El Torta. Presentation of ‘Momentos’.
Colegio de Médicos in Madrid
Intensity
S.C. Madrid, November 7th, 2007
‘Momentos’. Juan Moneo
‘El Torta’: cante. Juan Manuel
Moneo: toque. Colegio de Médicos. Madrid, November
7th, 2007. 9 p.m.
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El Torta (Foto Daniel
Muñoz) |
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If a word had to be chosen to describe
the experience of El
Torta’s cante, it would be intensity.
No one else twists cante that way, attacks it, fractures
it, confronts it and surrounds it like that, as if impulsively.
And that involves breaking a lot of rules and formalities.
So the Jerez-born cantaor doesn’t leave anyone indifferent
at all. But he makes a warning up front: “I’m
unpredictable”. And he is so not just for the audience,
but also for his guitarist - whom every phase is presented
to as a challenge - and perhaps, even for himself.
The historic auditorium of the Colegio
de Médicos (Medical Association) in Madrid was
the setting for the presentation of ‘Momentos’.
An album marked by the rawness of a live performance which
the artist returns with following nearly fifteen years
without releasing a record. He laid out the concert in
two parts; two concentrations of tense performances which
were separated by a prolonged intermission. The first
one, with a suit and tie, included tientos, alegrías,
soleá por bulerías and bulerías.
And on this tour, he turned his echo into a kaleidoscope
of registers, rhythmics, sensations, gestures, influences,
and above all, personal references. He feels unique. He
is unique.
He began the second part - with a black
shirt baring his chest - por seguiriyas, deep, unfathomable.
“The bullfighter always wants to do another pass
with the bull”, he explained. And the next pass
was a personal tribute to Luis
de la Pica, whom he admires for his genius and difference.
With the syntax of cante pushed to the limit, he summed
up the bulerías ‘Momentos solo’. The
burst of energy was such in this onslaught that he hardly
had any strength left for the two batches of cantes bulerías
he wanted to finish off with. No one better than he knows
that he has to make up for lost time. And in his favor
he has no less than an audience desiring to suffer and
enjoy cante the way he himself suffers and enjoys it,
with authenticity and might that are nearly extinct. Long
live “tortismo”... long live it.
El Torta (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
