Miguel Poveda at Las Ventas, 25 years of music

Text: Pablo San Nicasio
Photos: Rafael Manjavacas

Cante: Miguel Poveda. Guest artists: Carmen Linares, Joan Manuel Serrat, María Dolores Pradera. Guitar: Chicuelo and Jesús Guerrero. Percussion: Paquito González. Chorus and palmas: Londro, Carlos Grilo and Luis Cantarote. Bandoneón: Marcelo Mercadante. Dance: La Lupi. Piano and arrangements: Joan Albert Amargós. Violin: Olvido Lanza
Plaza de Toros de las Ventas

And that’s only the first 25

Bull-rings are the last venues in this world where, normally in broad daylight, the rite of death and creation continues to take place, and real blood is spilled.  A place where the wise choice of terrain and distance has its just reward.  A place where, conversely, going too far usually brings sure, and even irreversible punishment.  No half-way half-baked intentions, only a few chosen ones can pull it off.  The rest of us…we just observe.

Last night Las Ventas again opened the big door, and all the others, to receive a flamenco artist.  And if in 2005 it was Paco de Lucía, it was only logical to assume the next one would be another great star.  Someone able to make us overlook the time spent in this place where the wind and the cold tend to take over in the afternoon and evening.  This individual managed it, and I have to admit, it’s very impressive to hear so many people applauding all at once without the slightest reserve.

Miguel Poveda is this year celebrating a quarter-century on the stage, and he and his team went for broke.  The turnout for this man from Badalona was quite respectable: although not filled to the proverbial rafters, few seats were empty.

And without being a venue particularly apt for flamenco singing, it was nevertheless prepared with the same attention to detail that Poveda employs for his most spectacular shows.  Double giant screen, a moving biographical film showing the comings and goings of this still young star, and above all, the stage set.  This is customary with Miguel Poveda, and last night more important than ever in order to keep the flame burning for the three and a half hours of show.

In the first place, to mount such a long show and manage to get a majority of happy audience members is quite an achievement.

Conceived in a similar line as the concert he did at the Teatro Real, last night’s offering differed in that it offered more flamenco throughout the course of the show, and there was no separation or compartmentalization of musical styles.

Flamenco-wise, Miguel concentrated on his traditional repertoire, giving special importance to the “vital” styles: mining cante which he put right in orbit, the bulerias with Jerez sounds from his time spent in that city, and most notably, the highlights from his record “ArteSano”.  Cantiñas, tientos tangos de Triana and the soleá of Charamusco.  The latter divided by the famous routine in which he heroically evokes the voices of Valderrama, Caracol, Marchena, Porrinas…

Lyrical song, or “copla”, was the other great form of the night, without occupying as much time as in other memorable evenings with this style.  It was the form that was most sacrificed in favor of fado, remembering poets, Argentine tangos and pop, because there was a little of everything at Las Ventas.

Three highpoints arrived in form of guest artists.  Strategically placed, the first to appear was Joan Manuel Serrat, presented as a poet as great at Alberti and Miguel Hernández, and he sang a duo with Poveda in the Catalonian language: “El Meu Carrer”.

Carmen Linares upped the heat with “La Luz que a mí me Alumbraba”, almost immediately followed by María Dolores Pradera, appearing after a two-year absence from the stage and in a very weakened state, to stand alongside Miguel Poveda “whom I love”.  The collective emotion was incredible upon seeing the titanic effort, and as she pointed out: “in recent years, at this time of night, I’m usually on my way to the emergency room”.

This was undoubtedly the high point of the evening when she remembered through images a number of people who had been important for Miguel: his father, Chavela Vargas, Morao, Camarón, Bambino, Pencho Cros…all intertwined in an interactive documentary for seven thousand people, summing up more than two decades of dedication to music.
Miguel Poveda announced he would be leaving Spain for some time so people don’t tire of him, and then make a triumphant return.  Without a doubt, there isn’t much more he can do here, having squeezed out almost everything Hispanic music has to offer.  Leaving our stages for a time seems intelligent and well-considered.  Twenty-five years at this pace isn’t bad…let’s see what the next 25 will bring.

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Miguel Poveda & Serrat