 The
guitar I currently play is a Joshua Alexander French – “La Amistad“.
This guitar is based on tracings of an 1860 Torres (FE 13), including a
brass Tornavoz. A masterpiece of one of the greatest masters.
I was searching
for a long time, to find the perfect guitar for my upcoming records and
performances: a tribute to Francisco Tarrega and to Fernando Sor.
My friend and
business partner came with some interesting information about a young guy
living and working in Houston / USA. All the information we received from
Joshua, helped us make the decision to order a guitar without having ever
played one. Luckily we did it.
The guitar is
overwhelming. It is the guitar I was looking for, for a very long time.
Coming soon:
A tribute to Francisco Tarrega (original works composed by Tarrega) and
the complete studies of Fernando Sor.
If you have
the opportunity....listen to the guitars of Joshua...and hopefully also
to my upcoming records with this instrument!
Very old irreplacable
European spruce; a totally balanced instrument, with a smaller surprisingly
light body. Perfectly warm and refined in every detail. I am proud to play
such a guitar.
Thank you Joshua.
Hans-Werner Huppertz
Krefeld – Germany
November 26, 2003
Hans-WernerHuppertz teaches at the Academy of Music
Aachen, Germany and is highly rewarded for his Scarlatti and Ponce recordings.
If you'd like to learn more about Hans-Werner Huppertz
please see: http://www.aureavox.com/
Please also visit http://www.konzertgitarre.net/
for information on how you can order Hans-Werner Huppertz recordings.
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 The
guitar featured on this page is one I am honored to have made for the gifted
German guitarist Hans-Werner Huppertz. Often I would work on it while listening
to one of his several recordings, drawing on my intuitions about his playing
and aiming to make a guitar that is very expressive, responsive, and concert
worthy. With all my guitars I strive to make an instrument with a sweet
and beautiful projectile voice, that responds effortlessly to the fingers
and has both a clarity and a depth to each note for a complex yet refined
sound. I find with each guitar that the closer I get to the work of the
master Torres, the more these characteristics are prevalent.
"La Amistad"
is a small guitar by today's standards, having copied the dimensions and
outline from an 1860 Torres - a guitar of his successful first epoch. One
might think that a "smaller" guitar would mean less sound, a quiter more
wanting voice - but this is certainly not the case. I consider Torres'
contributions to the Spanish guitar to carry the weight that they do because
he built with an innate common sense. He understood the balance of components,
the characteristics of wood, and the importance of the soundboard in a
way few others could. The finest intuition can only be realized through
this kind of common sense and understanding. The mind goes to great lengths
to finally understand what is, in the end, ultimately simple. It is this
kind of approach - one of understanding as much as possible the inter-relationship
of all components, striving to balance each one to work in perfect harmony
with the others, and having the guts to allow one's intuition to be the
highest level of understanding - that I strive to perfect and achieve in
my own guitars. For this, I am deeply inspired by Torres and Romanillos.
The original
Torres on which this guitar is based is "reported to have been owned by
Miguel Llobet and used by him for concerts in Germany. It was later owned
by Hauser I and used was used by him as a pattern for his instruments"
according to Jose Romanillos in his biography of Torres: Antonio de
Torres, Guitar Maker - His Life & Work (p. 237).
Hans-Werner Huppertz with his '03 Joshua French guitar.
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