Tárrega's 1888 Antonio de Torres guitar returns to the stage in Málaga

A guitar built by Antonio de Torres in 1888 for Francisco Tárrega returned to concert use in Málaga on September 5. Classical guitarist Jacob Kellerman played the historic instrument at the Patio de Surtidores in the Alcazaba as part of the city's international guitar festival.

The festival describes the Torres as an instrument made expressly for Tárrega and connects it with the period in which the Spanish guitarist-composer created works including Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Capricho Árabe. Kellerman's sold-out appearance placed the instrument back in a live recital setting rather than treating it solely as a museum object.

For classical guitar players, the event joins instrument history and present-day performance in a particularly direct way: one of the defining makers of the modern classical guitar, one of the repertoire's foundational figures and a contemporary concert guitarist all meet in the same instrument on stage.