1930 Domingo Esteso SP/CSAR

A 1930 classical guitar by Domingo Esteso, with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made in Madrid – one of the eight historic guitars Marc Teicholz played in his "Valseana Live" concert at GSI.

In the video above, Marc Teicholz plays Paulo Bellinati's "Un Amor di Valsa" on this guitar.

Sound

It has a very clean, clear and pure sound, with a strong fundamental, controlled overtones and a natural, "woody" voice – very stylish, refined and alluring. Even by today's standards the volume is huge, and its rich, played-in quality comes from an instrument of this age and condition. It responds to the most subtle changes in the player's touch. (Marc also recorded a CD with GSI, Valseana.) A very fine and rare example from this very collectible builder.

Domingo Esteso: From the Manuel Ramírez Workshop to Gravina 7

Domingo Esteso (1882–1937) is one of the great names of the early Madrid school of guitar making. Born on May 12, 1882, in San Clemente, in the province of Cuenca, he learned his trade in the Madrid workshop of Manuel Ramírez, where he worked alongside Santos Hernández, Modesto Borreguero and Enrique García – the shop that carried the legacy of Antonio de Torres into the 20th century. After Ramírez died in 1916, Esteso went on building for his widow, already with his own name on the labels, and around 1919 he opened his own workshop at Calle Gravina 7, where his wife, Nicolasa Salamanca, varnished the guitars. His flamencos were played by the great names of the day, among them Ramón Montoya and Niño Ricardo, and his classical guitars are prized today for their elegance, clarity and natural, woody voice.

Guitars for Buenos Aires and the Birth of the Conde Dynasty

Many of Esteso's finest guitars were made for Argentina, then one of the richest countries in the world, under a special label for Romero y Fernández of Buenos Aires, his sole agents there – some of them branded "Guitarras Iberia". In 1926 his nephew Faustino Conde joined the workshop, followed by his brothers Mariano and Julio. After Esteso's death in Madrid in 1937, in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, they carried on at Gravina 7 as "Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso" and later as Conde Hermanos – the start of a family tradition continued today by Felipe Conde and his son, Felipe Conde Crespo.