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Cante. Seville. Woman

	Esperanza Fernández with José Antonio Rodríguez
	Remedios Amaya

What the cantaora from Granada lacks in maturity was made up for a few nights earlier by two women from Seville who already earned there place up there with the greats: Esperanza Fernández and Remedios Amaya. Compensating for the limitations of the 'supporting' cantaoras Encarnación Fernández and María Vargas who opened on Friday August 8th, both sent the audience home more than satisfied using their flair, character, personality and savoir faire. Esperanza Fernández combined exuberance and modesty, balancing 'soleares de Alcalá' with 'cantiñas de Pinini', seguiriyas with bulerías, tientos with tangos, sketching out a golden triangle joining Triana, Alcalá and Lebrija. Softly cradled in the gentle strumming of José Antonio Rodríguez, her vocals shook the temple's foundations. Beauty in the six strings, beauty in her seasoned vocal chords. And complicity between one and the other. And the understanding of the audience too, who showered praise when she gave of herself, through her vocals and even dance, and when she let her emotions pour out.

Remedios Amaya tipped the scales more toward extroversion than introversion, even though she showed some deference opening her recital with a somber cartagenera. A beautiful voice, beautifully set to work. Such an exceptional instrument leaves a lasting impression. The wondrous vocals are buoyed up by Juan Diego on guitar, carefully plucking every note and every harmony. It isn't too long before the activity on stage begins to warm up, and the true colors started to shine through. A merry hubbub announced the arrival of the 'jaleos extremeños'. Las Peligro and daughter Samara on 'coros'. The queen of up-tempo 'festero' rhythms feels at home now. She clears the way for her barefoot dance, singing as she does so. Tangos, bulerías. She draws amply on the 'Sonsonete' album, and there's a hint of Camarón. "Al alba, tú te fuiste al alba..." (At daybreak, you left at daybreak). Echoes which rang out through the mining town of La Unión in those early hours, mingling with the fresh sea air in the dim light surrounding the market, an illusion brought to life.

Matilde Coral, Chano Lobato, Juan Habichuela, Estrella Morente, Miguel Poveda, Remedios Amaya, Esperanza Fernández... Impeccable. The quality of the program of flamenco nights at the Murcia festival had surpassed itself… until the blunder of the flamenco opera. Nobody seemed to know anything about the group Xeb-Alhamar, nor of the production 'Sueños de libertad', scheduled for Sunday August 10th. And when the time came the result was indignation. And many directed their anger toward the cultural organization from Estepona on Malaga's coastline, whose city council is a sponsor of the event. They are the ones who perform the show, created and directed by the city's former mayor Manuel Sánchez Bracho, and with music by local guitarist Paco Javier Jimeno. Perhaps the criticism should be leveled at the organizers, who made the silly mistake of billing an amateur production alongside performances by a list of first-rate professional artists. More worthy of a chapel than a cathedral. And the effects were clear to see at the ticket office, at the local Peña La Palmera, and in the atmosphere that night - in party spirit up until then - and in the expressions on the faces of the audience.

Ode to a genius

Gerardo Núñez
'Bodas de sangre' (Blood wedding)

But the next night those faces were smiling once again as Estrella Morente stepped up on stage. And the program closed with a double bill which marked the start of the contest, with Gerardo Núñez Trío and the Compañía Andaluza de Danza sharing the limelight. The guitarist from Jerez opened with an excerpt from 'Yerma' which began as a solo and finished 'por bulerías' bolstered by percussion at the hands of Cepillo and Pablo Martín's double bass. One seamlessly became three. The trio poured forth their compositions full of knowing references, a captivating performance which grasped the imagination of the audience who were there with high expectations. There was virtuosity, there was vigor, there was rhythm, and with these ingredients the musician mixed his peculiar hypnotic blend, which reached the point where the crowd even cried 'jaleos' at the barefoot bassist. Almost all the tracks were lifted from the 'Calima' album, passing over the 3:4 rhythms and pausing for 'soleá por bulerías', soleá, bulerías... and dreamy pieces like 'Trafalgar'. Creativity, progress, playfulness, silence, crescendos, all wrapped into one.

After the interval, an ode to Antonio Gades. The bailaor and choreographer's absence was compensated for initially by the Compañía Andaluza de Danza's performance of his masterpiece 'Bodas de Sangre'. The work of the dancer from Alicante, to whom this edition of the festival was dedicated, was brought to life by Cristina Hoyos and the members of the company financed by the Andalucian regional government. And they gave a worthy performance of this piece, filled with moments of genius which have later been borrowed from by all comers. Tension, silence, drama, aesthetics... and the striking pertinence of a creation which, in spite of being over thirty years old, is still at the vanguard of flamenco dance. A wise decision on the part of the Andalusian Dance Company in carrying on the legacy of this piece. Following on from the tragic story, José Antonio, currently director of the company and former director of the Ballet Nacional de España, read a letter sent by Gades himself. The text, aside from wishing the festival a long life, held a dedication which touched the hearts of all in La Unión: "I wish to dedicate this award, with all my respect, to the memory of all of the miners who have died working and to their families, and to the man with the soul of a miner, my friend Paco Rabal, on whom I thought to pay a visit tomorrow - we have a lot to talk about, my soul mate, my companion." And the market building was reduced to tears.

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