2025 Darío García "La Leona" SP/CY

This guitar was built by Spanish luthier Darío García, who won Third Prize at the seventh Antonio Marin Montero Guitar Making Competition held in Granada, Spain in July/August, 2024 for his cedar classical. It is a fantastic replica of one of the most famous of Antonio de Torres' instruments - "La Leona" (FE04). Torres completed it in 1856 and immediately it was being used in concert by Julian Arcas (Torres never sold this instrument, he loaned it to Arcas on many occasions - it was in Torres' possession at his death in 1892). In fact it was during an Arcas concert in 1862 that the young Francisco Tárrega (at that time, aged 9) first heard "La Leona" and became enchanted. Emilio Pujol, Domingo Prat, and Miguel Llobet were early admirers of this guitar as well. Into modern times the instrument has re-surfaced, having been recorded beautifully on several occasions by two contemporary virtuosos, Wulfin Lieske from Germany and Stefano Grondona from Italy. It is such a compelling instrument that an entire chapter is devoted to it in Jose Romanillos' great book, "Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker - His Life & Work". The special mystique of this guitar is still strong 150 years later and continues to inspire luthiers and performers alike. And so here we have Darío García's tribute to this iconic instrument.

Several features of "La Leona" distinguish it from the rest of Torres' output. It was the first instrument Torres built with a tornavoz (brass conical tube installed under the soundhole). The resulting sound was so "big" (like the roar of lion) that it earned the name "La Leona" ("The Lioness"). It also was built with a thin, carved bridge with no saddle - the strings therefore exited the tie block with no relief or break-angle all the way until reaching the nut at the headstock. The internal structure also has a very interesting modification - the soundboard lacks a lower harmonic bar - one of the most important braces for keeping the soundboard from collapsing. Torres ingeniously found a workaround - the tornavoz in the soundhole is supported by small wooden posts which rest against the back providing the soundboard all the support it needs. This also frees up more of the top to resonate freely and at the same time transmits vibration to the back. The result is astonishing - an instrument that is vibrating along almost all of its surface - back, sides and soundboard, giving the player and audience the experience of a guitar that is teeming with energy and liveliness.

With a few modifications done for practical purposes (like the inclusion of a saddle, "machined" pegheads, lower harmonic bar, etc.) this guitar is more or less an attempt to faithfully recreate the look, sound and feel of the original. Like the original, it has an enormous palette for tonal color, enhanced dynamic range, big basses almost without bottom, and sparkling, singing trebles. It has great clarity across all registers and between voices. Playability-wise, the notes really bounce out with great ease, there's a "plumpness" in every note from the trebles to the basses. It's really a very satisfying guitar to play and a very impressive instrument overall - it's beautifully made and sound/playablilty are superb. And an impressive tribute to one of the most iconic guitars in history.

Photos of this guitar taken just after completion