Enrico De Filippi, who has indefatigably been working all this time at his search for any new notes about guitarist Pasquale Taraffo, finally succeeded in finding some new and quite interesting articles in the Spanish press of the time.  They are interesting indeed because through them we can learn that:

-          Taraffo made a very successful tour in South America in 1921, about which we did not know at all before.

-          He held a number of recitals in Galicia (Spain) and more exactly in Pontevedra, not far from Vigo the port where his liner called on its way back from South America to Europe.

-          Furthermore, the article quotes a review taken from a Spanish newspaper about Taraffo’s recital, in which the author besides praising his qualities as a virtuoso, does not hesitate in comparing Taraffo - though not indiscriminately - to the great Segovia. This point is even so more important as the critic is a fellow countryman of Segovia.

Click on the image below to open a PDF containing translations of the articles, with Franco's comments about the information.

Today, The Washington Post ran an article about a new exhibit opened at The National Archives: 

“Attachments: Faces and Stories From America’s Gates,” a new National Archives exhibit, uses documents and photographs that were “attached” to government forms to tell the stories of immigrants to the United States between 1880 to the end of World War II.

The photo caption reads “Pasquale Taraffo, an Italian musician, in 1926 with his fanciful harp guitar. The photo was designed to prove Taraffo’s profession so he could enter the United States to perform.” – National Archives

Apparently, this photo was found in a "dead letter" file.  The date is curious, as Tarrafo is believed to have first entered the States in December, 1928 for his first North American tour.  This photo was also used for his New York Gallo Theater promotional poster, the only occurrence of this image.  I'd like to know more about the background of this interesting "designed to prove Taraffo's profession" scenario, including the suspect dating provenance.

If you find some new Taraffo information or ephemera, we want to know!