By Martin Langfield
MIAMI, March 5 (Reuters) - Havana-based Cuban singer Carlos Varela, in a concert held semi-clandestinely because of fears of protests, thrilled a small crowd of Cuban exiles late on Wednesday with songs of loss, nostalgia and oblique criticism of the communist regime in his homeland.
The concert, attended by about 150 invited guests in a private home, was the first time Varela had played in Miami, home to thousands of Cubans who oppose President Fidel Castro.
Musicians who choose to live in Castro's Cuba -- or who have left and do not criticize Castro in sufficiently harsh terms -- are reviled by many in the Miami Cuban community. Some have in the past been threatened, spat upon and harassed when attempting to perform here.
"This is the city, after Havana, where my songs are known best, where the vibration is strongest,'' Varela, 34, told Reuters.
He was on a brief tour of the United States which also included New York -- where he said his guitar was stolen earlier this week -- and California. He was scheduled to return to Cuba next week.
"My guitar was stolen so they have loaned me this one. Welcome to New York,'' he joked wryly with the audience.
Cheers greeted his best-known song, "William Tell,'' which ostensibly tells of the archer known for shooting an apple off his son's head. Varela imagines the son saying he is tired of being the target and wants a chance to shoot an apple off his father's head.
William Tell refuses, in what many take as a criticism of Castro for sticking to old-fashioned ideas and denying Cuban young people a bigger say in the country's affairs.
Varela has said he supports the basic aims of the revolution but wants to improve its failings. He says each listener must decide what songs such as "William Tell'' are about.
One isolated cry of "Down with Fidel'' was heard at the concert but otherwise those present cheered, sang along and wept to Varela's bittersweet songs about Havana, his mother and the dreams of his generation.
"This song is about a park in Havana where I used to play when I was a little boy,'' said Sabrina, a transvestite hairdresser and former athlete who defected several years ago.
The fiercest opponents of Castro say musicians who live in Cuba and tour abroad -- groups such as Los Van Van are wildly successful when they play elsewhere in the United States -- are propping up the regime with their hard currency earnings and have sold out to communism.
A retired dancer who left Cuba in 1963 disagreed, though he declined to give his name for fear of reprisals.
"A lot of people would be against this,'' he said. "But it's music. They can take a hike as far as I am concerned.'' REUTERS
23:37 03-05-98