XV BIENAL DE FLAMENCO. 'ORIGEN' Juan Manuel Cañizares

XV BIENAL DE FLAMENCO DE SEVILLA

‘ORIGEN’
Estreno absoluto
Cañizares
Program (PDF)
4th OCTOBER. Teatro Central – 11 PM

SPECIAL BIENAL DE FLAMENCO DE SEVILLA 2008

Text: Gonzalo Montaño Peña
Photos: © Archivo Bienal de Flamenco, Luis Castilla

Guitar: Cañizares; Second guitar: Juan Carlos Gómez; Percussion: Rafa Villalba; Dance: Ángel Muñoz.

Juan Manuel Cañizares brought “Origen” to Seville’s Teatro Central, a show in which the musician tried to lay out his most interior musical life.  A reduced format, trio with dance, no singer, everthing thought out to highlight the sound of the guitar.  It was an intelligently constructed recital of contemporary flamenco music.

It can’t be denied that the changes that revolutionized flamenco guitar, brought on by Paco de Lucía and Manolo Sanlúcar, left little wiggle room for the following generation.  And not because they invented every thing under the sun, but because the impact of their ideas and technical concepts was so overwhelming, young guitarists found no other way of playing except by identical reproduction of the two maestros.  But Juan Manuel Cañizares always proved to have his own vision about sound, although influenced, unavoidably, by the geniuses, but with a sound of his own.

After “Suite Iberia”, an interesting piece of work based on guitar adaptation of the work of Isaac Albéniz, the Catalonian guitarist showed us the origins of his music and the influences that have marked him.  The repertoire moved within the limites of classic flamenco, colombianas, bulerías, tanguillo, alegrías…ten pieces based on guitar, and even the dance reproduced the notes of the guitar.

The show was very well put together, from beginning to end, and conceived as a voyage to the origins of the composer’s music in which harmony served as a means of transportation, and melody was the impetus that moved it.

The trip got underway with colombianas, to then take us through some lovely bulerías phrases, this is where the guitarist’s technique was impressive.  In zapateado, with the dancing of Ángel Muñoz, you could see it was flamenco forms within a discourse with concepts of classic music and dance.  The academic background of these two is well-known, at the same time searching for their creative flamenco personality.

Rafa Villalba on percussion demonstrated he knew how to situate the sound to make a comfortable rhythmic background to coddle and enhance the melodies.  Second  guitar Juan Carlos Gómez was also in form, as in the tangos where the Cañizares sound gained in harmonic force thanks to his contribution, but the best rapport between these guitarists was in “Toca Madera”, a composition for guitar duo.

After some delicate fandangos titled “Palomas”, and then an impressively forceful rumba, the concert came to an end and the audience offered a standing ovation, asking for more of this fine guitarist’s music.

I’m a person who considers the flamenco guitar an instrument for cante accompaniment, because sometimes instrumentalists tend to get too fussy and base their music on technical displays, making their recitals boring (for the non-guitarist).  But I’d have to say the guitar of Cañizares sang at the Teatro Central, and seventy minutes felt anything but boring.  It was a pity the theater was not fuller.