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2003 MONT DE MARSAN FLAMENCO
ART FESTIVAL
Hats Off to Them!
Candela Olivo. Mont de Marsan (France), July 2nd, 2003
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Dorantes with the Cámara Sur Orchestra, Esperanza
Fernández on cante (guest artist), Manuel Nieto on bass, Nacho Gil on saxophone,
Tete Peña and Joaquín Carrasco on percussion, Juan on drums, Vicente
Peña and Quini Flores on clapping. Espace François Mitterrand. Mont
de Marsan (France), July 2nd, 2003. 9 p.m.
Dorantes
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The recurring inducement of baile was missing... and attendance suffered for
it. The capacity of a little over two thousand seats at Espace François
Mitterrand was far from seeing "sold out", the sign Farruquito had already
hung up a few days ago for the upcoming premiere of 'Alma Vieja' ('Old Soul').
Whoever missed it may very well be forever regretful for their absence, since
those who were there had the privilege of attending what can simply be called
a great concert. And in fact, they knew how to appreciate it. There was even a
triple encore called for by means of clapping (in rhythm) and stomping... Dorantes,
the Lebrija-born pianist with the surname of Peña, came to Mont de Marsan
to perform 'Sur', that second album which shows what a good composer he is (without
juxtaposing the adjective flamenco). And he did so with all the musical display
that the album deserves, including the Cámara Sur Orchestra and cante by
Esperanza
Fernández, who was still receiving congratulations for her recital
the previous evening.
He did the introduction solo. Dressed in white, he appeared before the entrails
of the Steinway & Sons to pluck the strings. With total freedom and a close-up
of his hands on the giant dual screen, he took to the fragmented, to the sketches,
to play with the specific and with the abstract. With two people on clapping and
two percussionists marking the terrain, the bulería flows, already showing
in the first measures the virtue of creating an atmosphere of these black and
white keys of Perrate blood. The rhythm is gathered together until the soleá,
the cantaora coming in sharp velvet. "The grandeur of cantes...". Alcalá
with elegance, the accompanying piano, the winged voice. The bass is swapped for
the voice, straight to the point and riding on the bulería again, they
perform one of those tunes of cinematographic soundness. About flying, dreaming,
loving. Esperanza comes back with 'Di, di, Ana' ('Say, Say, Ana'), a beautiful
song composed by Dorantes' father and already sung years ago by Enrique Morente.
The senses find both the piano and the voice wounding. Straight inside.
The antidote comes by way of tanguillos. With Juan on drums, a musician of
a similar disposition to that of Tino di Geraldo (whom he was filling in for),
Miguel Nieto on bass and percussions, color and divertissement gush forth from
the stage... From piano to percussion. From piano to bass. From piano to drums.
Question. Answer. A summer evening's conversation. Amidst all those influences
adopted by David Peña's music is that from beyond the ocean... And thus
crystallizes in 'Barrio Latino' ('Latin Quarter'). The wind sketching with a fine
point, less is more on the drums. With the violins and the cello now at the meeting,
the panoramas in cinemascope start to be seen, a glimpse being caught of a Celtic
I don't know what, something epic. The rhythmic, the polychrome, the outside and
the inside. And the music which nearly doesn't fit in the auditorium. And that
romantic ballad set up by the contrabass... And that other superproduction composition
which Dorantes shares completely with the select group. Oh, that tremendous music
which is Esperanza Fernández, who keeps the seguiriya in its place, while
the others go down other roads; who doubles the melody of the winds without lyrics.
And the piano which goes out with a fade and the crowd can no longer hold back.
'Semblanza de un río' ('Portrait of a River'), "which describes the
Guadalquivir from where it has its source in Cazorla until it dies in Sanlúcar"
and 'Orobroy', the main theme on his first album, take care of the double encore.
For the third, "the problem is that now I know what to play", so he
plays a new version of 'Caravana de los Zincalí' ('The Zincalí Caravan')...
with an improvised Esperanza now in street clothes. "I think we're all very
touched". And so it was, both on and off the stage.
Dorantes
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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