The view
from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.
Victoriano del Río bulls for Alejandro
Talavante & Roca Rey mano a mano
Following a number of disappointing crowds,
today’s attractive cartel brought a near full house to the plaza. Although the
aficionado hopes that the crowds fill plazas every corrida, can one really
blame the público for opting out of this week’s corridas? The crowd senses when
the corrida promises to be significant, and they avoid the plaza if the cartel
is not inviting. Yes, I know, promising corridas do not always deliver, but an
a priori underwhelming cartel almost never does. The general public plays the
percentages. Alejandro Talavante is in a rich vein of form. Long gone are the
inconsistencies of his early years as a matador. He has matured into a torero
with the ability to perform very high quality faenas on a regular basis. Roca
Rey is one of the standard bearers of the new generation of young toreros mounting
their assault on the summit of the senior escalafón. Of all the young toreros,
he (along with perhaps Ginés Marín) have the highest ceiling. His tauromaquia
is a stunning fusion between stillness and quality toreo, an eye catching concept
that satisfies the seasoned aficionado and the casual spectator. If I am being
nit-picky about the cartel, I would have preferred a terna. Miguel Ángel Perera
would have been an excellent addition to the bill, he certainly does not
deserve to have been left at home this feria.
I loathe the term “ganadería de garantías” (a
ranch whose performance is guaranteed) – with bulls, nothing can ever be
guaranteed. However, I am willing to stake that Victoriano del Río is likely to
deliver an above average level of performance. I can be exasperated by the
Domecq encaste as much as the next guy, however, the Victoriano bulls are at
the top of their game. Any issues that their might be with the Domecq bloodline
are not down to this ganadería. A quick word of warning before we begin, I
would have also said the same about Saturday’s Fuente Ymbros and they
underwhelmed…
Talvante dove straight in to delantales in the
recibo to his first bull, these were slightly untidy but performed closely. The
bull’s performance over the first couple of tercios was disconcerting. It
seemed unfocussed and received a couple of non-descript pics. Roca Rey performed
a smooth quite by tafalleras, which were undermined by the bull’s subdued
charge. The banderillas seemed to revive the bull’s charge somewhat – although this
was at the expense of Santi Acevedo, who unfortunately received a 25cm going in
the buttock as he exited a pair of banderillas. Nevertheless, the bull was sprightly
enough to convince Talavante that he could begin the faena with a cartucho de
pescao and a couple of series of naturales. The early charges of each series
were emotive, the bull’s momentum taking it through each pass; however, it
lacked he vigour to maintain the charge throughout the series. When it felt
dominated its charge would turn raspy, the sense of danger was palpably present
at each juncture. Talavante was firm, and tried to impose his will on the bull through
good timing. The result was pleasing, we could see the technique of toreo in action.
Talavante was even able to give us some moments of brilliance, either through a
well linked series, a bright molinete invertido or his decisive closing manoletinas.
This bull was evidence of Talvante’s evolution as a torero, he used to only
shine when the bull charged on rails; today Alejandro succeeded imposing his
will on a tricky customer. For my money he would have deserved an ear had he
not necessitated a pinchazos an ineffectual estocada to finish his work.
Talavante’s second bull took a long, hard,
first pic, almost dismounting the picador. Talavante gave a still quite by
chicuelinas, which was undermined by the bull’s rough, short charge. The second
pic was light and followed by Roca Rey’s quite of extremely tight saltilleras. The
bull lacked rhythm and class, but it had power and nerve – a happy trade, even
though the ideal is the delicate balance between each set of qualities.
Talavante began with estatuarios and continued his faena by naturales. The series
were naturally intermittent because of the bull’s rough charge, but they were
well timed by Talavante and kept the crowd’s interest precisely because of the
bull’s difficulties. It was not a faena to feel and enjoy, but rather to nod
along in approval at the solutions given by Talavante’s muleta to the bull’s
problem. The only criticism I would have is that he extended the faena beyond
the bull’s capability to charge. Talavante completed his work with a succession
of pinchazos.
Talavante’s final bull gave an interesting performance
during the tercio de varas – it pushed hard on both occasions, dismounting the
rider on the first vara. Roca Rey opted for a quite by veronicas, a pleasing,
smooth quite, in stark contrast to the spectacular quites that characterised earlier
interventions. Alejandro started his faena de muleta on his knees, the first
attempt at kneeling estauarios was aborted when the bull’s horn brushed his leg
on the second pass. Talvante took evasive action and was soon on his feet.
However, he resolved the situation by taking to his knees again almost
immediately and giving the bull four emotive passes en redondo. This bull was
on the classier side and it allowed Alejandro to construct a conventional faena
en redondo – the torero stood firm and timed the bull well. It was a solid,
pleasing faena to a noble and compliant bull. Unfortunately, despite its
qualities, the bull soon exhausted its vigour, leaving Talavante to complete
his work on the basis on an arrimón and a coda by manoletinas. A slowly
executed full estocada put a well-deserved ear in his hands.
Roca Rey took some time to focus his opening
bull on his capote for the veronicas de recibo – once he did, the individual
lances were good, but they lacked continuity due to the bull’s condition. The animal
displayed manso tendencies, fleeing the horse when it felt the steel – the couple
of light pics barely made a mark on the bull, leaving the bull raw for the next
two tercios. The bull was tough to banderillear, it measured the toreros de
plata as they approached and did not charge – rather than pairs al cuarteo, the
animal called for creative efficiency, but cuadrillas are no longer used to
dealing with nervy mansos. The bull was
manso, but it also charged with vigour and power. With the bull charging like a
train it might have been advisable to perform a lidia sobre las piernas.
However Roca Rey began with estatuarios in the centre of the ring capped with
dominant passes por bajo. Andrés opted to dominate the bull with toreo en redondo.
Initially he bull’s nerve won over its mansedumbre and it charged with fierce
emotion at Roca Rey’s muleta, allowing Andrés to perform a number of excellent
series en redondo. His toreo was firm and extremely still, he also sprinkled
some arrucinas for good measure. As soon as the animal felt dominated, however,
he became rajado and headed for the boards. In a final show of superiority,
Roca Rey’s conclusion consisted of a brief arrimón and a couple of manoletinas.
His low estocada al encuentro cost him an ear (although it was widely
petitioned by the crowd).
The fourth bull of the afternoon also gave
signs of mansedumbre upon its entry to the ring, these continued during the
short tercio de varas (the bull went directly from one picador to the other,
receiving the two regulation pics in little time). Despite the mansedumbre, the
bull had an edge of nerve, which allowed Talavante to perform a pleasing quite
by delantales and Roca Rey a bright quite by tafalleras and salterillas. Andrés
must have recognised that the bull vivacity (despite its manso tendencies) would
give him the chance to shine and dedicated the bull to the crowd. The early
part of the faena was a wonderful blend of spectacular, profound and
intelligent toreo. He began with classic cambiados in the centre of the ring,
the spectacle. Conscious that the bull was manso and wanted to head for the
boards, Andrés kept the muleta perfectly positioned in front of the bull’s nose
to ensure that he could link toreo en redondo by derechazos, the intelligence. Then,
with the bull finding comfort close to the boards, came the profound, a couple
of wonderfully silky series of naturales that any great muletero would have
gladly claimed as their own. By this
stage the bull was declining, so it was time for the arrimón: the figure of
eight toreo, the cambiados and a display of utter stillness. The culmination of
this concept was a series of linked pases de las flores and arrucinas and his
concluding bernadinas. All the excellent muleta work might have been enough for
most toreros, but Roca Rey called for an estocada al encuentro which unleasahed
an impassioned petition for two ears and a tail. The president only granted the
two ears, but the tail would not have been unwarranted.
Roca Rey’s saludo capotero to the sixth bull
was insultingly brilliant – Andrés started with some slow veronicas, a farol
took the cape behind his back for tight and lovely timed gaoneras. Roca Rey
continued to be involved with the cape during the pics, taking the bull to the
horse by rogerinas for a light pic (not that the bull needed delicate handling,
but you can see that Roca Rey likes to keep his bulls in tact). There was no
quite and the second pic was barely non-existent, again on the matador’s
orders. Talavante closed his afternoon with a quite by low and slow veronicas,
which in turn stirred Roca Rey’s competitive juices into performing an excellent
quite by chicuelinas and tafalleras. Iván García shone during banderillas, two
emphatic pairs al cuarteo that earned him saludos. The bull’s charge was
promising, it was bright and classy, underpinned by an emotive gallop. Andrés’
opening gambit was a series on derechazos on his knees, capped with a sublime
pase de la firma and a roaring chest pass. The only worry at this stage was the
bull’s lack of focus. Despite its
qualities, it felt as if it were on the verge of becoming rajado. Sadly our
suspicions were confirmed and it headed to the boards as soon as Roca Rey began
to torear en redondo. We were left with the unedifying spectacle of Andrés
having to chase the bull, rather than the other way round. Nonetheless, the
torero managed to focus the bull sufficiently to give some moments of
brilliance, principally an excellently linked series of derechazos and a coda
of figure of eight toreo. A sure sword al encuentro allowed him to cut a
further ear.
Victoriano de Río provided a nervy string of
bulls. There was no complete bull, and most lacked the stamina to continue
charging throughout the faena, but they each managed to capture the attention
of the crowd. Given some of the dross that has emerged from chiqueros this
feria, this was a welcome string. However, beyond the bulls’ performance, today
will be remembered as the day that Roca Rey announced himself as a figura. His
career as a novilllero and early corridas as a full matador gave us promise
that we were before an important toreo. Today’s faenas were brimming with toreo
the like of which we have rarely seen before. Andrés of course has some way before
we can consider him at the level of El
Juli, Castella, Manzanares,
Perera or Talavante – but if he continues on current form, he will be there very
shortly. Talavante gave the afternoon of a figura on good form, he performed
well with an average lot. Better sword work might have ensured he joined Roca
Rey en hombros, although it is probably fitting that Roca Rey enjoyed the
triumph on his own. Today belonged to him – if he reaches his ceiling, toreo’s
throne will be his too.
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