FESTIVAL DE NIMES – Enrique Morente en concierto

Enrique Morente
Teatro de Nimes, Francia. January 26th, 2007. 9:00pm

Special Festival de Nimes 2007.

Texto: Estela Zatania

Cante: Enrique Morente. Guitar: David Cerreduela.Chorus and palmas: Pepe Luis Carmona, Angel Gabarre

The next to last conference on the next to last day of the Nimes Flamenco Festival was given by the distinguished French investigator Bernard Leblon with the title «Camarón de la Isla y los Cantes de Cádiz», and at the theater there was a recital by Granada veteran Enrique Morente in the evening.

Admired by many, worshipped by many more, and despised artistically by another type of flamenco fan, no matter how you slice it, he is a personality to be reckoned with.With ample background in classic cante, he has carried out diverse and daring creative excursions, picking up unconditional fans along the way, especially in Madrid and points north.Here in France he has seldom been seen, so his recital within the program of a festival which has featured all the major flamenco performers of our era, is noteworthy, and the theater is filled to the rafters as a result of the interest generated.

Enrique Morente (photo: Rafa Manjavacas)

Enrique Morente was one of the first to apply classic poetry to flamenco forms and he was experimenting with other musical genres long before anyone was talking about «fusion».Born in 1942, he belongs to the first wave of a generation of innovators that includes Juan Peña «Lebrijano», Camarón, Turronero and Pansequito among others, singers formed in neoclassicism who followed alternative paths with varying success.

French flamenco followers are historically rigid gypsophiles, so this non-gypsy singer was facing a certain challenge despite his outstanding career.The show began as we saw it in La Unión two years ago, with an intimate circle of four or five men doing rhythm, with a dramatic overhead spot for the first cantes a capella.At 65, Morente is in excellent voice and faculties.Next, a highly personalized interpretation of mirabrás is offered with tender loving care – this is a kinder, gentler Morente who has come to Nimes, humbler and more flamenco.

The advantage of knowing how to do traditional cante, and being fully capable of doing it as well

Siguiriyas is taken at a clip in the major key of cabales to become a song with poetry from Lorca and almost sounding like bulerías.Rondeña with two choral voices a little rough around the edges is ended with the fandango of Frasquito.The tic-toc of the «Pequeño Reloj» which is a «tango parao» as they call it in Granada, ending with conventional tangos.For soleá, it's a super-slow rhythm that destructures the compás, and the guitarist uses ethereal chords that cause the cante to float away like a helium balloon – the natural weight of this basic form is lacking.

Well-interpreted traditional siguiriyas includes classic styles of Manuel Molina and Curro Durse.A wag once said that in art, as in sex, there is nothing as sad as knowing how to do something and not being able to do it.Enrique Morente has the advantage of knowing how to do traditional cante, and being is fully capable of doing it as well, so we have to give him the benefit of the doubt when he chooses to travel down alternative paths, although a larger dose of traditional cante would have been welcome.

Once again, the overhead spot and the circle, this time for a round of tonás.A beautiful interplay of voices using harmony in fifths momentarily sounds like the gladiators are coming, and this is the «official» end.But then Morente says «bon soir» and tells us about his sightseeing excursion through Nimes.This is followed by a curtain call performance, and a second curtain call, not requested by the audience, but welcome all the same, and thus ends this dignified and sober recital at the Nimes theater.