In Search of Alberto Guerrero

Chapter 2: A Wedding, a Tour—New York and Back: A Farewell— Why?

A Wedding, a Tour Guerrero’s most active season as a performer, 1915, was also the time of his marriage. His bride, Elena (“Lily”) Wilson, was the oldest daughter of a distinguished military figure, Lieutenant Colonel Aníbal Wilson Navarrete , and his wife María Werner Araya, and niece of an equally prominent leader in the Chilean Navy, Admiral Arturo Wilson Navarrete.1 The family was well recognized from the brothers’ careers in the forces, and also for its cultivation of literature and the arts. In the late months of 1915, Guerrero and his cellist colleague Michael Penha undertook a successful tour, playing joint concerts in the main cities of Peru, Bolivia, Panama, Costa Rica, and Cuba, before settling in New York—and Lily was a member of the touring party; indeed, the tour was referred to in family circles later as the couple’s honeymoon. A reporter in Oruro, Bolivia, noted during one of the concerts “the presentation of a bouquet of wild flowers to Señora Wilson de García Guerrero, by which members of the Chilean community wanted to express their feelings of respect for this distinguished lady.” In Lima, Peru, a concert notice included the information that “Señor García Guerrero, a member of the Santiago aristocracy (la aristocracia santiaguina), is accompanied by his wife, the distinguished Señora Lilli [sic] Wilson de García Guerrero, niece of the noted Chilean admiral of the same name.”2 Possibly as a fundraiser for their tour, Guerrero and Penha gave a widely publicized farewell concert in the Teatro Septiembre, Santiago, on 14 September 1915. Penha, born and educated in Holland, had by that time been in Chile a little over a year and a half, and is said to have made an 29 two 02_beckwith.qxd 2006/03/29 12:22 PM Page 29 indelible impression in a succession of concerts covering much of the standard classical repertoire for cello. Referring to his “fiery temperament,” “nobility of interpretation,” and “impeccable virtuosity,” Alfonso Leng called him “one of the greatest executants to have visited here.”3 In another advance article for this concert, the writer, Carlos Silva Cruz, appears less familiar with Penha’s work, but wishes the two artists a “glorious triumph ,” despite the feelings of sadness at their departure. Of Guerrero, Silva Cruz writes more spontaneously, mentioning his “profound interpretations of the major works for piano, as evidenced in his own solo concerts, his performances with Penha, and the illustrations he played for those lovely lectures of his brother Eduardo. He has always enjoyed the warmest rapport with the public—a rapport only won by the truest and most cultivated talents.”4 The concert was on an unusually grand scale. An orchestra led by Luigi Giarda played an unspecified overture by Mendelssohn, and then each of the artists was featured in a concerto: Penha in a Saint-Saens cello concerto (perhaps no. 2 in d), and Guerrero in the same composer’s Fourth Piano Concerto. The program concluded with solo groups. Here Penha presented an arrangement for cello and piano of Dvo4 rák’s Silent Woods, Opus 68, no. 5, followed by David Popper’s Tarantella, while Guerrero’s solo numbers were two pieces by Liszt he had frequently included in earlier programs : Liebestraum and the Hungarian Rhapsody no. 11.
IN SEARCH OF ALBERTO GUERRERO  30 Lily Wilson, at the time of her marriage to Alberto Guerrero, 1915 (Collection M. Irvine) 02_beckwith.qxd 2006/03/29 12:22 PM Page 30 Leng’s tribute to Guerrero, in his advance article, summed up the position he was seen to hold in Chilean musical life at this period: Of our compatriot, the distinguished pianist Alberto García Guerrero, we can say little that is not already known by every aficionado who has followed with interest the steps of his artistic career. As a pianist…he has advanced to the forefront among our performers, not only by his exceptional gifts of temperament but also by his understanding of the styles of all the great masters. But there is also a facet of his talent that is not well known among us, and this is his personal voice as a composer. Those who know the serious works of García Guerrero…recognize in them a profound technical mastery of composition and an originality which evokes the subtlest feelings and the most elevated emotions.5 As a friend...