Flamenco Festival, Sadler’s Wells, London
June 5, 2024
London is very lucky to have a rare visit from guitar virtuoso Vicente Amigo literally and figuratively centre stage for a full ninety minutes plus encore. Memoria de los Sentidos spurns the usual flamenco hierarchy to put the guitar at the forefront with a nod to cante and baille towards the end as a special treat.
We had familiar forms including bulerias and solea and some less so. Flamenco has always been a cultural magpie, itself a mish mash of influences, but Amigo never loses sight (or sound) of his roots whilst pulling in something from South America and jazz with its African heritage.
Amigo has a delicate technique, the complexities of his falsettas never getting lost in the cul de sac of baroque abstraction, but always pulling back towards the tradition of the form. Whilst he is undoubtedly at the heart the performance, he is ably assisted by the Scot Ewen Vernal on the bass guitar, not always audible but giving the music grounding, Paquito González on percussion and fellow flamenco guitarist Añil Fernández.
Rafael de Utrera reminds us of the importance of cante with his powerful voice balancing well with the unusual dominance of guitars. Dani Navarro completes the cast, a man with the height and body of a danseur noble but the lightening feet of the true flamenco bailaor. His zapateado is never vulgarly showy for the sake of it, but rises and falls, ever accurate but now soft, now hard and even managing to strike a treble and bass tone. Hips are subtle and his height makes his arms into frames, always perfectly placed.
Utrera, Fernández and Navarra provided subtly impressive palmas, switching at exactly the right moment from sordas to secas.
The sound balance was much better than the previous night, although the constant hiss of what I assumed to be the ventilation, or perhaps white noise from the speakers, was irritating, and especially during quieter moments.
Such was the concentration amongst the musicians that they managed to conjure the intimacy of the peña, not least because the knowledgeable audience retained a dignified concentration until the end. González pulled a few extra percussion instruments out for the encore, Amigo’s famous Roma.
Sadler’s Wells Flamenco Festival continues to June 15, 2024.