Dorantes en concierto
Wednesday, October 12th, 2006. 9:00pm.Teatro Central

Special 14th Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla. Reviews, programa, photos...

Text: Estela Zatania

Piano: Dorantes. Percussion: Tete Peña. Electric bass: Manolo Nieto.

From the finest flamenco stock comes David Peña “Dorantes” to perform at the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla, the venue of his first major success exactly ten years ago. Nephew of the great flamenco singer Juan Peña “Lebrijano”, with everything that implies, the son of Pedro Peña decided early on that his need to communicate feelings, the same need felt by any artist in any field, indeed, by all humans, was best met via the keyboard.

There have been many pianists involved in flamenco. Arturo Pavón was the first great star to make a career of what would thereafter be called “piano flamenco”. Felipe Campuzano became very popular towards the end of the nineteen-seventies with a sort of anthology, an excursion through Andalucía with piano compositions he interpreted on the piano and which evoked the flamenco feeling of each province, reflecting the compás and musical structure of the guitar without imitating the singer’s melodies, and his piece “Salinas” came to be synonymous with Cádiz.

It’s all about flavors. But the definition of flavor is particular to each individual because it depends on memories, experiences and impressions that are non-transferrable. When an artist, specifically a musician, manages to assemble a mental catalogue of impressions that are so common as to be universal, and manages to express them through the chosen medium, we then say the product has a great deal of “flavor”.

He bravely rejects the charicaturization of flamenco, and lays out his music to be taken at face value

Dorantes has taken this process one step further, establishing new precedents and opting for a path which does not openly seek inspiration in cante nor adhere to identifiable flamenco forms. His compositions have poetic names, and do not bear generic subtitles of “palos” or forms. They are abstract pieces that do not necessarily evoke shared impressions, but rather his own personal ones, like most of the music in the world. He bravely rejects the charicaturization of flamenco, and lays out his music to be taken at face value. Beautiful, moving music, interpreted with feeling and knowledge.

Where then is the frontier? Is his music “flamenco” because its composer was born into a pre-eminently flamenco family? We won’t go into this labyrinthe, but the question is on the table. Another question is whether someone who knows flamenco guitar, cante and dance is qualified to evaluate a pianist’s performance, or if it’s even fair to the musician to do so.

In this context then, it seems obligatory to communicate the tremendous feeling of impotence knowing that some flamenco fans will be reading these words looking for a proper critique of what took place last night at the Teatro Central – some sort of recommendation, praise or criticism that might orient them regarding Dorantes’ music, but with the greatest humility I can only say that it seems very pretty. And once again I will take advantage of this platform, whose importance I don’t take lightly, to put a question to the organizers: couldn’t there be a little more flamenco at Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco?

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