My musical career started when I was 8 in Taranto , Italy.   Today, 15,000 Kilometers to the South in Asuncion, Paraguay, I am celebrating my 37th anniversary as a musician. Paraguay, a beautiful country I have first  visited in 1974 when my parents came to visit an uncle that lived in Brazil. Paraguay had a deep impact in all the members of my family and although we never thought we would live here forever, 30 years have passed and it sure does not look like I am going anywhere. My parents have gone back to Italy in 2006. I decided to stay here and as long as my guitar teaching website and guitar manufacture workshop permits, I intend to stay for good. Still, I am old enough to have learned that 
"for good" is one of those clichés that often miss the target. 

I must stress one TRUTH...Segovia was the greatest guitar figure that ever lived. Mostly because he had to pave a way for an instrument, the guitar, which was mostly unknown to the great public at the beginning of the 20th Century. Segovia  ´´pushed´´ many young players careers who attended his famous Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and Italian (Siena) masterclasses. And, sadly, literally pushed many players careers to an abrupt end. Few musicians, not to say none before or since, had such a profound impact on their instruments as Segovia did in the classical guitar world.

A picture can say a thousand words, those moments with the great maestros have changed my life forever. In the guitar picture taken in Segovia's studio in Madrid during a private lesson (image below), I was playing one of Bach Bourree in B minor. 

Renato Bellucci with Andres Segovia. Madrid 1984

My hands were cold and moist. The maestro took his chance to give me a little advice..."before you start playing, try doing what I do before playing in concert. If your hands are cold, take your time to warm them....I once asked for a thermos with hot water before playing in a New York winter concert and warmed my hands with it for almost 10 minutes...the public had to wait ten minutes more for a much better performance..." As people grows older, they also grow philosophical. It is difficult to put into words all the feelings, sensations and impressions that such a colossal moment means in a young guitarist's life. I was 22.... fresh out of Conservatory with my first major guitar competition won and a whole life in front of me. In 1983 Segovia was to me the most important figure on the face of the Earth.

I remember getting out of the elevator with my guitar case to then walk the last few steps to access the attic of this mid size and few stories building where Segovia had his Madrid apartment on one floor and his studio right under the roof. I heard the locks to this huge metal door open (more like a safe box door actually)  as my heartbeat started accelerating with anticipation. Finally the door started opening and the figure of the greatest (and oldest) guitarist alive started appearing before my eyes. The master made a gesture as he was saying "Adelante Renato" to make me welcome. 

I did not know whether to make a reverie, kiss the hand or simply shake hands as I ultimately did. I wanted to pinch myself at every step I took towards the heart of the studio. "So, this is what a Studio looks like?" was one of the thousand thoughts crossing my mind...several guitar cases were visible on the right wall and Segovia's practice setup took a good portion of the room. 

Everything he used to practice seemed to be big...a big music stand, a big cushioned footstool and, of course, a huge piano type chair. Everything was made of wood and seemed to be part of a set. A portrait was hanging over his head and another huge portrait was hanging by the main door. Segovia was the subject of both portraits of course ! Several pictures were scattered here and there and he was photographed with several people... music sheets were simply all over....

The picture above was published in National Geographic magazine in 1980. The studio looks exactly like this. Only 2 things are different: 1- The photographer put a small blanket on the window to avoid the light from spoiling the picture 2-Segovia always practiced in his bathrobe and the sleek outfit is only for obvious photographic reasons. If you look at my picture with the maestro (above) you will see him in his " regular" outfit.
The place where my picture with the maestro was taken is just to the left of the guitar cases on the floor in the lower left of the picture. A small TV is there along with an intimate living room.

That was all the observing I could do because a few seconds later, after he closed the huge door to the studio, he approached me again inviting me to sit down. He asked me a few questions about my background and studies and I am not sure of what I told him...all I recall is what he told me. The one thing I knew I wanted to tell him was that I had been listening to a Bach Bourree and Double he recorded in the early 60s and I simply loved it. I did...as a reply he asked me :"Do you play it?"...I said "yes" and he replied :"Play it for me"....

I was speechless and I sincerely did not know if I was going to be able to move a single finger. I was about to play for the master...my childhood Idol !   I took a deep breath and started playing...The atmosphere was magic and I never thought the human brain could deal with so many things simultaneously....the hands moving around the guitar, my imagination running at 1000 miles an hour, the overwhelming feeling of achievement and of course, keeping me alive...

I played the last chord of the Bourree and after a few seconds of silence Segovia extended his right hand and shook mine in a good job kind of way....He was certainly not the kind of master to be impressed very easily and neither was it my objective. He proceeded to explain some of the passages in the Bourree and how he went about transcribing pieces. He made a point saying that he would transcribe only if the piece was going to shine as bright or brighter than on the original instrument. Everything he explained was accompanied by very wide gestures of his arm and hands.

The next thing he did was to look closely at my guitar. I used a 1976 Italian Luis Arban guitar. Segovia looked at her from all possible angles and I was marveled at the way he handled the instrument...after all Segovia and guitars had been having a 90 years affair !! He gave it back to me and told me to pass him one of the guitar cases that were on the right wall of the studio.

The first great maestro I had the chance of studying with when I was living in Spain was Narciso Yepes. A small man but a great human being. I had to travel 50  kilometers to his Las Rosas home. He was an innovator. To start out with, he had a 10 strings Ramirez guitar built on request. In the picture I'm playing Barrios' "Una limosna por el amor de Dios"... he had never heard the piece. Immediately after I finished playing it, he said "your tremolo is very smooth and "christaline", I seldom like a piece the first time I hear it....let me see if I have the music sheet in my collection...I'd like to play that piece in Italy next month...." These words, coming from the one man who renders tremolo at its best were definitely a boost to my young ego.

The one maestro that influenced me the most is undoubtly Abel Carlevaro. Later in these pages, actually, I will elaborate more on the word "influence".

I always say that Carlevaro would have been a great interpreter no matter what instrument he had chosen. He thought me to think for myself and, being his technique the result of years of inner searching, he would not deprive me the same "pleasure"... He told me during one of our lessons "Don't do anything I tell you to do unless your brain agrees"... After only 6 months with the maestro, I ordered the famous "Manuel Contreras-RIP- Carlevaro Model guitar". I still use it in most concerts.

The following pictures were taken during the famous Segovia Masterclasses at USC in the summer of 1986. Everyone seemed to be there. Christopher Parkening was blending and sharing moments and signing autographs with a truly  bright and honest  Jn 3:16 beneath his signature with every young player with the greatness and simplicity that has always characterized him, Michael Lorimer, Marcelo Kayath, ...

That would be the last time I saw the great Spaniard...he died 6 months later due to pneumonia.  His last words to me were   "...so, Renato, always in love with the guitar?"  ... and I exchanged a glimpse with the maestro as he was getting in the car.

My greatest advice for my students and friends is to have, live and die for a dream. Simply make sure it is the "right" dream. Great maestros are looking for great strive on their students' part. No great teacher is far enough for a real pupil.

Maestro Abel Carlevaro, who recently died in Germany during a concert-masterclass tour, was an innovator in many ways. In this picture taken by his wife in his Montevideo apartment, he was telling me he would take me as his student. I was living in Spain at the time, and moved to Montevideo where I studied under him for a year. Read more about Carlevaro, clicking on the links to the left.

Turning point

Two weeks after the Di Cagno Abbrescia recital,  I played at Teatro Piccinni  in Bari. The way I felt that first time on stage is exactly the same way I feel today...34 years after. The picture below is a view of Teatro Piccinni from the main stage.

Teatro Piccinni, Bari Italy. I made my debut here at age 9

This is a Carlevaro Masterclass in Buenos Aires Teatro San Martin,  Renato Bellucci is playing Bach Chaconne.

Alirio Diaz home in Rome	Abel Carlevaro & Renato in Asuncion Agustin Barrrios Competition/festival
Akron Civic. Fisk made people go wild. Russell was simply too tired.	TV program for RAI

Andres Segovia at USC.

Renato and David Russell at the GFA