FLAMENCO AT THE SABATINI GARDENS 2007.
RAFAELA CARRASCO
Sybaritic flamenco
S.C. Madrid, August 19th, 2007
Marina Heredia’s
echo
The wind also wanted to make
itself heard. It blew deep, it felt cold. It ruffled the
frills on the bata de cola, it slipped into the microphones.
Piano and pine trees sounded together. It sped quickly
through the seats, taking advantage that it wasn’t
a sell-out. Perhaps due to the cool weather. But neither
was it free, like the crowded concert by Ara Malikian
the previous night at the Templo de Debod, nor could the
night of soccer at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium be eluded.
But the flamenco served up on a silver platter by Rafaela
Carrasco isn’t a matter of the masses, but one
of sybarites.
Rafaela Carrasco with Jesús
Torres and Antonio Campos
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
At Madrid’s Sabatini Gardens, the
Sevillian bailaora’s company performed ‘Una
mirada del flamenco’, a carefully crafted show which
makes clear her personal, contemporary way of understanding
flamenco. The show, which premiered two years ago at Festival
de Jerez, intertwines music and dance, calling both on
art and intellect. That’s why there aren’t
any places for applause... neither the easy, nor the difficult.
It all flows together without pause, with relentless dynamics,
alternating the solos by the bailaora -brilliant in the
malagueña and the tangos with an ethnic echo -
with the group movement. And all of it, always to the
music.
Quality brims over on all fronts. The
delightful guitar of Jesús
Torres. The fermented cante of Antonio Campos. The
chromatic percussion of Nacho Arimany. The pliant piano
of Pablo Suárez. The tocaor subtlety of Fernando
de la Rúa. The accurate cello of José Luis
López. And the impeccable composure of the dance
corps, from which the very complete Daniel Doña
stands out. Each piece in its place, each place with its
piece. And painstaking care with the light and sound at
this venue with scanty technical means. Of course, it
wasn’t the context to appreciate the infinite nuances
of this artist’s work, but even so the audience
was able to understand it was before flamenco which is
different, risky, thought-out, apt for fine tastes. And
the wind blowing...
Marina Heredia’s
echo
Rafaela Carrasco’s
performance concluded the fourth edition of
the Flamenco at the Sabatini Gardens Series,
which had artists such as Javier Barón
and Marina
Heredia as stars on its bill the second
week. The Sevillian bailaor brought his entire
company to put on his latest show, ‘Meridiana’.
The Granada-born cantaora reeled off part
of her new album, ‘La voz del agua’.
And the thing is that she wanted to get ‘serious’
first to appear without further influences
or ornamentation other than those marked by
cante. Once warmed up, she stood up to fill
the stage with her figure and her voice, with
songs like the committed ‘Tango de las
madres locas’ by Carlos Cano and ‘Balada
del que nunca fue a Granada’ with verses
by Alberti, without forgetting the tangos
de Graná, which she again did perfectly,
and a finale por tonás ‘a capella’.
Echoes such as hers remained, following two
intense weeks of jondura, lingering around
the gardens.
Marina Heredia
& group at Sabatini gardens
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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