Thibaut Garcia Enchants Wiesbaden

© Ansgar Klostermann

 

On August 1, 2025, Friday night, Thibaut Garcia performed with the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España, Spain’s national youth orchestra, at the Kurhaus Wiesbaden as part of the Rheingau Musik Festival. The concert opened with one of the most iconic works of Spanish classical repertoire: Joaquín Rodrigo’s "Concierto de Aranjuez" for guitar and orchestra. Thibaut Garcia, this year’s RMF focus artist, enchanted the audience with his interpretation.

 

In the Frankfurter Rundschau on August 4, 2025, Bernhard Uske wrote:

“The 31-year-old RMF focus artist Thibaut Garcia took on the solo part with a very subtle tone—neither overly delicate nor brittle—making excellent use of the guitar’s dry and earthy qualities, so characteristic of this central Spanish instrument.

The soundscape, often reduced to cliché in this 1939 composition—even by some of the greatest soloists—was completely avoided here: the delicate and quiet sound, marked by brief, pointillistic exclamations, gave the outer movements, which are often dominated by musical momentum, a more artificial, even neo-Baroque character. Meanwhile, the central slow movement unfolded with an almost improvisational and understated fluidity.”

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In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Rhein-Main-Zeitung on August 5, 2025, Guido Holze wrote:

“Founded in 1983, this youth orchestra, which offers hands-on training to aspiring professional musicians, performed Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez under the direction of Nuno Coelho at the Rheingau Music Festival—without the clichéd, fiery Spanish stomp. Instead, the performance was light-footed, bright, and gentle.

This approach harmonized beautifully with that of guitar soloist and festival focus artist Thibaut Garcia, who presented this frequently played work in a simple, clear, and concise manner.”