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SPECIAL COVERAGE: BIENAL DE FLAMENCO DE SEVILLA 2010 ESTRELLA MORENTE DE GRANADA Cante: Estrella Morente; Guitar: Montoyita, Miguel Ángel Cortés,“El Monti”; Cante: Antonio Carbonell, Ángel Gabarre, José Enrique Morente; Dance: El Popo, Iván Vargas; Guest artists: Juan Andrés Maya, Cuadro Flamenco Gitano del Sacromonte, Grupo de Laúdes del Albaicín. With the pretext of evoking the cantes that the 1922 Granada Contest aimed to preserve, Estrella Morente came to the Bienal drawing a lot of people who don’t usually attend flamenco performances. Without a doubt, they went home happy. Those of us who were hoping to hear that kind of cante however, left disappointed.
Aside from the terrible sound, we did manage to see some good gypsy dancing from the patriarch of the group. Aside from that, mostly lots of choral singing, the tangos of Tía Marina Habichuela and a recreation of the dance of Golondrina. In other words, much ado about nothing. The Granada group finally brought Estrella on stage. This woman has fabulous presence, and is truly beautiful! She is incredible moving around the stage with the self-confidence of a great lyrical singer, a real flamenco diva. But we were all waiting for her flamenco side to come out from one moment to the next, the promised tribute to the classics. She was distant in the fandangos del Albayzín taken at a very fast clip, but with perfect pitch and no small amount of warbling, and although in the high notes there was a little roughness, it didn’t matter. Come on Estrella, give us the good stuff! Now her father’s tangos, but no way, it just wasn’t her night, the imitation wasn’t going anyplace, and the flamenco-folksong hybrid thing was not working. Finally she sat down to sing malagueñas, and then granaínas, non-stop falsetto and excessive warbling. The scales she pulls out are pretty, but there is the constant feeling of wanting and not being able. She stood up for a bulerías song, and finally she was comfortable, taking charge of the stage. She is presence and beauty, but continues to inhabit the nether-world of folklore, stepping in and out at will. We received a few flashes of her gypsy inclinations when she danced up front to her own bulerías singing showing that no matter what, she is an artist, she devours the stage, no one can ever deny her that. As special guest artist, she brought out Juan Andrés Maya who danced soleá in what was the best moment of the evening. Estrella gave her best flamenco interpretation when she put the warbling aside and managed a respectable soleá del Mellizo for Juan Andrés. The dancer had some wonderful moments, although he was excessive in some things, with very long heelwork sections and repeated smash endings that overshadowed the worthwhile part. To sum up, we left the theater with the feeling that we hadn’t seen anything of what had been promised, no cantes from the 1922 contest, no Niña de los Peines, no playera or caña, something of Morente and truckloads of star quality.
FLAMENCO ACTUAL: “De sandalia a tacón. Soleá Ensamble” De Sandalia a Tacón: Dance: Ana Morales; Voice and violin: Jalal Chekhara; Cante: Moi de Morón, Antonio Campos; Guitar: Jesús Guerreo, Manuel Domínguez; Percussion: “Cepillo”. Soleá Ensamble: Piano: Borja Évora; Dance: Ana Morales; Guitar: Jesús Guerrero; Voice: Alicia Gil, Carlos Sanlúcar; Percussion: “Cepillo”, “Poti”. The Teatro Alameda has been presenting young up and coming artists, a venue for displaying new personalities, new musical idioms and forms of expression with no strings attached. In this context, dancer Ana Morales and pianist Borja Évora made their respective appearances at the Bienal.
Morales recreated her concept of the legendary Telethusa, the dancer who was brought to Rome where men were at her beck and call after seeing her extreme sensuality and suggestive movements. It’s a lovely idea, and the dancer seeks expressivity based on instrumentals, suggestion and concept, all well-achieved. Violinist and singer Jalal Chekhara interpreted a wonderful Arabic song that recalled the unmistakable legacy that this music has left in the collective subconscious. The flamenco moment arrived with the cante of alegrías where the dancer was completely at ease thanks to the guitar accompaniment of Jesús Guerrero who was superb, as well as the cante of Antonio Campos and Moi de Morón who was like a Seville version of Rancapino, not only in the sound of his voice, but in concept and compás, ole Moi! It’s not easy to sing alegrías the way he did.
“Solea Ensamble” brought a pianist I almost thought was a studio musician, hiding behind the top of the piano, preferring not to be seen too much. But behind that piano there turned out to be an intelligent artist with modern concepts and some rich musical ideas. In mineras, he had a distinct personality, a sound that was richer in harmony than melody and as is the norm these days, jazz tendencies within a flamenco framework. Good rapport in the accompaniment, and good rhythmic taste. The guitar of Jesús Guerrero also played an important part in this group, and the percussion of Cepillo and Poti provided a back-up that helped construct the bulerías ambience. The voices of Alicia Gil and Carlos Sanlúcar were the counterpoint between romantic and flamenco that left a good contemporary impression. |
