SEVILLA 21/04/2015 – Sexta Corrida

SEVILLA 21/04/2015 – Sexta Corrida

 

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

 

El Pilar Bulls for Finito de Córdoba, José María Manzanares and Daniel Luque.

Five corridas down and the feria is still waiting for its first important triumph and for the faena that would live in the memory and define the feria. The highlight thus far had been a very good Fuente Ymbro corrida, regrettably wasted by an inexperienced trio. Manzanares had cut a couple of ears on his previous appearance but these owed more to his excellent estocadas rather than his toreo. He has a couple of corridas left in this feria and needs to make a statement. Finito was the chosen opening act, his classy toreo means that I always look forward to seeing him, his inconsistency means I never expect much. Daniel Luque closed the trio, he faced a putrid Montalvo string on his first afternoon; today was his last chance to lay down a sold marker for the season. As always, we wonder, will this be the season that Daniel breaks as a figura?

The El Pilar bulls offered a mixed spectacle. The first three bulls classy to the extreme, verging on sickly sweet, while the last three were disappointing animals that did not allow for good toreo.

Finito’s opener was brave and classy, the ideal bull for his particular brand of elegant toreo. We got a typical Finito performance, wherein the shining toreo was undermined by a certain lack of ambition. The toreo we did see was absolutely wonderful, his toreo al natural with the right hand was long and smooth. He was eve better with the left hand, giving us more long and low passes with an extra profoundness. All of which was underscored by his natural class. In case we needed something more, the accessorial toreo was brilliant, innovative and emphatic. The highlight was a cambio the mano that started like a trincherazo and concluded like a recorte, truly enchanting, magical toreo. Nevertheless, the performance was undermined by the feeling that the bull had enough bravery to allow for a greater more emphatic faena. Finito’s work with the muleta was memorable and would have certainly led to an ear had he killed effectively. The bull, however, called for a truly complete work of art.   

Manzanares first bull was a classy and compliant animal that, nevertheless, lacked the edge of piquancy of the first bull. It had the stamina for a long faena that was built on Manzanares aesthetically pleasing toreo en redondo, principally on its right hand side. However, notwithstanding the length of the faena, once again, I had the impression that something was lacking. If I was presenting the case for the torero, I would point to the bull’s overly classy condition. It would follow the lures obediently and was noble, but ultimately its charge was too sweet to be emotive. However, now fighting from the ganadero’s corner, the torero is required to supplant any element that may be missing from the bull’s behaviour in order to create a worthy piece of art. Therefore, with such a long faena, Manzanares ought to have complimented his superficially beautiful toreo with greater emotion, because, despite the length and of his smooth faena, Manzanares left me disconcertingly cold. That said, there were enough positives that, had he been able to secure an effective estocada, he would have deservedly cut an ear.

The story repeated itself with the third bull. Luque faced a noble animal, but he lacked the repose during the faena to bring the best out of it. There were some notable moments, especially with the cape – a handful of opening veronicas were wonderfully cadenced. However, the toreo fundamental with the muleta underwhelmed. The bull did not have the quality of the two openers, but still allowed Luque to perform another faena that might have been better served with a calmer structure. The standout moment of Luque’s performance was his long series of neat and smoothly linked luquesinas – the crowd initially met them with resistance but after a couple of linked passes it fully submitted to this toreo. I find it striking that Luque, a torero who performs so smoothly with the cape, needs to rely on arrimones and encimismo with the muleta. If he is to take the next step in his career Daniel’s toreo en redondo needs to improve towards the level of his cape work and accessorial close toreo.

The first half of this corrida had been a series of what ifs. What if the toreros had found the technical wherewithal to extract the maximum potential from the bulls? What if the bulls had that extra spice to their charges?  Ultimately, the only certainty was that we had been left with a series of “nearly” faenas.

Sadly, that was all we would have for the afternoon. The remaining three bulls were empty and did not allow for any performances of note. To make matters worse, Manzanares had been taken to the infirmary at the death of the second bull (José Mari would return for the sixth); he needed a drip to treat his dehydration, caused by a bout of gastroenteritis. No sniggering at the back please…