Kasia Smolarek at De Anza

Inna decided to purchase tickets to Kasia Smolarek's Classical Guitar concert at De Anza College's Visual and Performing Arts Theater (VPAC). 

When we arrived at De Anza College, we had difficulty finding the VPAC, as I had programmed 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd. (instead of Visual and Performing Arts Theater). Even though we arrived at 19:21 for the 19:30 opening time, we had to drive another 9 minutes. We were about 9 minutes late to the concert and missed the first piece - Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata K.466.

Here’s the program for tonight’s Kasia Smolarek concert (Thursday, January 22, 2026, at the VPAC Theatre, De Anza College in Cupertino, CA):

🎶 Program:

• Domenico Scarlatti — Sonata K.466 & Sonata K.178

• Niccolò Paganini — Caprice Op. 1 No. 24 (a famous virtuosic showpiece)

• Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco — from Caprichos de Goya:

  • XII No hubo remedio

  • XX Obsequio al Maestro

  • XVIII El sueño de la razón produce monstruos

• Francisco Tárrega — Fantasía on Verdi’s La Traviata

• Joaquín Turina — Sevillana Op. 29

• Agustín Barrios-Mangoré — Mazurka Apassionata & Vals Op. 3 No. 8

• Leo Brouwer — La Gran Sarabanda

This program takes you on a journey through Spanish and Latin American guitar repertoire, blending baroque elegance, virtuoso showpieces, romantic transcriptions, dance-inspired works, and modern masterpieces — all performed on solo classical guitar. 

I was hoping that Kasia would play some of the more popular Classical Guitar pieces, but her recital focused on the more obscure (at least to me) Classical guitar compositions.

Of all the pieces she played, I enjoyed the following pieces:

• Agustín Barrios-Mangoré — Mazurka Apassionata & Vals Op. 3 No. 8

• Niccolò Paganini — Caprice Op. 1 No. 24

 Kasia Smolarek Concert Review

Highlights

• Kasia's playing of the following pieces:
• Agustín Barrios-Mangoré — Mazurka Apassionata & Vals Op. 3 No. 8
• Niccolò Paganini — Caprice Op. 1 No. 24

Lowlights

• Not playing any of the more popular Classical Guitar standards
• Spending a lot of time tuning her guitar (after every piece)

Links

• Kasia Smolarek's Concerts
• De Anza Visual and Performing Arts