Sevilla - Feria de Abril 13/04/2013

Sevilla 13/04/2013 - Lo bien toreao es lo bien arrematao (Rafael “El Gallo”)

Sevilla. 13^th April 2013. Bulls (in order of appearance) de Núñez del Cuvillo, Garcigrande, Victorino Martín, El Pilar; and two from Juan Pedro Domecq (5^th & 6^th)

José María Manzanares (light blue and gold suit): ovation, ovation, silence, silence, light claps and two orejas.

Lo bien toreao es lo bien arrematao; this Rafael El Gallo phrase has served me for today’s review, because, indeed, Manazanares’ solo corrida was excellently arrematao. Of course, El Gallo’s quote refers to toreo itself, and submits that a pass or series, no matter how brilliant its beginning, must be concluded properly and powerfully. However, El Gallo, a philosopher at heart, is merely describing human nature. We enjoy crescendos, and abhor anti-climaxes, often forgetting that, in the case of the latter, they must, by nature, be preceded by a climax. Therefore after five bulls had been dispatched, and with the crowd expectations dashed, José María Manzanares rose like a phoenix from the ashes to perform a truly wonderful faena that, in and of itself, went a fair way to justifying his proposition.

The problem I find with solo corridas is that they raise the bar of expectation far too high. Most corridas in Sevilla transpire with barely an ear been cut, much less an outstanding faena being performed. Consequently, why, in the case of a solo corrida, does the afición expect the opposite to be true and the afternoon to contain a hatful of ears and a couple of historic faenas?

With this expectation, Jose María Manzanares crossed the golden sand of the Maestranza for the opening parade, impeccably dressed in a striking light blue suit, his solitary figure casting a haunting image, reinforcing the fact that here was a man alone to face six bulls. The psychological impact of this cannot be underestimated, the entire afternoon’s brilliance rested on his shoulders. The weight of the burden would increase as each successive bull left the arena with both its ears intact.

The corrida had began promisingly, the opening Cuvillo bull showed its classy charge immediately as it allowed Manzanares to perform pleasing veronicas to saludar, these were interspersed with a playful chicuelina and concluded with a well-executed media veronica. Unhappily, it also seemed as if the Cuvillo’s silky charge would be hampered by limited strength, thus Manzanares ordered a two light pics, broken up with a short but bright quite by chicuelinas. The Cuvillo’s classy charge came to the fore, but lingering in the background was the doubt of how it would withstand the final third, in the event Manzanares performed a short but intense faena based on the bull’s right horn. The bull run out of gas a couple of series too early, but, even so, the toreo en redondo was commendable and I have heard the Maestranza band strike up a pasodoble to less. Overall it seemed as if the crowd was in the frame of mind to witness something truly extraordinary, and therefore, the merely good was of no interest to it.

The Domingo Hernández bull, run in second place, was an altogether different proposition. The compliant desire of the Cuvillo was replaced with the testing casta of a bull with nerve. To begin his faena Manzanares sought to submit the bull’s charge with some punishing low genuflecting passes before electing to take the right hand for toreo en redondo. The bull had its problems, but once enticed with the muleta possessed a long charge from which Manzanares was able to extract a couple of very well worked series en redondo. Again it seemed as if the crowd and band were a touch cold – the afición was prepared to encourage Manzanares, but it would not surrender to him easily. For the second time the bull lacked about ten passes in order to allow the faena to fully take form; after the initial charges, the bull would stop and measure the torero between each pass, and Manzanares stood still, faced up to his challenge and with a firm toque drove its focus back to the muleta. It was a show of controlled bravery that was necessary to demonstrate Manzanares’ desire to triumph this afternoon.

What these opening two bulls also showed was that it is not just passes and series that must be well concluded (as per El Gallo’s phrase), but also faenas – despite their auspicious start, both works faded to nothing as the bull’s charge dissipated. Perhaps, had these bulls been run later in the corrida, there might have been a more positive outcome.

Given the promising, but ultimately underwhelming, start the mood in the plaza was edgy and tense as the Victorino (a striking light grey bull) entered the arena. Unfortunately, the bull was tough and while it maintained a level of excitement throughout its lidia, it did not allow for beautiful toreo. After Juan José Trujillo showcased supreme bravery and ability to place two spectacular pairs of banderillas, Manzanares began to torear with the left hand and extracted some well worked and long naturales. However, the mirage of the bull’s long charge faded quickly and the faena concluded with suitable macheteo.

By the half-way point of the corrida, both the toreros and the crowd’s hopes were foundering – but by the time the fifth bull was taken away by the mulilas, such hopes had sunk. The fourth El Pilar bull was poor by all measures, weak, lacking class and the type of bull that does not allow for a moment’s brilliance. The fifth bull, a Juan Pedro Domecq, a sobrero as the original Toros de Cortés bull was rejected, was better. Like the first and second bulls it allowed for a good beginning to the faena, a superb tanda of derechazos caused the band to strike up, but, once again, the bull exhausted its reserve of charges fairly promptly and the faena was not adequately concluded.

Five bulls and five disappointments, it seemed as if the afternoon was meandering into disenchantment. However, fate had ordained for an ideal bull to be waiting in the pens for Manzanares to be able to properly conclude and rematar his feat.

Notwithstanding the unfortunate development of the corrida, the crowd was grateful to Manzanares’ for his heroic decision to face six bulls and between the fifth and sixth bull encouraged him with a standing ovation. It was the emotive highlight of the corrida thus far, the crowd helping the hero when he most need their confidence, and this visibly struck a nerve with the torero who was spurred to head for the puerta de chiqueros and greet the sixth bull a porta gayola. What followed was an artistic work of cathedral-like stature that was delightful to experience, but will no doubt be harder to describe.

To greet the bull, Manzanares performed three larga cambiadas de rodillas, a cluster of beautifully executed veronicas and an emphatic media veronica on his knees. The bull had a long, exciting and noble charge that Manzanares would exploit until the end of his masterpiece. For the second time in the afternoon he performed a quite artístico sculpturing a well-timed series of tafalleras capped with a delicate tijerilla. Curro Javier, Luís Blázquez and Trujillo performed a magical tercio de banderillas: the star cuadrilla working like clockwork, with each profound capotazo leaving the bull in exactly the right place for an exposed and exciting pair of banderillas.

The plaza was, for the first time in the afternoon, braced with excitement and positivity as Manzanares went to the centre of the ring to dedicate his performance to the crowd. There he called the bull for his first tanda of derechazos. The bull’s charge was profound and sprightly allowing for intense series en redondo impregnated with Manzanares’ imperial elegance. The first three series were all based on the right horn and followed a similar structure – a long distance initial cite which showcased the bull’s excellent charge and allowed for extended sweeping derechazos, after the three of these, and with the bull tracing tighter circle around the torero, the derechazos were shorter but more curvilinear, a slightly retreated back leg giving them more length than would otherwise be the case. The remates, passes with the reverse of the muleta either por alto or por bajo, were resounding. Manzares continued his great faena on the bull’s left side; the naturales that surged were long and fluid, the edges of the muleta dancing as the torero enticed the bull to the ends of its charge. Once back on the right side the bull’s one time energetic charge had been reduced to a noble trot, but still, there was enough there for Manzanares to garnish his faena with a flowery capeína and some baroque adorning passes.

He closed the bull to the tercio (the entire faena de muleta had been in the middle of the ring) and performed one of his now classic estocadas recibiendo, which although well executed, was somewhat tendida and thus needed a descabello. The two ears that the president awarded were well deserved in the context – it would have been unnecessarily miserly to have given this great work anything less.

The plaza had finally succumbed to Manzanares and, in the ecstasy, petitioned for a sobrero – my heart agreed with the petition, my head told me that lo bien toreao es lo bien arrematao, and the odds of the sobrero allowing for an equally powerful conclusion were very slim indeed. 

Arles 2013 - Feria de Pascua (IV)

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

01/04/2013 Victorino Martín - Fernando Robleño & Javier Castaño

The final corrida of the feria involved the always intriguing Victorino bulls before two specialists with the encaste: Fernando Robleño and Javier Castaño. Aficionados were no doubt hoping (expecting?) for an explosion of casta. However, the result was a slow burning fire fuelled by the intrigue of the bulls, but lacking the spark to take the corrida to a higher level of brilliance.

Victorino’s string was well presented but without excess; although they looked smaller and leaner than the Cebadas and Torrestrellas (expected given their Saltillo providence) they were comparably heavy. Their performance was slightly more disappointing; there was no truly boring or weak bull, but neither was there one that marked itself as a standout. All had the interest given to them by their casta, but the casta derived into problems rather than being the basis for charges with desire. However, given that casta and nerve are never negative attributes, each bull kept the crowd’s interest throughout its lidia and there were quality charges lurking behind several bulls (especially those run in second and third place).

Javier Castaño’s performance was a showcase of control over the bull at each juncture, as a result, was able to give each animal the lidia that it required. His, and the corrida’s, best faena came to the second bull. Although the bull shared the problems presented by its brothers, it had enough quality to submit some long and profound charges to Castaño’s muleta. A faena in crescendo, better on the right side than the left, it was a pure and emotive work of art based on the fundamental passes – the bull did not allow flowery accompanying passes, and therefore the faena’s worth was based on profound series of derechazos. Foreshadowing the rest of the afternoon, Castaño’s sword was poor and he lost the triumph his muleta work merited.

Javier’s performance with the muleta was solid throughout the afternoon. The fourth and sixth bulls had difficult charges, but his sense of distances and positioning enabled him to extract the most of each one. With bulls such as these it is difficult to perform immobile linked toreo en redondo, however, by adjusting his footing accordingly between each pass he was able to perform suitably flowing and exciting toreo. Had his sword been to the level of his muleta he would have exited the ring on shoulders. 

Castaño recgonises the value of the lidia, but is not a torero that shines in all three tercios. He therefore allowed his cuadrilla to star with the pics and banderillas. His picadors ably coped with the bulls being set a distance from the horse, toreando from their horses to attract the bull and meting out the appropriate, not excessive, level of punishment. Furthermore, his banderilleros David Adalid and Fernando Sánchez placed impressive and artistic pairs of banderillas to the second and fourth bulls. Fernando Sánchez provided the aesthetic elegance to the tercio walking, not running, towards the bulls before a short burst immediately prior to executing the pair of banderillas. David Adalid was the powerful alternative to Sanchez and placed his banderillas in varying terrains around the plaza.    

Fernando Robleño performed three technically distinct faenas. In order to link passes to his first bull he readjusted his footing in order to cross the line of charge between each derechazo. As the bull’s charge was emotive, had he been able to stay still and link the passes (a feat that is easier written from my study, than performed in the plaza) it would have been an excellent faena. In the end, it was simply meritorious. The faena to his third was the highlight of his afternoon; Robleño managed to unlock the bull’s wonderful left horn and performed a commendable faena based on the left hand. He made the fringe ends of the muleta dance during each natural and only a poor effort with the sword prevented him from securing an ear. The fifth bull was the toughest of Robleño’s lot, he spent more time trying to extract a faena from it that the bull probably deserved, to the extent that it cost him a tossing. The highlight of this bull’s lidia was another superb tercio de varas from Gabin Rehabi (who also starred the previous days with the Cebadas).

As a final observation, while the previous three corridas had been partly characterised by the frequent quites this corrida had none – the bulls’ general condition did not lend itself to elaborate capote work, but rather a different, graver lidia. It did not matter; the fiesta feeds off such variety.   

Arles 2013 - Feria de Pascua (III)

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

31/03/2013 Cebada Gago – Luís Bolívar, David Mora & Marco Leal

Another enjoyable afternoon at the hands of Luís Bolivar, David Mora and Marco Leal with Cebada Gago bulls.

The presentation of Cebadas followed from the notable string of Torrestrellas with another set of fine yet impressive animals, the grey fifth bull was particularly beautiful. Their performance was varied yet interesting, a combination of the teasingly tough bull (run in second place), the brave spectacular bull (run in third place) and the noble bull (run in fifth place).

The afternoon’s best faena came at the hands of David Mora. He was able to unlock the noble and profound charge of the fifth bull and constructed a serious and meaningful faena around these virtues. The bull’s initial charge was uncertain, but once focused it had a repetitive and deep charge, Mora was able to harness the bull's positive qualities and based his faena on pure and long derechazos. A good sword thrust gave him an ear, which perhaps should have been two. I was surprised at the lack of petition for the second ear, the faena had been meaningful, but arguably lacked connectivity with the crowd; he was unable to provide the pyrotechnics that Padilla has used so efficiently to reach the crowd the day before, and this probably cost him the second ear. A pity. He first bull was tough and uncertain, but Mora stood his ground and was firm, such firmness cost him an ugly tossing, but showcased his strong mentality.

The corrida’s emotive highlight was the tercio de varas performed by the third bull, called Lagarto. Aside from the obligatory two pics, its matador, Marco Leal, subsequently ordered it to be placed on the opposite side of the arena for two further pics (given that the ring is elliptical, the first placement was across the width of the arena and the second across the length of the same). Lagarto rose to the challenge admirably charging on both occasions and vindicating the emotional and aesthetic values the suerte de varas. A great tercio de varas of course requires a good performance by the picador, on this occasion Gabin Rehabi stood up to Lagarto’s test with bravery and composure (incidentally, I did not know this picador before Sunday’s corrida, but there are some good videos of him piccing on YouTube if anyone is interested). Of course, the lidia goes beyond the pic, and the next test was to assess Largarto’s performance in the final third – unfortunately, Leal was the corrida’s least experienced torero and therefore we are left in doubt as to whether the poor conclusion was down to the bull or the torero. It was a long faena marked by inconsistent toreo. The bull’s charge seemed classless, but, on occasions, Leal was able to lower his hand and extract a meaningful class. The overwhelming feeling was that Leal had been unable to extract the bull’s bravura in order to construct a faena; however, I would hasten to add that, perhaps, the bull had gained favour with the afición after the tercio de varas and they were less willing to see the difficulties posed by the bull in the final third.

Leal’s final bull was clearly more complicated and, once again, the faena was characterised by inconsistency. On occasions Leal was able to submit the bull to his toreo, but all too often the bull passed him by and caused problems. It would have been instructive to see his lot in more experienced hands. Leal also placed his own banderillas and did so with the ease one would expect from a specialist matador banderillero – they were not tercios that will live in the memory, but they were perfectly pleasant for the present.

Luís Bolivar is a torero that likes to cite his bulls from afar and has based his tauromaquia on the Cesar Rincón tenets of distance, dominance and timing and he sought to impose these on both of his bulls with mixed effect. His first faena was a crescendo of series of right hand passes. The opening few series were of low intensity and served to fix the bull on his muleta without overly overpowering it; once this was achieved, he increased the intensity of the passes and performed two very admirable and moving series of derechazos. An excellent sword thrust (both in execution and effect) gave way to an ear. The fourth bull was more uncertain and gazapón, the resulting faena, once again based around cites from distance, was therefore more uneven and never developed as we would have hoped. A satisfactory afternoon from Bolivar that, for its worth, did not show any dimension that would lead us to believe that he is anything more than one amongst many capable, but not brilliant matadors.

Arles 2013 - Feria de Pascua (II)

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

Arles 30/03/2013 Torrestrella – JJ Padilla, I Fandiño & D Luque

A varied string of Torrestrella bulls provided the raw material for another good corrida in Arles on Saturday (the toreros were JJ Padilla, I Fandiño and D Luque). Their presentation was a couple of levels above Friday's string; although still fine looking, the Torrestrella bulls were bigger and more serious than Friday's mixed lots. Their performance was satisfactory, fourth and fifth were standouts for their bravura - the fourth was bravo with casta and fifth bravo and noble - the first bull had a very promising performance until it hurt one of its front legs early in the faena.

I greatly admire JJ Padilla, although his brand of popular tremendismo is not to everyone's liking, and certainly on occasions borders on the uncouth, his track record of imposing this toreo on the most undesirable bulls on the circuit deserves such admiration. He was typically varied and involved with the capote, his well-timed veronicas were pleasant and his more spectacular interventions (such as a larga cambiada de rodillas to conclude a quite, which nearly cost him a nasty voltereta) exciting. Both his tercios de banderillas were very good, I particularly enjoyed his intrepid pairs de poder a poder and a well-executed par al quiebro. The faena to his first bull began with promise but was cut short by the bull's aforementioned injury. However, with the fourth bull, Padilla was able to showcase his complete tauromaquia; love it or hate it, Padilla gave his all before a testing bull. Although it lacks refinement, his toreo en redondo was well linked and fluid, better with the right hand with which he extracted the longer passes. After this initial conventional introduction, Padilla began to transform himself into the "Cyclone" which has brought him fame and performed figure of eight toreo that found great favour with the crowd. It began with orthodox passes cambiados linked with passes naturales, before giving way to populist tremendismo: circulares, kneeling passes and manoletinas (which were jovial rather than stoic). The faena was more exciting than profound, but it certainly struck a chord with the crowd that overwhelmingly petitioned for the two ears.

As we know, Fandiño is an entirely different type of torero; while Padilla can be perceived as the cheerful southerner, Fandiño is very much the serious northerner. He gave a very solemn afternoon of toros and was responsible for the most moving fundamental toreo of the corrida. He was actively involved in quites, and I would like to highlight an excellent series of gaoneras, executed with absolute stillness as the bull's horns brushed his belly. Fandiño’s first faena was technically excellent, the bull was gazapón and Fandiño readjusted his footing accordingly between each pass in order to be able to link his toreo en redondo. The faena could not be aesthetically pleasing, but his firmness and forceful toreo en redondo would surely have earned him an ear had he not erred with the sword. The fifth bull had a sweeter charge (although it lacked an edge of nerve which would have helped Fandiño’s toreo transmit more to the crowd) and allowed for a more visually pleasing faena with Fandiño’s derechazos and naturales being more fluid, longer and better linked. This time the sword thrust was effective and the oreja deservedly awarded. A serious afternoon from Fandiño, although it lacked the fireworks of Padilla’s efforts, it was a more profound and meaningful performance.

Luque’s faena to the third combined three distinct tauromaquias. The bull was weak and carried its head at mid-height, the main body of the faena was therefore an Enrique Ponce type clinic of torear a media altura, this allowed him to perform several aesthetic and pleasing series of derechazos. However, Luque is not Ponce and the faena therefore suffered from an inconsistency that prevented Luque to elevate it from good to great. The second tauromaquia showcased was the toreo sevillano of his home province, Luque’s two handed remates and recortes impregnated the faena with the flavor of the Vazquezs or Morante de la Puebla; delightful. The concluding tauromaquia employed by Luque was  ojedismo; once the bull’s limited energy had been sapped, Luque tried to concluded with an ojedista style arrimón (with missed results). Although it could be argued that the faena suffered from an acute identity crisis, the result was pleasing enough, tempered to a certain extent by the bull’s condition. A sure sword thrust therefore gave way to a satisfactory ear. The sixth bull was dull and lackluster making a faena impossible. Before signing off I would like to highlight some excellent capote work with Luque. His gaoneras were delivered with utter stillness and his veronicas were superb (after Morante, Luque is arguably the best veroniqueador of the escalafón) – unfortunately some of his remates were not executed with the requisite precision.

Arles 2013 - Feria de Pascua (I)

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

Arles 29/03/2013 Toros de Alcurrucén, El Puerto de San Lorenzo & Garcigrande – J Bautista & S Castella (mano a mano)

I found it an entertaining event, and a useful reminder of how much I had missed los toros over the winter.

The bulls were generally good. The presentation was a notch or two below what one would expect in a Spanish first category plaza, but I have no real issue with this; the corrida was fine looking and I often find bulls in the top Spanish plazas grotesquely over-sized.

The two Alcurrucén bulls were both very classy and allowed for a couple of well worked faenas, I especially enjoyed the smooth, long, repetitive charges of the second of these (the sixth bull). The Garcigrande bulls were satisfactory, again, each allowing for a faena, and I was especially moved by the piquancy of the fourth bull (although this was partly down to it being under-picced). The Puerto de San Lorenzo bulls were disappointing.

I was impressed with Castella. I greatly admire Castella's heroic facet, his utter stillness in toreo por alto and his form of entering the bulls terrain in order to conclude his faenas with a host of close passes, but am sometimes underwhelmed by his toreo en redondo, on most days it seems that he cuts his passes slightly short which in turn makes his toreo mechanical and cold. Thankfully, yesterday Castella's toreo en redondo rose a level and both elements of his toreo were married beautifully to give a very pleasing performance. He delivered the estatuarios and ojedismo that one expects from Castella and these were executed perfectly. However, what really stood out for me was the fluidity and length of his toreo en redondo - especially with the sixth bull. The faena to the fourth bull was more inconsistent as Castella struggled to come to terms with the bulls nerve in the early part of the faena, once the bull was domianted the toreo en redondo flowed brillianty.

Jaun Bautista gave a wonderfully varied afternoon with capote, muleta and banderillas that would have yielded more than an ear had his sword travelled true (especially had he succeeded in his attempt at an estocada recibiendo in the first bull). Although there was no signature faena that would have marked the difference between a good afternoon and a great one, each of his interventions carried interest. His capote was varied, intertwining classical veronicas with more spectacular saltilleras and kneeling veronicas. With the muleta Bautista was templado and technically correct throughout. The tercio de banderillas he performed with the fifth bull was dominant and varied, certainly better than should be expected from a part time banderillero.

El Paseíllo

With this post I begin my adventure in the taurine blogsphere. I have been a casual aficionado since I was a child, and been completely enchanted with the taurine world since watching my first corrida in the flesh about thirteen years ago. I am British, and English is my mother tongue, therefore most of my posts will be initially posted in this languare. However, I have enough of a command of Spanish that I will seek to translate as much as possible.

I have been writing for various English-language taurine publications intermittently for the last five years, but thus far resisted from entering the blogsphere; aside from my IT illiteracy, I was worried about having the time and ideas to be able to post with adequate regularity. I hope to have figured out a plan for the latter and hopefully will have the time management skills to deal with the former.

I do not know how this journey through the blogsphere will develop, I love los toros, I enjoy writing and I aim to combine these interests through this blog: like a torero faced with a toro bravo, I hope I can meet the challenge.

I also hope that the reader will enjoy the posts, join the debate and that this can be a new forum where we each can share in our interest in la fiesta.

Please also follow me on twitter @torosdelhorno.

Con este post empiezo mi aventura en la blogosfera taurina. He sido un aficionado desde que era un niño, y me quede completamente encantado con el mundo taurino desde vi y primera corrida en vivo hace unos trece años. Soy británico, por lo que el Inglés es mi lengua materna, por lo tanto, la mayoría de mis posts serán inicialmente escrito en este idioma. Sin embargo, espero traducir al español tantos posts como sea posible (y le pido al lector disculpas por cualquier falta de ortografia).

He estado escribiendo para varias publicaciones taurinas inglesas de forma intermitente durante los últimos cinco años, pero hasta ahora ha resistido a entrar en la blogosfera. Aparte de mis limitaciones informaticas, yo estaba preocupado por tener el tiempo y las ideas para poder escribir con la regularidad adecuada . Espero tener un plan para ambos de estos posibles problemas.

No sé cómo este viaje a través de la blogosfera se desarrollará, me encantan los toros, me gusta escribir y mi objetivo es combinar estos intereses a través de este blog: como un torero frente a un toro bravo, espero estar a la altura.

También espero que el lector podrá disfrutar de mis posts, participar en el debate y que esto pueda ser un nuevo foro en el que cada aficionado encuentre un hueco para poder disfrutar de la Fiesta.

También podeis seguirme en twitter @ torosdelhorno.