THE VILLA GABIROL—A BRIEF HISTORY

 

The Villa Gabirol was designed at the end of the last century by the Spanish industrialist and architect Marrano in the Mudejar style, and built on the ruins of the ancient fortress of the Almoravides. Four sets of apartments on two levels, not including the renovated and re-plumbed baths dug into the hillside, surround a squarish courtyard.

Before the Civil War, the Villa served as the centerpiece of the Mariposan social season. The Picasso exhibition of 1924, the famous Heifetz/Rubinstein/Casals recital of ’32, the Lorca/de Falla Concours de Flamenco, all provided occasions for the unlocking of the massive gates to the garden. Citizen and tourist alike were treated to a view of the open Mediterranean, a view that once made Jews, Christians, and Muslims bury their enmity in a common worship of salt and water, sun and wind.

Shortly after moving into the Villa in 1950, the Russian violinist Sandor established a master class for half a dozen promising students. The final week of the July session was given over to recitals. Every evening, one of the young violinists held court by the fountain for an audience of fifty of Mariposa’s worthy. Only at the end of the week, after each of his students had laid his offering on the altar, did the maestro take the stage. Sunday-night tickets were harder to come by than a box behind the president of the Corrida. They were given as wedding presents, bequeathed in last testaments. A pair of front-row seats served as collateral on any number of loans and gambling debts. The crush of the great unwashed outside the gates was matched only by the reverential silence with which every Mariposan ear strained for a single drop of Sandor’s matchless tone. It was a tone that was said to sweeten the most bitter humor, to soothe the most profound despair. Five minutes of Sandor could change a senator’s vote, ten could move an entire parliament. At one famous recital, a woman claimed she sat down barren and stood up three months pregnant.

Sandor last played in public in 1966. The gates closed on his master classes ten years later. Although Sandor has continued to teach, the numbers have dwindled in recent years to perhaps a single student. The view from the road outside the gate is also spectacular, and pilgrims climb the hill as much for the sight as in the hope of hearing the master at practice.

Best chance: 6:00 A.M.

Ben