52 Festival Internacional de Cante de las Minas de La Unión.
August 3rd, 2012 – Catedral del Cante – La Unión (Murcia)
Special report 52nd Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas.
JOSÉ MERCÉ WON OVER THE AUDIENCE AT LA UNIÓN WITH HIS SHOW “NUEVO AMANECER”
The Cathedral of Cante once again had a magical night thanks to the performance of José Mercé in the Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas with his show Nuevo Amanecer which allowed the audience to feel the spark of his genius as expressed through an impeccable repertoire.
The Jerez singer devoted the first part of the show to straight flamenco: malagueña, soleá and siguiriyas, expertly accompanied by guitarist Diego del Morao, son of the deceased Moraíto Chico for whom Mercé had endless praise.
In the second half the singer presented Nuevo Amanecer in which he offered an exhaustive run-down of his earlier recordings, from “Del Amanecer” in 1998, up to “Ruido” in 2010, which included pieces such as “Te pintaré”, “Al alba”, “Lío” and, most especially “Aire”, which triggered high excitement among the audience.
With careful staging, production and magnificent back-up musicians, José Mercé topped off his performance with a little tribute to the mining tradition of La Unión with a bulería whose verse alluded to local miners: “There’s a revolution in the mines of La Unión, because the miners say their salary is small and they need to earn more money” [“Hay una revolución en las minas de La Unión, porque dicen los mineros que les suban el jornal, que ganan poco dinero]. When the audience reacted with a grand ovation, the singer responded with some fandangos.
After the Gala Flamenca, the Jerez singer unveiled the “Lámpara José Mercé” on the Avenue of Flamenco, a symbolic act that generated great interest among locals, visitors and municipal dignataries who were present.
During the act, José Mercé declared he was “overcome with emotion from the affection shown to me in La Unión where I feel right at home, because ever since I was young I used to come and I saw the great flamenco following there is here”, then adding: “you know what you’re doing, I consider myself one of you and believe this is the most important festival in the world”.
José Mercé
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