A dream of soleá that sums everything up

Sara Arguijo

The sound of three voices

Voice: Jesús Méndez, Antonio Reyes and Duquende. Guitar: Dani de Morón. Dance: Patricia Guerrero. Rhythm: Los Mellis. Artistic director: José Luis Ortiz Nuevo. Teatro de la Maestranza, June 8th, 2017. Half attendance.

The dream was a soleá. That of Antonio Reyes who is becoming more gut-wrenching, as he soul-searches in what it is and what he has to offer.  He knows his virtues well, and what audiences want, feeling each note and closing each line with the thread of a contained voice with which he confesses the great virtues.  As if he were trying to shout out his sentence: that flamenco is pleasure and he has no interest in rushing.
 
Here, in the sweetness and melancholy that spills from his throat, were the “oles!” from an audience that was frankly cold, with applause that sounded canned.  Of course there were some brilliant moments in the nostalgia of memories evoked by Duquende, the earthy voice of Méndez in siguiriyas, the evocative granaina of Dani de Morón, the wafting arms of Patricia Guerrero in the farruca…  Such names on the bill couldn’t offer anything less.
 
But certainly the static lineal format of the show – two pieces per artist and next one up – was no help, nor was the monotonous lighting, the lack of shading and the irregular sound.  Above all, because at the end, even the greatest artists need some fireworks to meld the emotions.  And on this night the flames were missing.

 

---