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SEVILLE'S BIENAL DE FLAMENCO
2002. 'TRILOGÍA'
...with guest artist Moraíto
Silvia Calado Olivo. Seville, September 24th, 2002
Photos: Javier Hurtado
'Trilogía'. Guitar: Diego del Morao, Manolo Parrilla,
Moraíto. Cante: La Macanita, Remedios Amaya, Tío Enrique
Manuel Sordera, Tío Paulera, Luis el Zambo, Fernando de la Morena, old-timers
from El Pipa's family. Vioiín: Bernardo Parrilla. Palmas: Chícharo,
Gregorio, Bo. Teatro Lope de Vega. Seville, September 24th, 2002. 9:00 p.m.
At the entrance the customer could read: "Trilogía flamenca. Moraíto".
And in the playbill, "Guest artists: Macanita, Remedios Amaya, Luis el Zambo".
Nothing could have been further from the truth. "Trilogía flamenca"
meant that the show was divided into three parts, each one corresponding to a
flamenco scene from Jerez: the fields, the tavern, the flamenco nightclub. So
far, so good. "Moraíto", in theory, meant that the guitarist
from Jerez was going to play guitar. No. Moraíto didn't tune up until the
show was well under way, that is, until the third part, when he played seguiriyas,
tanguillos and bulerías. The rest of the time he kept rhythm, sirved and
drank sherry, came and went to and from the stage, making himself at home. Meantime,
a "troupe" of nearly thirty members took care of the hands-on artistic
work, Moraíto being a mere collaborator or as they say in TV circles, the
coordinator of that impromptu flamenco party that, well, did have a few enjoyable
moments.
Moraíto
In the fields, farmhand style, Macanita's bulerías with a couple of
verses from her usual repertoire, Fernando de la Morena's bulerías, the
chubby boy's bulerías, the old Pipa woman's bulerías... At the tavern,
with Bo as innkeeper, circling the table, emptying the barrels and Luis el Zambo
knocking out bulerías with Tío Paulera and Tío Enrique. Aside
from good or bad music, the result was a free-for-all with well-worn class. At
the makeshift "nightclub", Moraíto's three pieces along with
his group (Bernardo Parrilla, violin, and Cepillo, cajón), Tomasa
with martinetes on her way to Molina's orchard (a little déjà vu
with the Alcázar as backdrop), Remedios Amaya doing her Camarón
thing to soleá with the romance Amargo (at last, a little promotion for
'Sonsonete') and a violin note to close, listen! The audience was a bit confused
by the nearly ten-minute wait in pitch darkness between one part and another.
It's the closing. Grand finale at the nursery school, applause and a certain sense
of emptiness, because the fiesta is for participating in, because having top billing
is a big responsibility.
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The other side of the story
Getting through more than seven dozen shows puts the level of quality at risk,
particularly when the productions are new works expressly commissioned. Budget
and time tend to be the main factors the groups are up against, and in the end,
the person who forks out for a seat. Before trying to gild the lily with something
never before seen, the audience would be grateful for a little honesty, not so
much in the artistic sense, but in the overall workings...including contractors
and those they contract.
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revista@flamenco-world.com
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