|
3 FESTIVAL SUMA FLAMENCA
|
|
MUCH OBLIGED MISTER POVEDA Miguel Poveda spent the evening thanking everyone, and it still seems hard to believe. After an hour and a half giving it everything he had, remembering cantes from “Zaguán”, from “Tierra de Calma”, singing without guitar, without mike, using lung power, knowledge, not the slightest sign of taking it easy….and even then he was still saying thank you. Other artists, with much less flamenco in their bodies, have audiences at their feet and then refuse to sing an encore. Miguel, sir Miguel Poveda, went and gave us “El Uvero”. An aperitif that distilled into ‘gran reserva’. Without guitar.
And it went down well, because it felt like a short recital – it’s not easy to be on stage that long without becoming boring or predictable. On this occasion when the artist announced the last number coming up, even the ushers asked for more. “¡Viva tu madre!” they shouted to him and his palmeros, percussionist (Paquito González) and guitar sidekick Chicuelo. This is one guitarist who knows how to combine virtuosity with good solid accompaniment. Alegrías de Cádiz, malagueña, soleá, some extraordinary mining cante, his medley of old songs “La Radio de mi Madre”, tientos-tangos, siguiriya, bulerías. And the encore, dedicated to his Diego Carrasco. Miguel Poveda teased us with “Alfileres de Colores” and finished triumphantly like a bullfighter. And even then the Catalonian kept thanking everyone and dedicating his art to the late Pencho Cros, to the organization of Suma Flamenca, to the audience that filled the theater and to the composers León and Quiroga. The great thing about this singer is that the years and the recognition haven’t changed the young man who made a clean sweep in August 93 at the La Unión festival when he was almost too shy to take part in the contest. Although he waved Republican flags in the tangos, Madrid had a king last Friday night. |
