MANOLO SANLÚCAR AND CARMEN LINARES. LOCURA DE BRISA Y TRINO

Harmony

Candela Olivo. Mont de Marsan (France), July 3, 2002

Cast: Manolo Sanlúcar: guitarist and composer. Carmen Linares: cante. Santiago Lara: second guitar. Paquito: percussion. Espace François Mitterrand. Mont de Marsan (France), July 3,2002.9pm.

Manolo Sanlúcar (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Carmen Linares and Manolo Sanlúcar (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

"The work we are going to perform is the result of years of trying to make sense of a musical anxiety that I have had. At first there was no way I could understand it, at least not until I found a way of coping with it through music. As I searched for this spirit I knew that without the cante flamenco could not survive and I looked to Lorca to use some of his poems and then invited one of the great women of flamenco to help me out. Tonight we are going to try and search for that spirit that will allow us to harmonise together." Manolo Sanlúcar, as is his wont, took a few minutes to explain himself before he let the guitar do the speaking. El Espace François Mitterrand in Mont de Marsan seemed rather in awe of this intellectual of flamenco. Would 'Locura de brisa y trino' harmonise with the close to two thousand people gathered in the hall?

Without changing its original structure, the concert began at the beginning with "Adam". It then went on to display the original, harmonious, complex and fresh flavour that characterises the work. The singer put herself to the test in the first few bars, Paquito kept to the basics, while Santiago Lara gave timid support to the lead guitar, which had by now been unleashed by the grey-haired maestro.

There were plenty of silences, rests and never any question of rushing. In the poem 'Normas', the strings deepened their sound, the echo of the Carmen's cries were left hanging in the air and Sanlúcar continued to play below, above and around the rhythm. The craggy voice was accompanied by clenched fists, while the giant screens on either side of the stage displayed gestures, fingers and expressions. 'El poeta pide a su amor que le escriba' ("The poet asks his lover to write to him") lightened the atmosphere. The development of the composition could be sensed in the language of the guitar.

Without the singer, the guitarist from Bajo Guía then writes a 'Carta a doña Rosita' ("Letter to doña Rosita") ... softly, sweetly declaring his love for her an exquisite exhibition of delicate touch. While the singer from Jaen and her accompanists make their return, Sanlúcar apologises for the time he has taking to tune his guitar between each song - a problem due to the humidity. "It is the price that has to be paid to conserve an instrument as noble as a guitar which cannot be plugged in any old place," he says. The love poem now becomes more passionate in 'Gacela del amor desesperado' ("The gazelle of desperate love"). The respect the guitar shows for the cante is deeply moving and the music begins to affect the audience. With all four back on stage again and to the rhythm of alegrías, they start 'Campo'. "El cielo es de ceniza" ("Heaven is made of ashes"), laments Carmen. And they steadily work their way towards the finale. Without slowing the rhythm, they reach the end with a rumba titled 'Son de negros en Cuba'. With the guitar working its wonders, the singing becoming playful singing and the backing from the group as solid as ever they edge their way to the finale. The audience decides it's time to get to their feet, cheering until they get an encore, which still isn't enough to satisfy them. The spirit of 'Locura de brisa y trino', did then manage to harmonise with the audience at the French festival.

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