Wednesday 27 May 2015

Madrird 20/05/2015 – Corrida de la Prensa

 

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).  
 

 

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