Musician's Challenges

Tostado wrote:

Of course a good artist will always find a way to put the music over the technique.

Generally agreed, but I'd put it a little differently: a good artist will always find a way to put technique in service to the music.

IMO, your point re: technique for technique's sake is spot on. There's plenty of it out there.

How about Andres' Segovia playing "Leyenda"?

Steve Howe's guitar in "Close to the Edge"?

So many things Steve Hackett and Tony Banks did in Genesis?

Segovia wasn't the best technician. You can hear string buzzing, unintended delays etc. Whole new generation of guitar players including David Russell play without single buzz (poorly pressed string). Two links below show not only Sharon Isbin being much more advanced but also playing with much stronger dynamics appropriate to Spanish music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCeebWgjrrU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIjfkYKKW54

Segovia was a great teacher and ambassador for guitar music.

Segovia put a personal stamp on the music he played--sometimes for the better, other times not so. But you knew it was him. There is little to distinguish most of the players younger than Barrueco and Fisk. The playing is clean as a whistle but totally unremarkable. I've heard both the players, live and on recordings, and they are top-flight guitarists. Musically they are not among my favorites. Segovia is almost always interesting. Better than 90 percent of the other available classical guitarists are almost never interesting. Other than simply checking someone out, why waste my time with the others?
FWIW, among the "younger set" I like Ana Vidovic, Lorenzo Michele, and, especially, Jorge Caballero. As an older and experienced listener (and something of a player myself), I feel that those three "get it."

From the purely technical viewpoint the most difficult music to play might be the one not designed to be played by human. Conlon Nacarrow music written for pianola was impossible to play because of speed and impossible fingering. I've heard that today few pianists can play it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFz2lCEkjFk