BIENAL DE FLAMENCO DE SEVILLA
2008
ANDRÉS MARÍN, ‘EL CIELO DE TU BOCA’
Bronze movements
Silvia Calado. Seville, September 22nd, 2008
‘Raíces y alas’.
Carmen Linares: cante. Juan Carlos
Romero: guitar, music, artistic director. Miguel
Palenzuela: actor. Tino di Geraldo: percussion. Paco Cruzado:
guitar. Gretchen Talbot, Robert Thompson: cello. Roberto
Barroso: contrabass. Ángel Sánchez: oboe.
Juan Manuel Rico: bassoon. Joseba Robles: flugelhorn.
Juan Tenazas: flute and drum. Ana María González,
Javier González: clapping, choruses. Pepa Gamboa:
stage director. 15th Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla 2008.
Teatro Lope de Vega. Seville, September 23rd, 2008. 9
p.m.
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Carmen
Linares
Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
Like reading for a while in the shade
under a tree. That’s what the concert was like which,
inspired by the poetry and spirit of Juan Ramón
Jiménez, was premiered by Carmen
Linares and Juan
Carlos Romero at the Teatro Lope de Vega. Calmly,
tactfully. Without scares, without forceps. Breathing,
listening, savoring the words. It isn’t the typical
flamenco conversion of a poet’s verses, but rather
a musical show made out of respect not just for the poetry,
but also for the thinking of an author for whom art wasn’t
just life, but also science.
‘Raíces y alas’ can
be read at one sitting. There are ten pieces, a concise
little work but with substance, with many possible readings.
Designed not to disturb the words, but rather to offer
it differently to the ear. Although when it needs reading,
it’s read simply. And that’s taken care of
by the deep-voiced actor Miguel Palenzuela, with measured-out
appearances and his figure nearly camouflaged amidst the
fixed pictures projected on the curtains. A tree. A village.
Scarcely a few details so as not to leave the scene devoid
of charm, to link what’s recited to what’s
sung. And there’s the ‘pepagamboa’ touch.
Then in the musical work in itself, Juan
Carlos Romero has wanted to target the vocals. The guitar
remains in the subtlety, in the atmosphere, in the temperature.
And that’s also how the role is conceived of the
percussion by Tino
di Geraldo, who wove measures to the sound of the
tambourine and tabla; that of the choruses and clapping
by the González siblings; and that of the strings
and winds, with very elegant performances.
Thus well-accompanied, the lady of cante
masterfully performed the difficult tessitura which the
Huelva-born composer places her in. Every sketch of her
cante is pre-designed by Romero in such a way that the
chosen verse is unaltered, and really even more beautiful.
Therein lies the value of this project. Her job is to
perform it, express it and channel the emotions. Something
which she undoubtedly managed to do. Both in the pieces
‘helped’ by recognizable flamenco structures
(soleá, fandangos de Huelva, alegrías, the
martinete standing with mike in hand …), and in
the beautiful free songs. And neither Romero’s role
nor Linares’s was easy. It isn’t at the reach
of just any musician to honor an artist with such a sophisticated
mind and pen as those of the Nobel Prize winner from Moguer,
now a little less forgotten. When he left, he didn’t
just leave the birds signing.
Click
the images to enlarge |
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| Juan
Carlos Romero
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
Juan
Carlos Romero and Carmen Linares (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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And tomorrow…
Israel Galván
(Photo Bienal de Sevilla
© C. Corrales) |
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• ‘El
final de este estado de cosas. Redux’,
Israel Galván
Teatro Maestranza, 8:30 p.m.
Israel
Galván presents the revised version
of his latest work ‘El final de este
estado de cosas’ at the Teatro Maestranza.
The show by the avant-garde Sevillian bailaor,
inspired by the biblical Apocalypse, is directed
by creator Pero G. Romero. And its lineup
includes guest artists such as Fernando Terremoto,
Diego Carrasco and Juan José Amador.
Japanese butoh dance, Italian tarantella,
doom metal and the sounds of real bombings
are some of the ingredients in this show,
which premiered at Málaga en Flamenco
2007.
• ‘Tiempo pasado’,
Leonor Leal, Ana Morales, El Choro, Juan Campallo…
Teatro Alameda, 11 p.m.
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