Mauro Giuliani: A Life for the Guitar

Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829), a contemporary of Beethoven and Schubert, was a musician with a mission: to raise the recently invented (but rather quiet) six-string guitar to a level of musical prominence in a world inclined to favor ever-louder operatic, pianistic, and symphonic music. During the years 1806-1819, while he lived in Vienna, Giuliani’s dazzling performances made him the darling of that city, whose press and public hailed him as the greatest guitarist of his generation. His guita...