I would love to meet Fernando Sor and Francisco Tárrega, I believe that would be great to hear them paying the guitar ( both are suposed to don´t use nails)  , and appreciate their sound without nails and gut strings, very diferent from the modern sound present guitarist with louder guitar bodies and nylon/carbon strings.

Aaaah, Giuliani and Sor, the old masters!! I would to hear about the ‘Guitaromanie’ and hear them playing the romantic Stauffers, Panormos etc.

I wouldn’t say John Williams is “from the past” but yes I would be thrilled to see him in person, if a short conversation, that would make a memory for my life. I like him so much not just because of the music he had played, but also because he looks so nice and mellow in the documentary. Such a gentleman. 

Because of all his music, video recordings, and his book "Life on the Road", Julian Bream is someone I think I would truly enjoy meeting from all angles. My burning question might be "Can I have your Hauser?... please?". Or if I was wiser, I would ask him to please explain how he approached creative coloring and rubato, maybe from a brand new piece's perspective. (definitely want a question that could keep him going for a while: )

Would be tremendous to meet Segovia, but he might be a bit more intimidating. 

Francisco Tárrega. Unlike Segovia, there hardly any CONTEMPORARY interviews with him, so Who knows what was on his mind. What was the inspiration behind those beautiful pieces we all still play today?

Perhaps Barrios. But then I’d have to get my Spanish up to speed. Unfortunately, John Dowland did not play guitar as far as we know. He would have been fascinating. Julian Bream is closest to my heart. Don’t think we’ll see the like of him anytime soon. 

If the point of this exercise were to have a conversation with some illustrious figure from the past, I would, as an anglophone, want to meet someone fluent in English. Two figures from the 19th century come to mind: the great virtuoso Giulio Regondi, and his occasional companion on the concert stage, Catharina Pelzer, better known by her married name, Mrs. Sydney Pratten. If, on the other hand, the point were simply to have the pleasure of hearing someone from the past perform, I would choose one of the great masters of the five-course guitar: Corbetta, Bartolotti, Murcia, Sanz, to name a few. It would be fascinating to hear this earlier form of our instrument.

Ingo et al:

I understand that when Barrios shed the formal attire to dress as a native, many thought such an attire was beneath a musician of his stature.  That this was as a gimmick, just to attract more people to his performances.  But maybe this was a heartfelt effort to return to his origins, specially of his mother's, whom I understand was native to that area.  A lot of his compositions went back to the sounds, and images of nature.

Another point of historic gossip would be: what persuaded him, not to trust The Cathedral, to the hands of Segovia.

What do you gents think?

José

One more point, there is quite a bit of information about Francisco Tárrega, through his disciples, and anecdotes, that reveal the true character of this man.  To me, Capricho Arabe is just the most beautiful classical guitar piece, it just transports you to southern Spain, and their arabic, gypsy, mix of many cultures.  Tárrega preceded, Barrios by about 30 years, I wonder how much influence was there. 

José

Ida Presti - her wonderful background, training, virtuosity, relaxed right hand, duo with her husband. She gave up a solo career to devote to playing with her husband - wonderful duets. Composers wrote for them. 

Tarraga Would be my choice as he was an inspiration to Segovia plus I would have liked to hear his tremolo and how he played his compositions and I could as him if he used nails lol!

I have met Andres Segovia and Julian Bream several times and went to many of their concerts from the 70s.   I have also met John Williams several times and went to his concerts regularly too.  They were/are all very nice.   I have all their LPs, cassettes and CDs.    I would love to have met Fernando Sor and Francisco Tarrega, particularly the former.   I love their compositions and would like to have known more about the pieces they wrote and what inspired them.  I still play a lot of Sor's studies and minuets and Tarrega's works regularly.   Pauline

At the moment for me it would be J.K. Mertz, since I’ve been learning quite a few pieces from the Bardenklange this year.  It would fascinating to hear his sound, how he played his own compositions, and to know what inspired him.