Renata Tarragó

Renata Tarragó
Renata Tarragó - Concierto de Aranjuez
Born	Renata Tarragó Fábregas 1927 Barcelona, Spain
Died	August 2, 2005
Occupation	classical guitarist

Renata Tarragó Fábregas (1927 – 2 August 2005), a Catalan guitarist and vihuelist, was a teacher and performer, both as a solo artist and an accompanist. She was the first female guitarist to record Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, and was the editor of the first published edition of the Concierto de Aranjuez score.

Tarragó was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1927, the second of two children of Graciano Tarragó Pons, who was a musician, composer and teacher, and his first wife, Renata Fábregas. She studied at the Barcelona Conservatory, where her first teacher was her father. Graciano Tarragó (1892–1973), who had previously taught the soprano Victoria de los Ángeles, had studied the guitar under Miguel Llobet, and also played the violin and viola.

Renata Tarragó made her first public appearance at the age of 14, and was appointed an Assistant Professor at the Barcelona Conservatory upon the completion of her studies there in 1944. In 1951, the Barcelona Conservatory awarded Tarragó the "Premio Extraordinario" for her artistic accomplishments.

Tarragó played guitar accompaniment (with credits on the labels) on numerous HMV 78 and LP recordings with the soprano Victoria de los Ángeles, as well as a 1948 BBC recording in London of Manuel de Falla's La Vida Breve. In 1958, Tarragó became the first female guitarist to record Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, in a recording accompanied by the Orquesta de Conciertos de Madrid, conducted by Odón Alonso. She also was the first to edit the Aranjuez score for publication (1959), and Rodrigo's esteem for her was evidenced by the dedication of his Sonata Giocosa (1960) to her. Her father, Graciano Tarragó, published the first edition of Rodrigo's Invocación y danca in 1962.