicians first.

You have a rather strange looking guitar.

The lid-like parts on top have an acoustic function. It is carbonio covered with a thin layer of wood. They really enhance the sound of the guitar.

Flavio, let’s talk about your latest outing. You have 19 musicians in it. How come?

It is a very special album for me because I produced it and recorded it in 8 months. I played with Otmaro and Huáscar from Venezuela, Marcus Miller, Giovanni Baglioni (Claudio Baglioni’s son), Jorge Pardo and so many others.

What’s your opinion about Venezuelan music and I’d like to know if you’ve listened to any pop/rock composers?

I love Venezuelan music. I just don’t understand why people abroad aren’t familiar with it. I am acquainted with Franco De Vita, Ilan Chester, Yordano etc… I’ve noticed that in recent years there’s been a lot fusion and that can be an advantage. If you take the joropo in its natural form let’s say to the USA people won’t pay much attention, but if you do it mixing it with other music then it’s a different story. Take Ensamble Gurrufío as an example.

You have three other albums, the first one being a concert at Hermitage.  Are you going to reissue that album?

I haven’t decided that yet. If I do it, it’ll be on my own. I am not working with a record label anymore. The reasons are known I think, but another reason is that those who have requested it are fans of classical music. I really don’t know what I’ll do at this point.

What’s your next step?

I’ll be touring extensively with an orchestra across Rusia during the months of March, April and December 2011. I'm going to record a new album soon, and there will be some surprises along the way.