The Mysterious Sound of Ignacio Fleta Guitars: Mattias Schulstad plays Britten

Swedish guitarist, Mattias Schulstad sent us his new video recorded at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this video, he plays the theme from Benjamin Britten’s “Nocturnal After John Dowland” Op. 70 – “Come, Heavy Sleep” originally composed by John Dowland in 1597, the same year as William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet. Benjamin Britten’s “Nocturnal After John Dowland” was composed for British guitarist, Julian Bream. Mattias recorded this theme on a 1953 Ignacio Fleta guitar from the museum’s collection. This iconic guitar was generously donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art by our good friend, Jonathan Kellerman.

The name Ignacio Fleta (1897-1977) ranks among the elite handful of 20th-century luthiers. His instruments were played by the greatest classical guitar players including Andres Segovia, John Williams, Angel Romero, Turibio Santos, Alirio Diaz, John Rey de la Torres, Marcelo Kayath, and much more.

Fleta’s sound is unique. It has a deep and complex tone with great dynamic range and balance. The projection is astonishing thanks to firmness in the fundamentals. There is also a lot of clarity, especially audible in larger venues. Fleta’s sound is haunting, mysterious, and dark, yet with a good separation of voices. This guitar is just ideal for a piece such as “Nocturnal” by Benjamin Britten. The dark, haunting, and mysterious sound, emphasizes the character of this composition. See the video below!

If you'd like to see some Ignacio Fleta guitars which we currently may have in stock - click here. We also have many photographs and videos of Fleta guitars in our museum.