When the Sydney Guitar Festival was launched in 2017 Spanish flamenco legend Paco Peña topped the bill, followed closely by Australia’s own top guitar duo Slava and Leonard Grigoryan. On the weekend, the three musicians reunited for the 2022 festival in a spectacular one-night concert at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre, before embarking on a national tour.

Paco Peña and Grigoryan Brothers. Photo supplied

Sometimes described as the greatest guitarist in the world, the 80-year-old Peña has seemingly lost little of his technique, drive or energy since he burst on the London scene in the mid-1960s, sharing the bill with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and performing at Covent Garden’s hotspot Restaurante Antonio.

Guitar fans got to see the performer-composer unhindered by his company of dancers and singers in an intimate 50-minute set, in which he mixed up some of his own compositions with those of earlier flamenco idols Ramón Montoya and Niño Ricardo.

As he ran through such classics as Montaya’s La Rosa and Ricardo’s Seguiryas all his trademark qualities – the undemonstrative stage presence, the smooth effortless tremolo and the elegant precision of his fingering – all appeared undiminished. His humility and...