Festival ¡Flamenco! 2009 takes the latest baile, cante and music shows to Rome

Cañizares, Diego el Cigala and Fuensanta la Moneta stand out on the bill, which is to be held September 10th to 20th, 2009 in the Italian capital

Flamenco-world.com, July 2009

Festival ¡Flamenco! 2009. Complete show schedule

The latest baile, cante, toque and music. The dual criteria of currentness and variety runs through the program of Rome’s Festival ¡Flamenco! 2009. The Italian capital has already prepared the show schedule for what will be its third edition and which will be held September 10th to 20th at the halls Petrassi, Santa Cecilia and Sinopoli of the Auditorium Parco della Musica. Guitar by Cañizares, cante by Diego el Cigala, El Pele and Esperanza Fernández, baile by Isabel Bayón, Fuensanta la Moneta and Rocío Molina, and flamenco jazz by Perico Sambeat star in the lineup. And it will close with ‘Noche de Sevilla’, a gala promoted by the Bienal de Flamenco.

Fuensanta la Moneta (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

Two months away from Esperanza Fernández’s ‘Recuerdos’ opening the curtain, Rome’s Festival ¡Flamenco! 2009 is now revving up its engines. As a prelude to what will be experienced at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in the Italian capital this September, avant-garde bailaor Israel Galván has just presented his ‘El final de este estado de cosas. Redux’ at the Villa Adriana. A show which paves the way for what the Fondazione Musica Per Roma is getting ready for the third edition of Italy’s main flamenco festival.

The Sevillian cantaora will inaugurate the program on September 10th with a recital at the Sala Sinopoli which captures her latest album in the company of Granada-born guitarist Miguel Ángel Cortés. On the second night, Friday, September 11th, bailaora Fuensanta la Moneta presents the show ‘De entre la luna y los hombres’, with stage direction by Hansel Cereza. The young Granada-born artist will return on the following night to the same stage, but with her repertoire show ‘Lo que trae el aire’. And she will do so while Diego el Cigala, one of the leading figures of today’s flamenco cante, performs at the Sala Santa Cecilia. The Madrilenian cantaor will perform ‘Dos lágrimas’, a project in which he continues the dialogue between flamenco and bolero which he began together with Bebo Valdés on ‘Lágrimas negras’.

The personal guitar of Cañizares will take over on Sunday, September 13th with ‘Origen’. In this concert, which he has presented this past season at forums such as Seville’s Bienal and the Mont de Marsan Flamenco Festival, he does an anthology of his work accompanied by Córdoba-born bailaor Ángel Muñoz, Juan Carlos Gómez on second guitar and Rafael Villalba on percussion. The next two days will be devoted to the baile of Isabel Bayón. The Sevillian bailaora presents two of her latest shows: ‘Tan solo flamenco’ on Monday the 14th and ‘La puerta abierta’ on Tuesday the 15th.

Jazz, cante, baile and a Sevillian grand finale

El Pele (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

The home stretch is lined up by Valencia-born saxophonist Perico Sambeat with the live show of his latest album ‘Flamenco Big Band’, a flamenco jazz concert in which the PMJO (Parco della Musica Jazz Orchestra) conducted by Sambeat, is joined by Marc Miralta and Guillermo McGill on percussions, Gerardo Núñez on guitar and Carmen Cortés on baile. Then on Thursday the 17th, cante returns by the hand of veteran Córdoba-born cantaor El Pele with a recital entitled ‘La fuente de lo jondo’ in which he is accompanied by guitars, choruses, clapping, percussions and cello. Just like Moneta and Bayón, Málaga-born Rocío Molina also offers a twin bill. On Friday the 18th she presents ‘Oro viejo’, a show about the passing of time which she premiered in Seville last autumn, and on Saturday the 19th she revives her previous show ‘Almario’, a suite of flamenco dances which cantaores José Valencia and Antonio Campos collaborate in. The third edition of ¡Flamenco! ends with the closing party ‘Noche de Sevilla’, a gala sponsored by Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco, the top flamenco festival.

Festival ¡Flamenco! 2009 Auditorium Parco della Musica (Rome, Italy) September 10th to 20th, 2009, 9 p.m. Thursday, September 10th Sala Sinopoli Esperanza Fernández ‘Recuerdos’ Friday, September 11th Sala Petrassi Fuensanta la Moneta ‘De entre la luna y los hombres’ Saturday, September 12th Sala Santa Cecilia Diego el Cigala ‘Dos lágrimas’ Sala Petrassi Fuensanta la Moneta ‘Lo que trae el aire’ Cañizares and Ángel Muñoz (Photo Daniel Muñoz) Sunday, September 13th Sala Petrassi Cañizares ‘Origen Flamenco’ Monday, September 14th Sala Petrassi Isabel Bayón ‘Tan Solo Flamenco’ Tuesday, September 15th Sala Petrassi Isabel Bayón ‘La puerta abierta’ Isabel Bayón (Photo Daniel Muñoz) Wednesday, September 16th Sala Petrassi Perico Sambeat Flamenco Big Band PMJO, Javier Colina, Marc Miralta, Albert Sanz, Guillermo McGill, Gerardo Núñez, Carmen Cortés, Duende Thursday, September 17th Sala Petrassi El Pele ‘La fuente de lo jondo’ Friday, September 18th Sala Petrassi Rocío Molina ‘Oro Viejo’ Saturday, September 19th Sala Petrassi Rocío Molina ‘Almario’ Sunday, September 20th Closing party ‘Noche de Sevilla’