Festival Flamenco Caja Madrid 2011 . Valderrama, Güito, Paco del Pozo…

Text: Isaac Rodríguez
Photos: Rafael Manjavacas

A BIT OF EVERYTHING

A mixed bag of performers for this program on the second day of the Caja Madrid festival.  All in the same sack they threw young Madrid singer Paco del Pozo with his classical line, veteran dancer Eduardo Serrano “El Güito”, and the upstart Juan Valderrama junior for a show titled “Maestros”.

Although they say variety is the spice of life, there’s another adage: “many a slip twixt the cup and the lip”.  Although they didn’t quite slip and slide.  Only half the seats of this large venue were occupied, but one thing for sure, the audience had a good time and showed their appreciate with enthusiastic applause.

Paco del Pozo cante with Antonio Carrión guitar

Paco del Pozo was the first one up, with his habitual repertoire interpreted as always with great generosity of spirit, and no small amount of heart.  He sang malagueñas, soleá de Triana and bulerías with absolute credibility and no concessions to embellishment.  Complete dedication and faithful respect for the forms, backed up by the fine guitarist Antonio Carrión.

After a merely competent dance by la Talegona, El Güito appeared to dance soleá with the tight economy of movement and duende that characterize him.  Since he’s no kid any more, you can’t expect great technical feats nor lightening-fast heelwork or pirouettes, but his movements give a feeling of the real thing.

After intermission, the person whose name topped the bill, the son of Juan Valderrama who bears the same name.  On this occasion he chose to honor the master singers who triumphed in the twentieth century: Pastora, Pinto, Farina, Porrina, Marchena, La Niña de la Puebla… and of course, Juanito Valderrama.  He evoked them all, but the sound of his voice always reminds us of his father, and at times, of Pepe Marchena.  The fandangos of el Sevillano and of Vallejo, and the tangos of Porrinas de Badajoz, had little to do with their creators.  One piece however was especially enjoyable where in the style of the elder Valderrama he mixed seguiriya, saeta and granaína, and the romance por soleá that closed the show was also very moving with the extraordinary guitar accompaniment of Daniel Casares and the recoded image of Valderrama senior getting up from an illuminated chair with sombrero.

Without getting into the flamenco quality, the duende or whether this young Valderrama is “pure”, what is clear is his complete dedication, his artistic capacity and his desire to please, for all of which the audience showed their appreciation with a long ovation.