The forty-third edition of the festival of La Unión
was officially inaugurated on Wednesday August 6th, and the
following day the winners of last year's contest were once
again on stage at the refurbished central market known as
the Cathedral of Cante, but on Friday the 8th, with the formalities
taken care of, the festival kicked into high gear. The first
of five scheduled performances that precede the final stage
of the contest was devoted to four very flamenco female voices.
Encarnación Fernández who broke the ice with
the first notes of the first concert accompanied by her son,
guitarist Antonio Muñoz Ferrnández, is a favorite
at La Unión. Two consecutive years, 1979 and 1980,
she won the coveted Lámpara Minera and is respected
for her knowledge of mining cante. Nevertheless she claims
her favorite cante is soleá and true enough, she sang
a good selection of styles demonstrating a distinct affinity
for those of Utrera and Lebrija with a certain Fernanda sound…what
would soleá be today were it not for that lady in Utrera?
The novelty of tientos tangos with a discreet laúd
backing up the guitar was frankly quite effective, and when
Encarnación sang her final fandango we were all feeling
good and ready for more.
Encarnación
Fernández
María
Vargas
It's been a long time since Esperanza Fernández from
Triana stopped being the young hopeful, daughter of singer
Curro Fernández. Now Curro is introduced as the father
of Esperanza, because this woman is one of the most sought-after
artists in her field, and rightly so. Despite the artistic
curiosity which has led her to participate in projects related
to contemporary music, she's had the good taste to follow
José Mercé's example and not deform or turn
her back on traditional cante. Accompanied by the young maestro
José Antonio Rodríguez, she sang an artfully
restrained soleá, again reminding us of the debt to
Utrera and Lebrija which in this case is her birthright. In
the same line, she offered a complete selection of cantiñas
de Pinini “with genuine flavor” like they say in
the ads. Respectable, well-delivered siguiriyas despite the
occasional dreamy jazz chord that took away some of the punch.
Tientos tangos ending with Triana styles, and bulerías
where the singer returned us to Lebrija with the characteristic
verse of “el pollito que piaba”. This woman has
no qualms about paying tribute to her roots.
Esperanza Fernández
Veteran singer María Vargas is practically unknown
to the new crop of flamenco fans, but those of her generation
remember her as having great knowledge of Cádiz cante,
the compás and grace of her hometown of Sanlúcar
and for her physical beauty that almost seemed innappropriate
for flamenco. So it was a delight to rediscover this now mature
woman, albeit showing the natural wear and tear of the years,
but still interesting nevertheless. Accompanied by guitarist
Antonio Jiménez “El Chispas” she applied
her tense, metallic voice to soleá played “por
medio”, in 'A' position (seldom do female voices manage
'E' position for soleá), then alegrías with
romeras, siguiriyas, a tasty assortment of tangos, fandangos
(she was one of the very few who dared to defy Antonio Mairena's
dictum singing fandangos at the cante festivals of the seventies),
ending with bulerías, a combination of classic and
original styles, all in the traditional line.
The
icing on the cake was Remedios Amaya and her group with Juan
Diego on the guitar and the singer's sisters and daughter
doing chorus. She came on dressed in basic black with large
earrings and her hair in a tight bun, a lovely portrait of
the traditional gypsy woman. After some mining cante she dug
into bulerías, including styles from Extremadura inherited
from her family. And more bulerías, always with that
“canastero” sound, “La Camarona”, a female
version of Camarón de la Isla say some, but she has
her own personality. A guitar “solo” adorned by
the chorus of voices, and Remedios returned, barefoot, to
sing and dance with ever greater intensity, filling the cathedral
of cante with her savage velvet voice. Admirable communication
between the charismatic singer and her group, and even the
most demanding flamenco fans got to their feet for the final
bow.
