Now in its 18th year, the Caja Madrid Flamenco Fesival, sponsored by the Spanish bank Caja Madrid’s Social Fund, has become an annual staple in the Spanish capital. Although relatively small when compared with other performing arts festivals, what Caja Madrid’s event lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality, by inviting the biggest names in flamenco.
The two week program, running from February 15th – 26th, was composed of five large-scale concerts, hosted at the Teatro Circo Price – an indoor circus ring in the heart of Madrid that doubles as a theatre -and four part lecture series on different aspects of the flamenco art form, held at the Casa Encendida, Caja Madrid’s cultural space.
The festival premiered with a two part concert. The first half brought the flamenco singer from Jerez Vicente Soto Sordera’s production Flamenco Geographies: Sevilla, Jerez, Cádiz. Vicente hails from a long line of flamenco artists, including Paco La Luz, La Serrana, El Sordo La Luz, El Niño Gloria and Manuel Soto “Sordera,” his father. The collection of pieces performed represented a journey through flamenco’s most emblematic cities and paid homage to not only legends of purist flamenco song, but also poets who influenced flamenco, such as Antonio Machado, Caballero Bonald and Rafael Alberti.
Carmen Linares headlined opening night. Linares is a great proponent of the preservation of traditional flamenco songs and lyrics as well as an artist who thoroughly enjoys setting the work of Spanish poets to music, as evidenced by her album Raíces y Alas, on which she performs the poetry of Juan Ramòn Jiménez. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that similar to Vicente Soto, she chose to present a performance dedicated to Spain’s great poet’s entitled Poetry in Flamenco Song: Poems by Lorca, Juan Ramòn Jiménez, Caballero Bonald.
The second night brought the magnificent Catalan flamenco songstress Mayte Martín accompanied only by the guitarist Juan Ramòn Caro, creating a simple production focused purely on traditional flamenco. Although Martín’s performance was meant to focus on orthodox flamenco music, it also revealed the classical and enchanting nature of the popular songs performed. What was wonderfully enriching about this concert in particular is Martín’s meticulous research and drive to bring back classic songs that have fallen into disuse, such as the beautiful garrotín that captivated the audience.
Following Martín was maestro guitarist Enrique de Melchor, who was also awarded the festival’s Calle de Alcalá 2010 Award. Son of the legendary Melchor de Marchena, Enrique de Melchor has worked as composer and producer for over 30 years, while juggling accompaniment and solo guitar work. After receiving an award for his achievements in flamenco music, it would have been nice to hear a bit more of Melchor’s solo paying, but his performance that night seemed secondary to that of his singers and the excellent flamenco flutist Juan Parrilla.
The festival’s third concert started with an homage to the Madrid flamenco dynasty of Los Pelaos. The homage was choreographed, directed and performed by Toni El Pelao and his partner La Uchi and was based on the duo’s successful show Puro Flamenco. The show represented a historic journey through the origins of flamenco dance and the mark that Los Pelaos have left on it.
Next came the concert of Madrid singer Ramòn Jiménez Salazar, better and internationally known as Diego El Cigala. Due to the success of the Lagrimas Negras, the album he recorded with Cuban jazz pianist Bebo Valdés in 2004, it seems that El Cigala is now incapable or unwilling to perform without adding the Latin jazz element, and his Caja Madrid concert was no exception.
The fourth evening launched with a concert by the young singer from Huelva Arcángel. This 34 year-old is one of the most revered of the new generation of flamenco singers. His expressive and refined voice marks a changing point in flamenco song, turning away from the darker shaded voices that have become popular over the last few decades, and returning to a more subtle style of singing that focuses more on dexterity of voice modulation rather than on an overpowering brashness. His concert was a stunning example of traditional flamenco that was only made better by his fabulous backup singers, the brothers Antonio and Manuel Saavedra, who sang in a unison so perfect they seemed to share one voice.
Closing the Caja Madrid Flamenco Festival was the legendary singer from Granada Enrique Morente. Known for being a great flamenco innovator, Morente has dedicated his life to studying old flamenco song as well as fusing flamenco with other styles of music. Morente’s show was the fairly standard flamenco performance that he is known for, and he was accompanied by his son Kike Morente on the choruses and palmas. Kike is being groomed by his father in guitar and solo singing. It’s possible that in the not so far off future, it will be Kike that headlines the evening, much like his very famous sister, Estrella.
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Alguien sabe cuando viene Paco de Lucia a Chicago? Se que esta por empezar o ya empezo , al parecer, su gira mundial de despedida, si alguien tuviera su prgrama para EEUU, agradeceria me lo enviara, gracias.