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SENTIMENTAL IDEOLOGY AND A CERTAIN
SAVAGERY
1st Part. Manolo Sanlúcar in concert; 2nd guitar:
Santiago Lara; Cante: Carmen Grilo; Percussion: Jorge Aguilar.
2nd Part. Cante: José Mercé; Guita: Moraíto.
Text: Manuel Moraga
With all the seats sold out, the latest edition of
what without a doubt is going to be one of the best programs
of the national flamenco circuit this year, got under way.
And the take-off was thoroughly vertical. Sanlúcar
gave us his exquisite discourse and Mercé knew how
to open and close wounds. From the very beginning we were
treated to high-quality moments.
The twenty-first Jornadas Flamencas de Fuenlabrada represent
the first program at Fuenlabrada’s Teatro Auditorio
Tomás y Valiente, a venue inaugurated just days ago
by Sara Baras. The opening couldn’t be more auspicious
for this art form. There was certain concern on the part of
the organization that the 800 seats wouldn’t be filled,
but the “Sold Out” sign was up at the box office.
Manolo Sanlúcar opened the evening. His words were
a prelude to each of six pieces, and each one was presented
in its frame thus focusing his message, his artistic ideology.
Yes. Manolo Sanlúcar is an ideologue of feeling; he
has always been so and his experiences only reinforce this
natural inclination which is constantly evolving in him. “Feeling”
said the maestro “formed the essence of my path;
today I’m more careful where I offer my feelings. I
shall try to give you a part of myself”.
And that’s just what he did. The program was titled
“Tres momentos para un concierto”. Three samples
of his work taken from different eras, different personal
moments, different creative states. “Añoranza
gaditana” and “Ruiseñor y mirlo”
combined to make the first of those moments. Clarity, luminosity,
the search for beauty in its most universal sense, exquisite,
vital joy. Those are the concepts that could define the emotional
and artistic context of the compositions.
“When the politicians said we had to do away with
bullfighting because it was counter-productive in our communication
with the European community, at that moment” confessed
the maestro, he made his “Taurmagia”.
From that work Sanlúcar last night took “Maestranza”
and “Tercio de Varas”. Two examples of the greatness
of his guitar and his creative capacity that were the centerpieces
of the second “moment” of his concert. Two examples
of beauty, of a sense of equilibrium in the musical discourse.
Each one of the phrases seemed to be the logical consequence
of the one that preceded, and so on, one after another, organizing
into an evolutionary syntax where what matters is the final
text in its entirety. “Tercio de Varas” is a prodigious
work of growing beauty and emotion.
In the last of the three moments, the guitar lost the clarity
and luminosity with which it opened the night. The central
theme was Lorca’s work. The maestro scrutinized the
ultimate poet’s essence to compose his
“Locura de brisa y trino” (from the year 2000),
a work which last night brought “Normas”, “El
poeta pide a su amor que le escriba” and “Gacela
del amor desesperado”. Fragments of a soul drowning
in melancholy: “I anxiously seek something I could only
sense: I find it, I understand it and organize a musical world”.
Like a magician, an alchemist, the maestro walks his fingers
up and down the neck of the guitar searching for the ultimate
delicacy of resonance.
Once again light shined from the guitar of Manolo Sanlúcar
with “La danza de los pavos”. The closing number.
The maestro came to show us “part of that world we all
search for over a lifetime”. A world full of truly beautiful
musical complexities. Music born of a strange mixture of intellect
and emotions. Music which after all transcends the purely
musical. That is the essence of art.
José Mercé rounded out and closed the evening.
In this context the man from Jerez served up a performance
in the classic style. He began with malagueña and went
soul-searching with a wide range of solea and alegrías
styles. Nevertheless, where he was truly in good form was
for the siguiriyas where he was truly moving. His delivery,
his way of eking out the cantes and bringing them in for a
happy landing, his way of feeling the pain and opening wounds
is enough to give anyone shivers. To close the open wounds
Mercé finished his recital with bulerías from
his hometown, with corresponding dance. For the curtain call,
his classic “Aire”.
Although generally speaking he didn’t take many risks
(or at least, not like on other occasions), the fact is, Mercé
is one of those pleasures you have to indulge in from time
to time. That savage Jerez-style cante reaches the heights
in him. And we mustn’t forget Moraíto, an obligatory
reference – his intelligence and command, what a guitarist!
High emotion and a good aftertaste for the first of the Jornadas.
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