Saturday 13 September 2014

Albacete 11/09/2014 – Cuarta de Abono

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

Fuente Ymbro bulls for Finito de Córdoba, Miguel Ángel Perera & Alejandro Talavante

Even after all these years, I do not know how I feel about Finito. He is a torero of exceptional class, who is able to torear beautifully, but he has lacked the ability to do so on a regular basis (ability is the correct word, I firmly believe that consistency is a skill and rises above being merely lucky). Perera is an entirely different torero. One cannot deny he has the striking demeanour of a torero, but the beauty of Miguel Ángel’s toreo resides in his management of the cloth and the control he exerts over the bull.  His fellow Extremeño, Alejandro Talavante, is another inconsistent toreo, and he has found himself marginalised this season as part of the G5 controversy. Despite his inconsistency, I find him a deeply intriguing torero who can perform stunningly beautiful toreo with his left hand – he might struggle with a certain type of demanding bull, but with the compliant bull, his toreo is angelic.

Before them was a corrida of Fuente Ymbros – predicting bulls’ behaviour is a mugs game. However, I will say that this ranch promises interesting bulls. It may not always deliver them, but it is not one of those ranches where the aficionado’s hopes are all but last before they enter the ring.

Finito’s first bull was average; the type of bull we see all too often, obedient, but dull. After a few inconsistent series, with either hand, the faena peaked with a very well performed series of derechazos; a low, demanding, set of passes impregnated with Finito’s striking elegance. The series, perhaps did not merit the strong ovation it received, but this was pleasing toreo. The bull, however, was finished. It barely accepted two elegant naturales and a couple of sparkling molinetes. He killed poorly, which did not make a difference to the final result (he was never going to be awarded an ear), although he did earn a few jeers for his trouble.

The afternoon’s second bull was equally poor. Its head bobbed loosely during the pass and its charge conveyed no emotion. Perera stood-up firmly to the bull and show its problems. Thankfully, Miguel Ángel also cut his faena short at the right point (I am tired of toreros dragging their performances unnecessarily), unfortunately, it took a great deal of time to squre the bull up for the kill.

Sadly, the corrida continued the downward spiral with the third bull. Another empty bull that did not allow Talvante to create any meaningful toreo.

The tea break allowed us to draw in some breath and hope for a better second half – as I always say, the aficionado’s naïve optimism is boundless!

However, any hopes for the corrida’s resurrection were dashed by the fourth bull. Another disconcertingly dull charge prevented even an attempt at a faena. One might want to keep the odd derechazo for the memory bank, but that would be overly generous. The crowd’s loud jeers were for Finito’s macheteo, but they were entirely unwarranted. The jeers should have been for the bull.

Miguel Ángel Perera’s first bull finally gave us some worthy charges; it came out of the pen with intent and charged nobly at Perera’s capote. He was able to perform a series of silky soft delantales taking the bull to the centre of the ring with aplomb. This gave us the afternoon’s first true ovation. Would this bull be a diamond among the sequins? Happily, the bull’s charge also allowed Perera to perform an emotive and well linked quite by chicuelinas, linked with tafalleras and concluded with a cordobina and larga cordobesa. The toreo was good, not great, but in the context of the afternoon, it was very welcome.

Perera seemed confident that the bull’s charge would continue into the muleta, and dedicated the faena to the crowd before performing characteristically closely worked passes cambiados in the centre of the ring. Although the spectacular edge to Perera’s toreo is welcome, what truly seduces me about his toreo is his wonderful ability to torear in redondo. The bull was noble and possessed a repetitive charge, its one failing was a lack of emotive vitality. Nevetheless Miguel Ángel’s muleta, so often a whip that can tame a nervy bull, was a silk handkerchief that caressed the bull by derechazos and naturales. The torero was entirely in control of proceedings and he concluded with a dominant and well-timed arrimón, garnished with circulares and luqusinas. Miguel Ángel Perera had crafted a complete faena with a good, but incomplete bull, thereby showing why he is the leading torero of the moment. He killed the bull with an estocada, but it came at the price of a chilling voltereta. The bull hooked the torero at knee level and ripped his suit up to his chest; thankfully the horn did not pierece the flesh, but his bruised torso was visible through his shredded shirt. Perera was awarded two ears for his work.

The corrida concluded in the vein of the first four bulls. The sixth was another poor bull and a mere hint of positive toreo. The highlight of Talvanate’s performance was a bright media to conclude his capote greeting. The bull’s inconsistent charge put paid to any further attepts.

Given my hopes for the corrida and that I have often enjoyed Fuente Ymbro’s bulls and it was painful to see such a poor string – worryingly, the ganadero said that the eight bulls he brought to Albacete were from seven different stud bulls. Let’s hope that the corrida’s problems were tangential, rather than deep rooted. There have been enough good Fuente Ymbro bulls run this year for us to believe that the former, rather than the latter, may be the case.