A concert hall bursting at the seams is a pretty rare sight, especially in these times of downloads and live streaming. That said one mustn’t forget the City of Joy’s unparalleled capacity to pleasantly surprise particularly when it comes to the arts. And if there’s a festival celebrating the guitar, then one can safely vouch that Kolkata will shower it with all its attention.

That was the case at the seventh edition of the Calcutta International Classical Guitar Festival, organised, as always, by the Calcutta Classical Guitar Society in the Satyajit Ray auditorium of ICCR in Ho Chi Minh Sarani recently. The four-day schedule packed in a galaxy of guitar royalty from countries as diverse as Argentina, Spain and Sweden and they veritably regaled audiences during the course of 10 concerts.

The festival was centred on the theme, “Celebrating Spain” and was laced with renditions of Spanish classical guitar music, tributes to seminal composer and pianist Enrique Granados, flamenco fusion and a special concert to commemorate the 400th death anniversary of Spain’s greatest writer, Miguel de Cervantes.

Daniel Zapico on theorbo and Pablo Zapico on baro-que guitar — both hailing from Asturias in Spain — paid glowing salutations to Cervantes through musical pieces from that time period on the first evening. Their performance was an absolute revelation and formed a musical kinship between Spain and Kolkata that was to last for the duration of the festival and one hopes, even beyond.

On the second day, the noon slot featured Akash Saha, one of the founders of the Calcutta Classical Guitar Society and an accomplished guitarist, chamber musician and composer. That evening began with guitar prodigy Johannes Moller from Sweden launching his album India and thereafter playing a magnificent concert with tabla exponent Arindam Chakravarty in tow. Moller showcased why he is considered one of the foremost classical guitarists of his generation by performing complex Indian ragas like raga kirwani and raga khamaj on the western classical guitar. It was pure sonic bliss!

up was Trilogy, comprising Pandit Subhen Chatterjee’s and his band, KARMA, the trail-blazing Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and guitar god Amyt Datta. Bhatt was, of course, the top draw with his mohan veena and the songs, which were based on ragas like jog, jhinjhoti, kamodh and megh, reached newer heights thanks to his inimitable instrument. For once though, Datta seemed overshadowed and a tad indifferent to the overall proceedings. Special mention must be made of Sambit Chatterjee on the drums as the young man held his own amid such musical stalwarts.

Day three began with Lautaro Favaloro’s Music of Argentina on the Guitar at noon. He performed music from his native country — the tango, zamba, milonga, vals argentina, carnavalito and gato. On the other hand, Czech virtuoso Pavel Steidl’s slot that evening was filled by a plethora of performers as he was unable to attend. They included David Russell, Johannes Moller with his students from a workshop conducted during the festival and Jose Manuel Dapena among several others.

The night ended with Indialucia comprising Miguel Czachowski on flamenco guitars, percussion and palmas; Avaneendra Sheolikar on sitar; Sandesh Popatkar on tabla and Pierluca Pineroli on cajón. It was the dose of flamenco the festival needed and it was supplied in splendid measure by the musicians on stage.

The final day kicked off with a tribute for Granados by Dapena and the pieces by the Spanish composer were beautifully rendered. David Russell, an university unto himself when it comes to the classical guitar, took the stage in the evening — his multifarious picking techniques and lyrical phrasing elicited gasps of wonder from the audience. Pieces like Granada (Albeniz), My Gentle Harp, Granados’ Poetic Waltzes, Stephen Goss’ Cantigas de Santiago and Tarrega stood out for his exceptional skill. One must say that Kolkata was privileged to host a guitarist of Russell’s calibre.

The curtains fell on the festival with The String Fraternity featuring Purbayan Chatterjee on sitar, Ehsaan Noorani on guitar, Bijit Bhattacharya on bass and Premjit Dutta on the drums. They got the audience swinging with compositions like Fourplay, Auto rickshaw Mambo, Softly Spoken Blues and Peace of Mind among others. It was a rousing finale to four wonderful days of music.

One has to mention Moller’s unique project called the Indian Songbook that seeks to exhibit arrangements of Indian ragas on the Western classical guitar. He is looking for pieces that can be incorporated into the album and as of now, the growing list contains only two tracks.

The Calcutta International Classical Guitar Festival has come to characterise Kolk-ata’s passion for the guitar and towards that end, this year’s edition was no different.