Featured Guitar - Rafael Moreno Rodriguez 'Sueño'

Rafael Moreno Rodriguez‘s Sueño model (sueño means ‘dream’) has some of the most intense wood and inlay work you’re likely to see in a guitar. Apparently Rafa (everyone calls him Rafa, and I’ve known him for over 20 years so it’s hard to call him anything else) was inspired by a 19th century guitar made by Joaquin Ruiz which he had in his shop for repairs some time ago. Structurally the guitar is all Rafa, and the inlay work is pure fantasy (of the sort that not too many guitar makers can pull off).

This particular guitar belonged to our friend Vicente Coves, also of Granada. He toured extensively with it, recorded a CD for Naxos with it and shot his DVD of the Aranjuez for Spanish television on it. It’s also the actual guitar featured in the book Guitarreros de Andalucia (Luthiers from Andalucia) in the chapter about Moreno Rodriguez.

You should take a look at Felix’s amazing photos of the guitar here to get a really good idea of the workmanship, and below we have some photos of Vicente playing in front of the Alhambra and with the Naxos orchestra, as well as the pages from Guitarreros de Andalucia that talk about the guitar. We also have video of Vicente playing the Aranjuez with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra and the Premiere of Anna Muzychenko’s Rapsodia Andaluza with the Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow.

You can read more about Rafael Moreno Rodriguez here.