The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I
have watched on TV.
Adolfo Martín bulls for Diego
Urdiales, Sebastián Castella and Manuel Escribano
Diego Urdiales opened the corrida with a pleasing
recibo capotero – the bull lowered its head and followed Diego’s veronica’s
from the tercio to the centre of the ring. The adolfo kept its cards close to
his chest during the early tercios and reached the muelta with an undefined
charge. It measured the torero at each stage but, when correctly dominate, it
would charge with class. Diego used heavy toques to ensure that the bull would
follow the lure, not go for the man. Urdiales managed to link a number of
series on the right hand, and, when the bull’s energy and commitment decreased,
based his faena on good isolated passes. The faena could not be brilliant,
there was not the bull for a shining faena, but it was well crafted and well
received by the crowd. For me, the highlight was an excellent cambio de mano
with which he concluded his performance. The well placed media estocada was not
enough to kill the bull and Diego needed to rely on a couple of descabellos – a
surer sword might have earned him an ear.
The fourth bull was the perfect animal for Urdiales
to display his virtues, without his shortcomings being exposed. Diego is an
extremely classy torero who because of the idiosyncrasies of the mundillo, has
found himself pigeon holed among the tough corridas. However, his tauromaquia
is not based on standing up to tough bulls, his toreo is delicate, pretty and
calls for a compliant bull. This fourth adolfo had a noble charge and Urdiales
gave us a perfumed faena based on either hand, of which the highlight a sweetly
linked series of derechazos towards the end of the performance. The bull lacked
the motor to make allow Diego to round off his faena as he would have liked.
Nevertheless, Diego Urdiales had extracted the most out of the two bulls he
drew – it had been a dignified outing by the torero from La Rioja.
The second bull made the lidia hell for Sebastián
Castella’s cuadrilla. The picador and the banderilleros were faced with a bull
that read their thoughts and took all manner of evasive action to complicate
their work. The advantage of the bull is that the crowd was in no doubt on the
danger posed by the animal. Castella is in an excellent vein of form and looks
assured with any bull. The difficulties displayed by the bull in the early
tercios lessened; it remained problematic, its charge was very short, but
Castella was in control. It was impossible to link toreo en redondo, but
Castella got very close to the bull and managed emotive individual passes.
Castella confirmed that he is be the leading figura, on form, heading into the
summer ferias.
He fifth bull displayed a promising gallop during
the opening doblones given to it by Castella. However, its sweet charge soon
soured. The initial movement immediately turned to short, choppy and violent
charges. Castella tried, in vain, to construct a faena on both sides, but this
was thwarted by the bull’s condition. It had ground to an almost complete halt,
Castella moved himself close to the horns, placed himself judiciously, but all
he could manage were the odd good pass. Castella was only able to show the ease
with which he can handle bulls at the moment, and how comfortable he feels near
the bull’s horns. He justified his appearance with Adolfo’s, even though these
prevented him from completing his feria with a memorable faena.
It has been a while since we had a porta gayola. Manuel
Escribano put this right by heading to the chiqueros to meet the third bull;
the animal initially passed by him, but Escribano readjusted his position and
gave an emotive and well time larga de rodillas. Urdiales took his right to a
quite and gave a particularly attractive media. Escribano’s three pairs of
banderillas were orthodox yet inconsistent, the third pair, de poder a poder
executed at a short distance was excellent. The preceding two, less so. Despite
displaying positive traits in the opening tercios, the bull’s charge turned for
the worse in the final third. It was listless, dull, with a short charge.
Escribano was controlled throughout the faena, but the entire performance was
wholly lacking in emotion.
Escribano returned to the pens to welcome the
afternoon’s final bull with a larga cambiada – it is a tough lot, but Escribano
is the type of torero that needs to give his complete repertoire every corrida.
Exquisite artists can sit back and wait for their
bull, toreros that base their tauromaquia on spectacle and valour must be
fully committed with each opponent. Banderillas in hand, Escribano is good
enough to perform an attractive tercio, but untidy enough to remind the crowd
that it is not easy to place banderillas. His faena de muleta was an exercise
in desire. The bull had a very, mobile charge, although it lacked profoundness
and therefore did not follow the lure long into the pass. Nevertheless, its
movement conveyed danger and emotion, giving importance to Escribano’s work.
The faena was basic, but emotive. Stripped fundamental toreo with either hand,
controlling the bull’s charge with his lure and linking his passes. A showcase
of Manuel’s dominance over the bull that earned him an ear. Further evidence
that Manuel Escribano is more than just an honest professional with a keen
sense of spectacle: he has the wherewithal to swim in the tempestuous sea of the corridas
duras.
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