At first glance, Grisha Goryachev seems an unlikely torch bearer for flamenco guitar. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1977, descended from ancestors with Russian and Ukrainian lines. His forebears lived far from Andalusia, where flamenco music developed among the Romani people who migrated from India to settle in southern Spain in the ninth century. Goryachev\u2019s heritage notwithstanding, those hearing his extraordinarily fiery playing might assume he has Romani bloodlines or that he polished his skills playing the stages of Granada. His emergence as a flamenco phenom hailing from Russia underscores the maxim that music is a universal language with dialects that resonate internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those attending Goryachev\u2019s Boston GuitarFest concert last June felt the fire in his stunning renditions of forms by Paco de Luc\u00eda, Vincente Amigo, Gerardo Nu\u00f1ez, and others. His opening piece, \u201cZapateado en Re\u201d by Sabicas, interspersed rapid-fire tremolo passages, blindingly fast rasgueados, picado runs, and arpeggios among the melodic sections. He followed up with \u201cMalegue\u00f1a de Lecuona,\u201d Paco de Lucia\u2019s take on the Malegue\u00f1a movement of a piano work by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona.<\/em> Italso included plenty of fireworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the 13 numbers he played, Goryachev explored an array of flamenco dance forms such as fandango, buler\u00edas, guajira, <\/em>and alegr\u00edas<\/em>, embodied in compositions he regards as masterpieces created by historic and contemporary flamenco artists. His enthusiastic audience\u2014spontaneously shouting \u201c\u00a1Ol\u00e9!\u201d\u2014was feeling the heat and passion Goryachev radiated in the music he loves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a wide-ranging phone interview a few days after his concert, Goryachev discussed his early training, interactions with Paco de Luc\u00eda, arrival in America, and approach to performing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n