Nuñez del
Cuvillo Bulls for El Fandi, Sebastián
Castella & Román.
I am sure
that anyone familiar with the Fandi show will not be surprised that he opened
the corrida with a larga cambiada de rodillas. Similarly, it should no longer
be a secret that, once on his feet he can perform delicate veronicas
characterised by their low hands and slow execution. This afternoon was no
different, but, rather than persevering with the pure toreo, he concluded the
recibo capotero with some plain chicuelinas. El Fandi’s principal virtue is his
ability to engage the crowd throughout the early tercios; today his
interventions with the capote were a closely worked galleo by chicuelinas and
an attractive quite by zapopinas. Castella also performed a quite, three slowly
worked tafalleras that were acceptable but nothing more. The tercio de
banderillas was Fandi by numbers, he placed two pairs al cuarteo, a toro
pasado, and one al violin with ease, and punctuated each pair with the odd
recorte. It was an attractive tercio, and the crowd certainly enjoyed the
performance, however, as an aficionado who has seen a great deal of El Fandi,
it left me unmoved. The bull was not blessed with excessive strength, and what
little it had was sapped by a voltereta during the opening test passes. The
faena was therefore a non-entity.
El
Fandi performed a variety of quotes and galleos with the capote during the
first tercio of his second bull, his galleo by gaoneras capped with a tight
recorte to take the bull to the horse was particularly pleasing. His tercio de
banderillas was more a showcase of David’s physical dominace over the bull
rather than pure execution. That said, his two in one to finish the tercio was
acceptably executed and capped with El Fandi’s typical backwards run, timing
the bull’s charge with his legs and continuing until the bull stops. The animal
moved without much emotion during the final tercio. El Fandi was able to torear
cleanly, but without creating beauty. El Fandi has the technique to control the
bull and the variety to attract the crowd, however, his toreo de muleta lacks
emotion. Nevertheless, the crowd enjoyed his performance, especially his
desplantes and remates on his knees and soulless manoletinas. El Fandi’s
efficient sword killed the bull from one estocada contraria allowing him to cut
an ear that the crowd petitioned enthusiastically (the petition was no less
enthusiastic for the second ear, but this award would have been ridiculous).
However, for me, the faena was like so many others of El Fandi that leave me
cold.
Castella
began his first faena with some ayudados por alto and the bull’s charge did not
augur well, it seemed to have a short charge, punctuated by a jump at its
conclusion. However, when Sebastián took it to the centre of the ring to torear
en redondo the bull gained an extra gear and allowed for a couple of good
series of derechazos. Castella took the bull long and low as it followed the
lure with vigour. His opponent's charge was slightly tardy on the left side,
but this did not prevent Castella from extracting a couple of sensational long
and silky naturales. The faena continued in this vein until the bull’s run dry,
at which point Castella opted for a populist series of circulares, executed
cleanly and closely, which served to excite the crowd prior to the estocada.
The pinchazo that preceded the full sword was no obstacle to the crowd
petitioning for an ear that the president duly granted.
The
afternoon's great faena came at the hands of Sebastian Castella with the fifth
Cuvillo. A noble bull, with a sweet charge and the mobility to support
demanding toreo. The doubt was whether Castella, a torero known for his valour
and stillness, but whose toreo en redondo has on occasions underwhelmed. The
answer came with the first two series of excellently linked
derechazos. Seamlessly sewn together, they were silky mathing the bull’s noble
charge. Castella took a couple of passes to get the measure of the bull on the
left side, but, the smooth, soft toreo continued al natural. There was little
need for arrimones and other populist pyrotechnics, the toreo fundamental was
strong enough to lift the crowd on its own. By the end of the faena we had our
answer to our questions over Castella’s toreo, it has developed a smoothness
and extra dimension that allowed it to be at the level of this classy bull. As
always when we have a decent bull, a minority begins to petition for the
indulto. An indulto that, on this occasion would have been entirely
unwarranted, even the vuelta al ruedo for the toro was borderline. Castella’s
two ears, however, were justified, especially given the well-executed estocada with
which he dispatched the bull.
Román’s opening to his first faena was a dramatic couple of arrucinas executed in the centre of the ring citing the bull from distance, he remained deadly still as the bull brushed passed him. The bull repeated its charges, but had an uncomfortable flick of the head at the end of each pass; when Román was able to time his pass well and avoid the lure being hooked, the passes flowed smooth and emotive. However, there were too many enganchones that took momentum away from the faena. The highlight was an excellent series of slow and long naturales, engaging the bull at the start of the pass and curving its trajectory around his body. It was a pity that the faena was lost among excessive enganchones and occasionally rapid toreo.
The
afternoon’s claosing bull was weak and noble. It allowed Román to perform a
long faena with little meaning. Román’s toreo can be slow and moving, but he
needs to perfect his technique and understanding of bulls in order to allow his
advanced concept to flourish. He is young and we will give him time.
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