Carlevaro was a devoted composer. His musical production ranges from his Preludios Americanos, now established as part of the standard concert repertoire, to his Concierto No. 3 para Guitarra y Orquesta, composed by request of and played for the first time by The Chamber Symphony of San Francisco. Other contemporary ensembles of renown such as The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and The Kronos Quartet have also performed some of Carlevaro's works for the first time. His "Concierto del Plata" for guitar and orchestra has been interpreted by important European and American symphony orchestras. The Carlevaro Technique& Carlevaro Guitar A profound and dedicated teacher, Carlevaro was the creator of a new school of instrumental technique which was revolutionary in its understanding of posture, sound development, and general philosophy of music. This important contribution to the evolution of the guitar is expounded in his didactic series, "Escuela de la Guitarra Exposición de la Teoría Instrumental" as well as in the "Carlevaro Masterclass" series. These pedagogical works, his compositions and his transcriptions are edited by Boosey and Hawkes of New York, Chanterelle Verlag of Heidelberg, Barry Editorial of Buenos Aires and Henry Lemoine of Paris. An indefatigable researcher, Carlevaro has also invented a new guitar, the conception and design of which break away from traditional guitar making. This special model of guitar was first built in 1983 by the Spanish luthier Manuel Contreras in Madrid. The upper part of the sound box was straight, while the bottom is curved as usual. The resulting soundboard resembled the shape of a grand piano. Carlevaro said that this shape improved the vibration of the lower notes. This new guitar also had the normal round sound hole closed, having instead a thin "slot" all around the curvature of top: The top is actually separated from the sides - the top is quasi-floating, and is held in place only by wooden pins from the sides. Thus the guitar consists of 2 quasi-disjoint parts the back and sides b) the top. Today the Model "Carlevaro Guitar" is made by Eberhard Kreul. When traveling abroad, Carlevaro was often invited to teach Master Classes, where in the course of a few consecutive days, students of all levels brought him their inquiries about technique, fingering, expression, or the like. Carlevaro invited participants to play the piece or section in question, and listened attentively. After the student's performance was over, he gave his opinion and his advice. On most occasions he also asked to try the guitar, examined it, tuned it, and then played the same piece or passage again to the appreciation of participants and audience. Some of Carlevaro's "star pupils", winners of several important international contests are Eduardo Fernández, Álvaro Pierri, Baltazar Benítez, Miguel Ángel Girollet, José Fernández Bardesio as well as his teaching assistants Patrick Zeoli, Alfredo Escande, Bartolomé Díaz and Jad Azkoul, who also translated several of his works. In 1997, Carlevaro declared that Azkoul was his "genuine representative", as well as being a "great master teaching alongside" him. Eduardo Castañera, María Isabel Siewers, Néstor Ausqui, José Luis Merlin from Argentina, Daniel Wolff from Brazil, Berta Rojas from Paraguay, Janez Gregoric from Austria, Gentaro Takada, from Japan, Ricardo Barceló, from Uruguay, have also been Carlevaro students, as well as many others from South America and many other parts of the world. From Spain we can name Juan Luis Torres Román, Manuel Gómez Ortigosa and Pompeyo Pérez Díaz, performer and musicologist author of the main academic book about Dionisio Aguado and the 19th century guitar. Carlevaro continued teaching and performing until his last days.
Legacy
On 6 May 1997, Abel Carlevaro certified fellow classical guitarist Jad Azkoul as his "genuine representative", stating that Azkoul had been a "great master teaching alongside" him. In 2014, the Uruguayan government inaugurated a statue in his honor on the Montevideo coastline.
Publications
Serie didáctica
*Cuaderno N° 1 -Escalas Diatónicas
*Cuaderno N°2 -Técnica de la mano derecha
*Cuaderno N°3 -Técnica de la mano izquierda
*Cuaderno N°4 -Técnica de la mano Izq. Conclusión
Numerous other publications are published/distributed by Chanterelle Verlag:
