Estrella Morente pays tribute
to La Niña de los Peines in the DVD ‘Casacueva
y escenario’
The Granada-born cantaora appears accompanied
by Juan and Pepe Habichuela
Flamenco-world.com, March 2007
Estrella
Morente can now be seen in action. After releasing
three albums, the Granada-born cantaora publishes her
live art on DVD. ‘Casacueva y escenario’ (‘Housecave
and Stage’), two hours in length, is split up into
three parts. The first two, recorded in 2000, are intimate
gatherings at Enrique Morente’s house and at Cueva
de Curro Albaicín, where the artist performs different
cantes accompanied by guests such as Juan and Pepe Habichuela,
Isabel la Golondrina and Loles del Cerro. The third part
is the entire concert which, with the title ‘Pastora
1922’, was offered by the cantaora at La Alhambra’s
Patio de los Aljibes during the 2004 Granada Music and
Dance Festival, and which later led to the album ‘Mujeres’.
Estrella Morente on 'Pastora
1922'
(Frames from DVD 'Casacueva
y escenario')
The DVD immortalizes one of the milestones
of Estrella Morente’s still young career, the show
‘Pastora 1922’. The concert took place at
La Alhambra’s Patio de los Aljibes, where in 1922
the mythical Cante Jondo Contest was held, promoted by
Falla and Lorca. And with it she paid tribute to her muse,
La
Niña de los Peines. Estrella Morente appears
surrounded by musicians like guitarists Pepe Habichuela,
Miguel Ángel Cortés and Josemi Carmona,
a group of gypsies from Sacromonte and even the Lute Group
of Albaicín.
Together with them, she performs a repertoire
of traditional cante which, in part, has led to the album
‘Mujeres’. The repertoire includes tangos
de Granada, zambra, soleares, bambera, bulerías
and rumbas, besides ‘Danza de la Molinera’
by Manuel de Falla, which Estrella Morente dances in a
suede bata de cola designed for her by Loewe. And all
of it with La Alhambra as the backdrop.
House and cave
And from the grandeur of the red monument
to intimacy. The other two blocks making up the DVD both
occur on quaint stages in October 2000, just months before
the release of her first album, ‘Mi cante y un poema’.
One of them is a corner of Enrique Morente’s house
full of old flamenco photos. And there, Estrella Morente
sings tangos, seguiriyas, copla and soleá, accompanied
on guitar by Juan and Pepe
Habichuela. She also converses, singing, with Isabel
la Golondrina, a veteran Granada-born cantaora who “doesn’t
exactly pass things on to me, but as a new artist from
her native land, she does pass me the tablespoon to taste
its honey”.
Estrella Morente with Juan
and Pepe Habichuela, among others
(Frames from DVD 'Casacueva
y escenario')
And the other is the Cueva de Curro Albaicín,
where Estrella Morente stars in a gathering with family
and friends. And here, she combines flamenco cantes such
as tangos, soleá and bulerías, with folk
songs like ‘Los Pelegrinitos’ and ‘Los
cuatro muleros’. There are also appearances by guests
like Concha Habichuela, Dolores la Porrona, her mother
Aurora Carbonell and her sister Soleá Morente,
among others.
Besides the live performances, the DVD
includes statements by the star about her life and about
flamenco, plus extras such as the photo session with her
wardrobe and historical notes about the Granada Music
and Dance Festival. The audiovisual, with a total length
of two hours, has Enrique
Morente in the credits as musical director and José
Sánchez-Montes – author of the documentary
DVD ‘Morente sueña La Alhambra’- as
director.
