The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I
have watched on TV.
Jandilla and Vegahermosa Bulls
for Miguel Abellán, El Fandi and
Manuel Escribano.
The traditional Corrida de la Prensa attracted a
solid, but second tier, cartel. Miguel Abellán is making his second appearance
in the feria. He gave a good account of himself on Friday, despite earning the
censure of the infamous tendido siete. El
Fandi brings his unique view of la tauromaquia to Las Ventas; in an era
where many toreros seem to be replicas of each other, his fresh take on lidia
total is to be welcome. He is not one of the names that I look for in a feria,
but he is a necessary part of la fiesta and has a strong core of supporters.
Escribano gave a solid account of himself facing a couple of tough ranches in
Sevilla, it will be interesting to assess his performance with Domecq cattle,
can he mould his tauromaquia to this type of bull or is he destine to base his
career around the corridas duras.
Miguel Abellán made his third trip to the puerta de
chiqueros and met his first bull with a cleanly executed larga cambiada de
rodillas a porta gayola. The early veronicas were smooth but lacked continuity due
to the bull’s lack of focus. The bull had a vibrant charge, especially on the right
side, but was hampered by limited strength. The faena was inconsistent, Miguel
managed a very good series with the right hand and the odd god pass, but
ultimately his performance came to nothing. The faena lacked focus and
structure, partly due to the bull’s condition, and also because of the wind the
odd protests from certain sectors of the crowd, and fundamentally, Abellán’s
inability to overcome these problems.
Abellán returned to the puerta de chiqueros in the
fourth bull. Alhough suertes a porta gayola are brief, and sometimes receive an
almost dismissive reaction from the crowd, we should not forget the mental
fortitude it must take to wait, submissively, on one’s knees for a bull to come
out of the pen with the aim of controlling its charge with a larga cambiada.
Miguel gave another clean larga, and followed this with another larga on his
knees and pleasing veronica work once on his feet. His media a pies juntos was
particularly good. The good capework continued during the quite, a couple of
chicuelinas and a bright larga – Abellán was, thus far, giving a full and
attractive lidia. The bull had an emotive and nervy charge, but would lose its
footing it the torero lowered the hand at the wrong moment. It took Miguel a
couple of series to get the timing and technique right, but once he understood
the bull he gave four deeply emotive series of derechazos, keeping the cloth in
the bull’s face between each pass, staying still to be able to link, and taking
the bull through each pass without it touching the cloth. He gave each chest
pass when forced to do so, as it should be. By the time he took the left hand,
the bull was exhausted and he opted to give a couple of isolated naturales,
combined was some passes with the reverse of the muleta to prepare the bull for
the estocada. The effective media estocada cooled the crowd and yielded only a
minority petition; it seems that the most important aspect of an estocada in
2015 is whether it’s a full sword or not.
El Fandi’s show during the second bull
followed the familiar script. I could have written before the corrida that he
would welcome the bull with a larga cambiada in the tercio and that, once on
his feet, his veronica is surprisingly silky, low and slow. As usual, he was
active with the capote during the pics, taking the bull to the horse with a
galleo and performing an incomplete quite by chicuelinas, for those attentive
to the details, he gives a creative recorte to leave the bull placed at the
horse. With the banderillas his is supremely dominant. His first two orthodox
pairs were placed with consulate ease, with El
Fandi working the toro across all terrains a cuerpo limpio. His closing
pair al violin, given on the inside, left the crowd on his feet. The bull had a
classy gallop, but lacked strength. It needed a smooth touch, rather than El Fandi’s rough muleta. He was in control
of the bull because he knows his craft, but his muleta lacks soul. Sword in
hand, David was typically effective.
David’s performance with the fifth bull fitter a
similar pattern. There were the odd variations, such as the two in one pair of
banderillas that concluded the tercio or the kneeling meuletazos with which he
began the faena de muleta. Fundamentally, bull was dull an dour and did not
allow for a faena of note. I was therefore left to ponder El Fandi’s afternoon as a whole. He has his critics among the
afición, and is certainly not one of my preferred toreros, however, the
consistency with which he performs is admirable and is valued by the general
public. The bright parts of El Fandi’s
afternoon were characteristic of his overall concept of tauromaquia and their
place in the fiesta is not to be scoffed at. In a spectacle as wildly
inconsistent as los toros, El Fandi’s
ability to deliver his product on a daily basis is something to be admired and
a quality that is greatly appreciated by those who enjoy his toreo.
Escribano’s work with the banderillas to the third
bull highlighted El Fandi’s mastery
over this suerte. Manuel placed a couple of acceptable passes de poder a poder
and concluded with a quiebro calling the bull while sat on the estribo that
enchanted the crowd – he interspersed this with the odd runand recorte with the
bull. However, it all looked like hard work, compared to the ease with which El Fandi played with the bull. With the
muleta he was in control, but his work lacked feeling.
With the sixth bull, Escribano was active with the
capote in the early tercios. Manuel aimed to please with the banderillas and,
while exciting, the tercio was slightly untidy. The bull reached the muleta
with a limited charge, it moved, came and went, but charged with little desire.
Manuel was technically correct and managed to control the animal and gave some
good isolated passes. The faena lacked a signature, intense and emotive series
en redondo, but Escribano peppered his work with some passes cambiados and
manoletinas to excite the crowd. He gave a very effective estocada in the centre
of the ring that triggered a minority petition for an ear. Escribano continues
to develop and present his brand of jovial and attractive toreo, I think he is
a torero who could offer a good spectacle in the provinces; now if only the
mundillo taurine began to offer a variety of names in the summer ferias rather
than the tired names that we are all used to seeing (this is not meant as a
slight against the figuras, they rightly deserve their place in the fiesta, I
am thinking of the repetitive string of second level that have populated the
ferias for years).
No comments:
Post a Comment