The view from
the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.
Parladé bulls for Enrique Ponce,
Sebastián Castella and José Garrido (who took the alternativa).
Another figura cartel and another full plaza.
Yesteryear La Maestranza would be full from the pre-feria Thursday until the
closing corrida. It was understandable, there was generally a full complement
of figuras and the world’s aficón would flock to the city (the empresa would
always try to wangle a conflict with a top torero, to reduce costs, presumably,
but a single absence could be absorbed by the feria). However, in the last
couple of years the panorama has changed, the empresa has ostracised most of
the principal figuras – who are not entirely blameless, it takes two to tango –
and the afición has stayed away. So far this feria the only full plazas have
been on the days that wither Ponce or Manzanares has appeared, the other days
the plaza has been half full. It will be interesting to see the pull of the
Miuras and the Victorino bulls in the final stretch of the feria.
Ponce was making his second and final appearance
of the feria. He undoubtedly has one last Sevilla triumph in him before he
retires, all Enrique needs is a minimally compliant lot of bulls. Would today
be the day? I was looking forward to watching Castella, he has always been a
supremely brave torero that struggled with toreo en redondo. However, over the past
year there has been a reposed element to his work and promisingly Sebastián
has started the season in similar style in Valencia.
José Garrido was the stand out novillero of 2014 (and indeed of many a season,
such was the standard of his campaign), but it is a damning indictment of the way
that the fiesta is organised that rather than giving him an early alternativa
and prominent early corridas, he has been left to start cold in late April.
The opening bull of the afternoon was sent back
to the pen for being lame. Its replacement began nicely, charging with emotion
to Garrido’s capote allowing for a stirring series of veronicas capped with a
media on his knees. The pleasing capote work continued during a tight quite by
chicuelinas, which nearly finished with a tossing as Garrido slightly mistimed
the concluding larga cordobesa. The bull’s charge in the muleta third declined,
it was mobile but inconsistent and Garrido was only able to perform a couple of
good series with the right hand. From the middle of the faena onwards the bull
was visibly hobbling and the performance therefore ended on an untidy note.
For a brief moment at the start of the faena de
muleta it seemed as if Ponce’s first bull would offer enough quality for a good
faena. However, this was just a mirage. Enrique was able to give a couple of
controlled mid-height derechazos, but at the third one he lowered the hand and
the bull fell. The faena subsequently descended into nothing with the bull becoming
ever more reticent to charge. Another poor bull for Ponce in Sevilla. The
highlight of his performance was his well-executed and efficient estocada.
Castella’s opener charged beautifully and long to
José Chacon’s capote during the early lidia. Previously it had given Garrido
the chance to perform a tight and pleasing quite by gaoneras. The stage was
therefore set nicely for Castella’s faena de muleta. The bull charged emotively
and powerfully to Castella’s opening doblones, it appeared that the animal
would require a well-timed and dominant muleta to control its charge.
Castella’s first and series of derechazos was excellent. Well timed and long, each
pass showed the progress of the Frenchman’s toreo en redondo. The band should
have started playing, but the conductor inexplicably opted to remain silent.
The bull was slightly more reticent on the left side, but Castella was able to
extract enough for a couple of long and profound naturales. Returning to the
right side, the faena increased in intensity with longer and slower muletazos –
the music now started playing.
Unfortunately it was too late. Castella stopped the musicians, he knew that the
bull was finished and all that was left was the arrimón. A tight, closely
worked and controlled arrimón, it neatly juxtaposed the silky smooth toreo en
redondo. If only he had been able to secure a good estocada, rather than the
ugly succession of pinchazos, he would have surely cut a thoroughly deserved
ear.
Ponce’s second bull was an El Pilar substitute, entirely
empty of casta, with whom Ponce tried in vain to perform a faena worthy of the
name. However, just as it looked like all was left was to head for the sword,
Ponce relied on his superlative timing to tease a number of mid height series
en redondo from the bull. A triumph was impossible, but Enrique showed once
again his ability of extracting good toreo from a vacuous bull. Thus ended
Ponce’s disappointing feria, none of the four bulls faced gave him the
slightest chance at a triumph – we will have to wait until next year.
The fifth bull developed a positive charge during
the course of the lidia, as it should be. It came out bland and reticent to
charge and by banderillas it was galloping towards its targets. José Garrido, active
in quite throughout the afternoon, gave an attractive series of chicuelinas
capped with a delicate media. However, the bull’s early improvement was deceptive
and it only lasted a couple of series with the muleta. Castella started his
faena with passes cambiados in the centre of the ring; an exciting opening. Disappointingly,
he could only manage a couple of series of toreo fundamental before the bull
gave up the ghost and headed for the boards.
Garrido finished the corrida with a nervy and
mobile Juan Pedro Domecq bull that displayed the qualities we had expected from
its Parladé brothers. The animal’s pressing desire to chase the lure made him a
tough proposition for young Garrido who gave us an inconsistent faena. On the
occasions that he was able to lower the hand and time the charge, the series en
redondo were dominant and emotive. However, this is easier said than done and
what we saw was a young matador who faced up to the challenge posed by a tough
bull and was not always to impose his will on proceedings. I will not hold this
against him, the credit that Garrido has built as a novillero will not be spent
with this performance. Besides, there are few toreros that would have fared
much better with such an demanding opponent, and a few of them have not been
minded to appear in La Maestranza this season.
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