Festival de la Mistela. Los Palacios. Historias de Arte. Matilde Coral, Chano Lobato, José Valencia, Venencia Flamenca

‘Historias de arte’: Chano Lobato, cante. Matilde Coral,
dance. Ramón Amador, guitar. Jesús Vigorra, moderator.
Venencia flamenca: José Valencia, cante. Miguel Iglesias,
guitar. Manuel Valencia and Carlos Grilo, palmas and jaleo.

For the closing night of the Festival de la Mistela, the
organizers put together a program that combined veterans and youthful
artists with excellent results.

The human face of flamenco without which
this art never would have existed in the first place

The
Chano and Matilde show continues to delight audiences more than
two years after its conception, having been presented at major festivals
such as that of La Unión, Córdoba, Jerez and Mont-de-Marsan
among others. Born in 1927, “the year of the poets”
as Manuel Curao the master of ceremonies says, Chano Lobato is today
one of the most revered figures in flamenco. We know his anecdotes
by heart – the one about how Ignacio Espeleta invented “tiri
ti trán”, the one about Pericón and the sheet
music for flamenco they found lying around the docks in Cádiz
or the one about the Phoenecian torch that was fished out of the
bay still lit, and just like small children begging to hear the
same fairy tale over and over, we listen enthusiastically, hanging
on every word with a smile pasted on our faces from the moment Chano
appears on stage with that walk of his and the zany comments. Nowadays
when the younger generation is cultivating an aesthetic of relentless
minimalism at all costs, Chano Lobato puts a human face on flamenco
without which this art never would have existed in the first place.
With Matilde Coral, the dancer with whom he shares a professional
history that spans decades, the sage moderation of Jesús
Vigorra who just barely manages to channel the chat of these unruly
oldsters and guitarist Ramón Amador, they construct a show
that combines cante, dance and good humor and is the best master-class
in flamenco that has ever been known.

Drinking only water because “I got sugar…and doctor Carmen
says no booze”, Chano produces a strong voice richly textured
by the years for some very Cádiz-style tangos, malagueña,
soleá and alegrías for Matilde’s dance where
she moves more easily than when walking. Matilde tells us about
Pastora Imperio and Gitanillo de Triana, Alejandro Vega, Trini España,
the disappearance of the bata de cola… True-life experiences and
wisdom intertwine and flow with utter naturalness from this lady
of the dance with more than a half-century of experience. Or as
Chano says with a naughty twinkle in his eye, “Mati, let’s
face it, you were baptized the same year as Richard the Lionhearted!”

After
intermission, we were returned to 2005 and an era in which traditional
flamenco singing is going through dire straits. Market forces induce
the best voices to sign their souls over to the world of pop and
young singers have a hard time trying to make a record of “cante”.
José Valencia Vargas of Lebrija is one of these young people,
possibly the most experienced and prepared to jump into solo singing,
but at 30 he’s still struggling to carve out his niche. For
this reason, and because of his exemplary career, the jury of the
organizing commission of the Festival de la Mistera decided to award
the Venencia Flamenca al Cante de 2005 to José Valencia.
The boy who years ago at the age of thirteen won the Joaquín
el de la Paula prize at the Mairenca contest came onto the stage
of the municipal theater of Los Palacios y Villafranca dressed in
a suit and tie to accept the award known as the Venencia, “the
first time I ever won something so important”, dedicating
the prize to his father, grandparents and 7-month-old daughter.

A fiesta finale with scenes for the
history books

After the presentation, the singer loosened his tie, took off his
jacket and set about offering a full-fledged cante recital that
included soleá, cantiñas “from my hometown”,
siguiriyas and bulerías with the “romance” feeling
so typical of Lebrija, as well as cantes of Antonia Pozo and Choza
that are cultivated in that town.

For the fiesta finale José requested the presence on stage
of Chano and Matilde which led to some scenes for the history books,
most notably José dancing with Matilde or the surprising
bulerías dance of Matilde’s husband Rafael el Negro
who was summoned on stage by all the principals.

Anabel Valencia

At the flamenco club El Pozo de las Penas, this edition of the
Festival de la Mistela came to a fitting close with the tangos,
fandangos and bulerías of Anabel Valencia, cousin of award-winning
José who showed up at the last minute to celebrate his big
night.

Chano Lobato

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