Fallas 2014 - Sexta de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

14/03/14 Jandilla & Vegahermosa Toros – El Cid, Manuel Escribano & Iván Fandiño

This cartel congregated a curious blend of toreros. El Cid, a serious veteran, and Iván Fandiño, a serious rising star, both share the same taurine aesthetic tradition, although they belong to different generations. Manuel Escribano, meanwhile, is an entirely different type of torero, a varied and spectacular torero, he bases his tauromaquia on displays of valour, delivered with a smile. His is taurine bravery’s cheerful face, a young Juan José Padilla if you will.

The lidia to El Cid’s first bull was a virtual non-entity. The bull displayed symptoms of difficulty in the first two tercios. However, it possessed a certain nerve in its charge that allowed El Cid  to execute a couple  of very clean and well-timed series en redondo with the right hand, each capped with an admirable chest pass. That was it though. By the third series it once again showed its problems, heading for the man rather than the lure, and the fourth series was impossible as, by this point, it had become completely rajado.

Bravery’s cheerful face headed to the puerta de chiqueros to receive the afternoon’s second bull. He welcomed it into the arena with a larga cambiada de rodillas and some well executed veronicas, concluded with a very slow media on his knees. Escribano’s interventions with the capote continued into the pics tercio, with a jovial galleo by chcuelinas and a colourful (although not altogether clean) quite by saltilleras. Fandiño also contributed to the spectacle with a good quite by tafalleras. The merriment was maintained during the tercio de banderillas (the highlight of which was a quiebro close to the boards) and continued into the muleta with Escribano commencing the faena on his knees in the centre of the ring. The kneeling derechazos were well timed, and got the crowd on its feet. The fundamental toreo that followed was pleasing, and executed with a slowness and timing that one might not readily associate with a cheery tremendista. As the bull’s charge lost vigour, Escribano resorted to circulares, and the faena concluded with a series of manoletinas. A well-executed estocada yielded an ear. It had been a complete performance from Escribano, he kept the crowd’s attention throughout, from the opening larga cambiada, through the quites and banderillas, concluding with the faena de muleta and estocada – it was lidia total, Paquirri would have been proud.

Fandiño greeted his first bull with some veronicas on his knees, these served to focus the public’s attention, but the really moving part of his recibo was once he got on his feet and performed a set of low, slow and profound veronicas. Something similar happened at the beginning of his faena de muelta, the opening estatuarios were good, but not moving. Fandiño noted this and completed the introductory portion of the fanea with trincherazos and passes del desdén; these were moving and profound. The faena itself was an excellent example of fundamental toreo with both left and right hands. Relaxed derechazos were interspersed with silky naturales; each pass characterised by the length, low execution and good timing. The Jandilla was a very good bull, which had the good fortune of meeting a very good torero. A pinchazo preceded an excellent estocada, the crowd petitioned for an ear that was duly granted; the pinchazo might have prevented him cutting a second.       

The fourth bull was marked by the dramatic voltereta suffered by El Cid as he performed al natural, the bull had El Cid at his mercy, but the torero from Salteras miraculously escaped unscathed. Before that, El Cid commenced his faena like in his best years, citing the bull from the boards in the centre of the ring, and beginning toreo en redondo without any preparation. The first two series of derechazos were good, cleanly executed, but perhaps a fraction fast. However, unfortunately for El Cid, this bull, like his first, only lasted two series. Its once long charge had shortened markedly and any toreo was impossible. After the tossing, El Cid tried an arrimón, if only to show his dominance over the bull. It had been a serious performance from a serious torero. Despite the pincahzo, the generous Valencia crowd petitioned for an ear that was not granted, notwithstanding El Cid gave a hard earned vuelta al ruedo. I would also like to note Alcalareño’s excellent tercio de banderillas, I always enjoy this banderillero’s powerful, rangy style, and it was pleasing to see him invited to saludar after his performance.  

Escribano once again headed to the puerta de chiqueros for the fifth bull and gave a clean, but sterile, larga cambiada de rodillas, which was followed by slow veronicas – it was good to see Escribano torear slowly when the circumstances demanded it. Fandiño performed another quite by tafalleras, wherein the bull showed a tendency to cut in towards the torero’s body. Escribano’s banderillas were executed with ease, but, aside from the violin al quiebro to close, lacked an edge of emotion. By the muleta, the bull’s charge had lost all vitality, and despite Escribano’s desire, there was no possibility for a faena of note. My only criticism would be that it was clear from an early stage that the bull had lost its charge,  the faena was needlessly extended.

The lidia to the sixth bull was conducted to thesound of a jeering protesting the bull’s presence (it was the sobrero, the title bull having been rejected because of weak legs). The crowd was no doubt sensing the anticlimactic nature of an afternoon that, at the half way point, promised a great deal. Fandiño’s dedication to the crowd received a mixed reaction, but a spectacular commencement by several consecutive passes cambiados managed to get everyone on board for the faena. The opening series en redondo were marvellous, long and well-timed derechazos that transmitted emotion partly because of their execution, and partly because of the bull’s vigorous charge. As the vitality of the bull’s charge declined so did the intensity of the toreo en redondo, although there was still time for a wonderful trincherazo with the left hand. The molinetes to finish were more exciting than profound, while a concert of pinchazos to kill the bull prevented Fandiño from receiving another ear (which, in any event, would have been less merited than the other two cut this afternoon).  

Fallas 2014 - Quinta de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

13/03/2014 Fuente Ymbro Toros – Antonio Ferrera, Joselito Adame & Jiménez Fortes

Today began the week long sequence of uninterrupted corridas de toros at Las Fallas. For the occasion, a string of the always interesting Fuente Ymbro bulls awaited Antonio Ferrera (who performed only five days after suffering a serious goring in Olivenza), Joselito Adame and Jiménez Fortes. The principal negative note at the paseillo was the bare appearance of the tendidos; I fully understand that going to the bulls for nine consecutive days requires a great deal of effort, and a not insignificant economic outlay. Its therefore logical that the public flock to the, a priori, more interesting carteles featuring the figuras, however, the fiesta must find a way to ensure that the types of carteles offered today congregate more than a small fraction of the plaza’s capacity (I appreciate the irony that I am writing this from my desk after watching the corrida on TV, but, unless anyone can find it in their heart or pocket to give me a full time job writing about toros, I am unfortunately confined to watching corridas from a distance).

Those that stayed away missed Jiménez Fortes’ triumphant performance. Fortes bases his tauromaquia on utter stillness and passing the bull as closely as possible to his own body – you never know how much control he has over the bull, but his toreo is exciting. He showed this concept from his very first intervention in the corrida, a quite of three isolated but chilling chicuelinas that conveyed emotion through the proximity of horn to thigh rather than through their aesthetic.

He cut an ear from his first bull, despite the two descabellos needed to finish the bull. Although this is testament to the generosity of the Valencia crowd, the faena itself was rousing and would have merited an ear had the kill been cleaner. Fortes began the faena by estatuarios in the centre of the ring. I would have preferred a beginning that exerted dominance and control over the bull, but I cannot deny that this start was rousing. He tried to continue with toreo fundamental in the centre of the ring, but the bull was quickly rajado and headed to tablas. Given the manso condition of the bull, series en redondo were impossible, but Fortes managed to execute some pleasing figure of eight toreo, turning into ojedimso, and finished his work with some frightening bernadinas.  

Fortes' faena to the final bull of the afternoon showcased a completely different side to his tauromaquia. If his opening performance had been characterised by a bravery that bordered on tremendismo, the final lidia was marked by the slowness of his toreo. It began with the cape, a series of slow, low veronicas seemed at odds with the style of chicuelinas he gave to the first bull. By the tercio de muleta, the bull had developed a prompt and frank gallop that underscored its noble charge. Fortes soon noted these qualities and cited the bull from distance for the first series of derechazos - the soft touch of Fortes' muleta were exactly what the bull required. This was toreo en redondo of excellent quality. Although by the time he took the left hand, the bull's initial vigour had declined, the toreo remained of high quality. The silky smooth naturales were beautiful and perhaps the highlight of the faena. Fortes concluded with some circulares that were marked by temple rather than closeness. A good estocada put the oreja in his hand and gave him the puerta grande.

The corrida had opened with the worst bull of the string, a striking looking fiery brown bull that was weak and had an informal charge. Ferrera was in control of the lidia at every stage, and even managed an acceptable tercio de banderillas, despite his recent injury, but a pleasing spectacle was impossible given the animal’s condition.

Fortunately, Ferrera was able to express his toreo with the noble and sweet charging bull run fourth. I would not usually think that this type of bull would suit the generally cyclonic and thrilling Ferrera. However, he was able to perform very well timed toreo fundamental that was charged with emotion. Ferrera was slower than on most occasions, and the derechazos flowed with ease. When he took the muleta in the left hand, he was able to torear with repose and the curved naturales were an utter delight. Although it is hard to tell from home, the crowd seemed somewhat cold with Ferrera, and an unfortunate metisaca prevented any notion of an ear.

Ferrera was also very active in quites, intervening in his own bulls, and taking the opportunity to perform artistic quites during his companions lidias. As an interesting point, rather than taking the bull to the centre of the ring with two or three capotazos he would begin the quite from under the horse. Although it was not a hark back to the origin of the quite as a way of taking the bull away from the fallen picador, as the commentators would have us believe, it was a curious tweak on the usual execution of the suerte.    

Adame’s first bull had a wonderful right horn, and Joselito executed some pleasing and correct series of derechazos – the result was emotive, but his toreo was not emphatic enough to do justice to the quality of the bull. Al natural, Adame managed to readjust his footing between each pass in order to properly link the series. The bull was still vivacious when it came to the estocada, so Adame opted for a judicious and well-executed macheteo to prepare the bull for the sword thrust. The faena was enjoyable, clean and correct, but it lacked a layer of quality that the bull deserved; perhaps a better structure would have emphasised the positives and taken the faena to a crescendo.    

One of the highlights of Adame’s performance was a colourful and well executed quite by lopecinas to his second bull. A varied quite that reflect his Mexican roots, and timely reminder of the creativity on which this torero has based his tauromaquia. The faena began promisingly with some ayudados por alto executed while sitting on the tablas (I never usually like this suerte, but it worked on this occasion) followed by a superb pase del desdén. Unfortunately the bull developed a clumsy charge that Adam was never really able to control with his toreo en  redondo and the faena dissipated into nothing.    

Fallas 2014 - Cuarta de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

12/03/2014 El Parralejo Novillos – Román, Francisco José Espada & José Garrido

This corrida brought to a close a week where I have been lucky enough to watch four novilladas – a useful snapshot of the novice landscape at the start of the season. I am happy to write that there is a promising set of novilleros ready to take to the sand during 2014. We can only hope that the crisis ridden fiesta gives them the opportunity to torear and develop into successful toreros.

I greatly enjoyed José Garrido’s performance in Olivenza last week, although his triumph on Friday was subsequently overshadowed by Ginés Marín and Luis Manuel Terrón’s brilliant performances on Sunday. Thankfully, we were once again able to enjoy Garrido’s best toreo this afternoon in Valencia. The lidia to his first novillo was marked by the excellent tercio de quites he shared with Román; athough Román performed the more varied quites, Garrido was firmer and more profound. He opened his faena with a spectacular series of derechazos en redondo on his knees. Once on his Garrido exploited the bull’s brave charge with some profound series en redondo. The overarching concept was clean execution, long passes and low hands – an infallible combination. The novillo soon faded, no doubt suffering the effect of the four quites, but a solid sword thrust gave Garrido the ear that his faena richly deserved.

The faena to his second novillo was the highlight of the afternoon. A wonderful sweet charging animal, it found the silk touch it needed in Garrido’s capote and muleta. The substance of the faena revolved around four wonderfully relaxed, cleanly timed series of derechazos. His natural, understated elegance underscored his work; it was a true pleasure to watch. As the faena advanced he took the left hand, and maintained the high level of toreo. There was no need for pyrotechnics to conclude, no manoletina or arrimón to ignite the crowd, just a series of natural and reverse passes (executed with natural grace) to prepare the novillo for the estocada.

The afternoon’s other triumphant torero was Francisco José Espada, he cut an ear off the excellent fifth novillo of the afternoon. As is logical given his inexperience, Espada, was not able to match the novillo’s excellent charge. His derechazos were acceptable, cleanly executed, but lacked emotion – meanwhile, the novillo was charging with verve and haciendo el avión. As the novillo slowed, Espada shifted to the left horn, extracting some further acceptable naturales. The faena itself was well structured inasmuch as it reached a crescendo with a beautifully executed finale of figure of eight toreo (this type of conclusion is oft abused, and when given for its own sake can seem redundant, but when well performed, as on this occasion, it can be a fitting conclusion). A pinchazo preceding the estocada did not prevent him from cutting an ear.

Espada’s first novillo had a clumsy charge that conveyed absolutely no emotion. His faena was firm, and his desire to please cannot be doubted, but, because of the animal’s poor charge, the faena lacked any feeling.   

The opening novillero of the afternoon, Román, is due to take the alternativa in Nimes’ spring feria. His opening novillo was weak, but noble, with tendencies towards manso. Its charge was buoyant and long (paradoxically, the novillos mansedumbre gave it an extra few stes at the end of the charge as it sought to escape the lure) allowing Román to construct his faena principally around five series en redondo, alternating between the right and left hand. The series with the right were better formed, and structured towards a crescendo, while the left hand passes, although excellent on occasion, were marred by enganchones. The attempted poncinas to conclude were well intentioned, but lacked a clean execution. It was an acceptable faena, but suffered the weak series with the left hand – given his upcoming alternativa, one might have expected a more emphatic performance with this type of novillo.

Román seemed more focussed on his second novillo, greeting it with an electric larga de rodillas. He started his faena with well executed estatuarios, which were followed by a couple of very good series of derechazos – the bull was charging with vigour and it was met by low, long, timed derechazos. On this occasion, Román’s left hand was as good as his right and the vuelos of the muleta danced as the stroked the bull’s charge. Román’s toreo was punishing and once the bull’s vitality was drained, he resorted to the figure of eight circulares that form the unnecessary coda to so many faenas in the twenty-first century. An insufficient media estocada prevented him from obtaining the ear that was probably heading his way.

At the conclusion of the novillada I was happy that José Garrido reaffirmed the good impression he had caused in Olivenza, he will certainly be a novillero to follow in 2014. It was, however, disappointing that Román, at this stage of his career, was not able to further exploit the charges offered by his novillos. Espada showed his technical understanding of toreo, whether he can develop into a finished product remains to be seen.

Fallas 2014 - Tercera de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

11/03/2014 El Torreón Novillos – Posada de Maravillas, Alvaro Lorenzo and Cristian Climent

March is always a happy time, the longer evenings serves as a reminder that the worst of winter is behind us, and, more importantly for the aficionado, the ferias of Olivenza and Valencia are a sure sign that the bullfighting season is underway. After an excellent couple of novilladas from Olivenza at the weekend, this afternoon’s novillada was another good opportunity to get acquainted with the junior escalafón. The novilleros had before them a string of El Torreón animals that were well presented but on the borderline where nobleza turns sickly, and not blessed with excessive energy. However, most had enough mobility to allow for an interesting afternoon.

Posada de Maravillas is a wonderfully classy novillero; his elegant manner of toreo conveys emotion. Although his first opponent was excessively weak and charged in an ungainly manner, Posada’s muleta provided the key to extract some meaningful charges from the novillo and he was able to construct some well worked and emotive series with the right hand. Unfortunately, his timing was not always precise and numerous unsightly enganchones sullied an otherwise tasteful faena. A slow, well executed and effective sword thrust gave way to a deserved vuelta al ruedo.

The faena to the fourth bull was also in a similar vein. His grace was able to compensate for the bull’s failings, but he was never really able to kick into top gear. The bull began charging with vigour, but this was gone after a couple of series and Posada was left to work every charge out of the animal. There were less enganchones, but the passes were sometimes executed too fast. When he was able to slow down the real dimension of his toreo emerged; the highlight of the faena was a beautiful cambio de mano executed just before taking the real sword. He finished with pretty naturales de frente and although he only managed a half sword which was sufficient, although the puntillero lifted the bull up once, a generous minority petitioned for an ear.

Had Alvaro Lorenzo been able to replicate Posada’s effective sword work to the opening animal he might have cut an ear off his first novillo. The faena was marked by low, long series of well linked passes with either hand. It was a well-constructed faena wherein Alvaro managed to gain a step between passes or stay still as necessary. Some muddy luquesinas provided an element of pyrotechnics to conclude; but it was all spoiled by the sword. A pity. The faena had not been perfect, to my mind it was too inconsistent and marred by a few desarmes and various enganchones, but it was deserving of an ear.

Lorenzo once again showcased his well-formed concept of toreo with the fifth novillo. He does not exude grace in the way Posada does, but seeks to perform long passes with low hands. The novillo only lasted two series of derechazos before stopping completely which prevented Lorenzo from constructing a complete faena – he persisted but to no avail. Nevertheless, Lorenzo’s solid concept of toreo shone through. The odd molinete and varied remate showcased some pleasing creativity.

Cristian Climent debuted with pics, and left a solid impression for one with such limited experience. His opening faena was centred around a couple of very good, linked and timed series of derechazos, but there was little else to raise the pulses. An exciting series of figure of eight toreo to end his faena would have certainly led to a petition from the generous crowd.

He was able to cut the only ear of the afternoon on the closing novillo. It was a meritorious faena to an animal with manso tendencies, the main virtue being several well timed series of derechazos. Climent re-adjusted his footing between each pass, as required by the novillo, and was able to keep his opponent focused on his lure on the numerous times it sought to head for the boards. In summary, Climent showed he deserved his chance with pics and looks ready to affront the challenge posed by the utrero, whether he is able to continue to develop only time will tell.

Thus ended a perfectly pleasant afternoon; each faena was of interest, but none will live in the memory. We will no doubt suffer worse corridas throughout this feria, and indeed during the course of the season, but it is a pity that this novillada unfolded on the plateau of the “pleasant” without scaling more emotive heights.

Sevilla - Feria de Abril 13/04/2013

Sevilla 13/04/2013 - Lo bien toreao es lo bien arrematao (Rafael “El Gallo”)

Sevilla. 13^th April 2013. Bulls (in order of appearance) de Núñez del Cuvillo, Garcigrande, Victorino Martín, El Pilar; and two from Juan Pedro Domecq (5^th & 6^th)

José María Manzanares (light blue and gold suit): ovation, ovation, silence, silence, light claps and two orejas.

Lo bien toreao es lo bien arrematao; this Rafael El Gallo phrase has served me for today’s review, because, indeed, Manazanares’ solo corrida was excellently arrematao. Of course, El Gallo’s quote refers to toreo itself, and submits that a pass or series, no matter how brilliant its beginning, must be concluded properly and powerfully. However, El Gallo, a philosopher at heart, is merely describing human nature. We enjoy crescendos, and abhor anti-climaxes, often forgetting that, in the case of the latter, they must, by nature, be preceded by a climax. Therefore after five bulls had been dispatched, and with the crowd expectations dashed, José María Manzanares rose like a phoenix from the ashes to perform a truly wonderful faena that, in and of itself, went a fair way to justifying his proposition.

The problem I find with solo corridas is that they raise the bar of expectation far too high. Most corridas in Sevilla transpire with barely an ear been cut, much less an outstanding faena being performed. Consequently, why, in the case of a solo corrida, does the afición expect the opposite to be true and the afternoon to contain a hatful of ears and a couple of historic faenas?

With this expectation, Jose María Manzanares crossed the golden sand of the Maestranza for the opening parade, impeccably dressed in a striking light blue suit, his solitary figure casting a haunting image, reinforcing the fact that here was a man alone to face six bulls. The psychological impact of this cannot be underestimated, the entire afternoon’s brilliance rested on his shoulders. The weight of the burden would increase as each successive bull left the arena with both its ears intact.

The corrida had began promisingly, the opening Cuvillo bull showed its classy charge immediately as it allowed Manzanares to perform pleasing veronicas to saludar, these were interspersed with a playful chicuelina and concluded with a well-executed media veronica. Unhappily, it also seemed as if the Cuvillo’s silky charge would be hampered by limited strength, thus Manzanares ordered a two light pics, broken up with a short but bright quite by chicuelinas. The Cuvillo’s classy charge came to the fore, but lingering in the background was the doubt of how it would withstand the final third, in the event Manzanares performed a short but intense faena based on the bull’s right horn. The bull run out of gas a couple of series too early, but, even so, the toreo en redondo was commendable and I have heard the Maestranza band strike up a pasodoble to less. Overall it seemed as if the crowd was in the frame of mind to witness something truly extraordinary, and therefore, the merely good was of no interest to it.

The Domingo Hernández bull, run in second place, was an altogether different proposition. The compliant desire of the Cuvillo was replaced with the testing casta of a bull with nerve. To begin his faena Manzanares sought to submit the bull’s charge with some punishing low genuflecting passes before electing to take the right hand for toreo en redondo. The bull had its problems, but once enticed with the muleta possessed a long charge from which Manzanares was able to extract a couple of very well worked series en redondo. Again it seemed as if the crowd and band were a touch cold – the afición was prepared to encourage Manzanares, but it would not surrender to him easily. For the second time the bull lacked about ten passes in order to allow the faena to fully take form; after the initial charges, the bull would stop and measure the torero between each pass, and Manzanares stood still, faced up to his challenge and with a firm toque drove its focus back to the muleta. It was a show of controlled bravery that was necessary to demonstrate Manzanares’ desire to triumph this afternoon.

What these opening two bulls also showed was that it is not just passes and series that must be well concluded (as per El Gallo’s phrase), but also faenas – despite their auspicious start, both works faded to nothing as the bull’s charge dissipated. Perhaps, had these bulls been run later in the corrida, there might have been a more positive outcome.

Given the promising, but ultimately underwhelming, start the mood in the plaza was edgy and tense as the Victorino (a striking light grey bull) entered the arena. Unfortunately, the bull was tough and while it maintained a level of excitement throughout its lidia, it did not allow for beautiful toreo. After Juan José Trujillo showcased supreme bravery and ability to place two spectacular pairs of banderillas, Manzanares began to torear with the left hand and extracted some well worked and long naturales. However, the mirage of the bull’s long charge faded quickly and the faena concluded with suitable macheteo.

By the half-way point of the corrida, both the toreros and the crowd’s hopes were foundering – but by the time the fifth bull was taken away by the mulilas, such hopes had sunk. The fourth El Pilar bull was poor by all measures, weak, lacking class and the type of bull that does not allow for a moment’s brilliance. The fifth bull, a Juan Pedro Domecq, a sobrero as the original Toros de Cortés bull was rejected, was better. Like the first and second bulls it allowed for a good beginning to the faena, a superb tanda of derechazos caused the band to strike up, but, once again, the bull exhausted its reserve of charges fairly promptly and the faena was not adequately concluded.

Five bulls and five disappointments, it seemed as if the afternoon was meandering into disenchantment. However, fate had ordained for an ideal bull to be waiting in the pens for Manzanares to be able to properly conclude and rematar his feat.

Notwithstanding the unfortunate development of the corrida, the crowd was grateful to Manzanares’ for his heroic decision to face six bulls and between the fifth and sixth bull encouraged him with a standing ovation. It was the emotive highlight of the corrida thus far, the crowd helping the hero when he most need their confidence, and this visibly struck a nerve with the torero who was spurred to head for the puerta de chiqueros and greet the sixth bull a porta gayola. What followed was an artistic work of cathedral-like stature that was delightful to experience, but will no doubt be harder to describe.

To greet the bull, Manzanares performed three larga cambiadas de rodillas, a cluster of beautifully executed veronicas and an emphatic media veronica on his knees. The bull had a long, exciting and noble charge that Manzanares would exploit until the end of his masterpiece. For the second time in the afternoon he performed a quite artístico sculpturing a well-timed series of tafalleras capped with a delicate tijerilla. Curro Javier, Luís Blázquez and Trujillo performed a magical tercio de banderillas: the star cuadrilla working like clockwork, with each profound capotazo leaving the bull in exactly the right place for an exposed and exciting pair of banderillas.

The plaza was, for the first time in the afternoon, braced with excitement and positivity as Manzanares went to the centre of the ring to dedicate his performance to the crowd. There he called the bull for his first tanda of derechazos. The bull’s charge was profound and sprightly allowing for intense series en redondo impregnated with Manzanares’ imperial elegance. The first three series were all based on the right horn and followed a similar structure – a long distance initial cite which showcased the bull’s excellent charge and allowed for extended sweeping derechazos, after the three of these, and with the bull tracing tighter circle around the torero, the derechazos were shorter but more curvilinear, a slightly retreated back leg giving them more length than would otherwise be the case. The remates, passes with the reverse of the muleta either por alto or por bajo, were resounding. Manzares continued his great faena on the bull’s left side; the naturales that surged were long and fluid, the edges of the muleta dancing as the torero enticed the bull to the ends of its charge. Once back on the right side the bull’s one time energetic charge had been reduced to a noble trot, but still, there was enough there for Manzanares to garnish his faena with a flowery capeína and some baroque adorning passes.

He closed the bull to the tercio (the entire faena de muleta had been in the middle of the ring) and performed one of his now classic estocadas recibiendo, which although well executed, was somewhat tendida and thus needed a descabello. The two ears that the president awarded were well deserved in the context – it would have been unnecessarily miserly to have given this great work anything less.

The plaza had finally succumbed to Manzanares and, in the ecstasy, petitioned for a sobrero – my heart agreed with the petition, my head told me that lo bien toreao es lo bien arrematao, and the odds of the sobrero allowing for an equally powerful conclusion were very slim indeed. 

Arles 2013 - Feria de Pascua (IV)

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

01/04/2013 Victorino Martín - Fernando Robleño & Javier Castaño

The final corrida of the feria involved the always intriguing Victorino bulls before two specialists with the encaste: Fernando Robleño and Javier Castaño. Aficionados were no doubt hoping (expecting?) for an explosion of casta. However, the result was a slow burning fire fuelled by the intrigue of the bulls, but lacking the spark to take the corrida to a higher level of brilliance.

Victorino’s string was well presented but without excess; although they looked smaller and leaner than the Cebadas and Torrestrellas (expected given their Saltillo providence) they were comparably heavy. Their performance was slightly more disappointing; there was no truly boring or weak bull, but neither was there one that marked itself as a standout. All had the interest given to them by their casta, but the casta derived into problems rather than being the basis for charges with desire. However, given that casta and nerve are never negative attributes, each bull kept the crowd’s interest throughout its lidia and there were quality charges lurking behind several bulls (especially those run in second and third place).

Javier Castaño’s performance was a showcase of control over the bull at each juncture, as a result, was able to give each animal the lidia that it required. His, and the corrida’s, best faena came to the second bull. Although the bull shared the problems presented by its brothers, it had enough quality to submit some long and profound charges to Castaño’s muleta. A faena in crescendo, better on the right side than the left, it was a pure and emotive work of art based on the fundamental passes – the bull did not allow flowery accompanying passes, and therefore the faena’s worth was based on profound series of derechazos. Foreshadowing the rest of the afternoon, Castaño’s sword was poor and he lost the triumph his muleta work merited.

Javier’s performance with the muleta was solid throughout the afternoon. The fourth and sixth bulls had difficult charges, but his sense of distances and positioning enabled him to extract the most of each one. With bulls such as these it is difficult to perform immobile linked toreo en redondo, however, by adjusting his footing accordingly between each pass he was able to perform suitably flowing and exciting toreo. Had his sword been to the level of his muleta he would have exited the ring on shoulders. 

Castaño recgonises the value of the lidia, but is not a torero that shines in all three tercios. He therefore allowed his cuadrilla to star with the pics and banderillas. His picadors ably coped with the bulls being set a distance from the horse, toreando from their horses to attract the bull and meting out the appropriate, not excessive, level of punishment. Furthermore, his banderilleros David Adalid and Fernando Sánchez placed impressive and artistic pairs of banderillas to the second and fourth bulls. Fernando Sánchez provided the aesthetic elegance to the tercio walking, not running, towards the bulls before a short burst immediately prior to executing the pair of banderillas. David Adalid was the powerful alternative to Sanchez and placed his banderillas in varying terrains around the plaza.    

Fernando Robleño performed three technically distinct faenas. In order to link passes to his first bull he readjusted his footing in order to cross the line of charge between each derechazo. As the bull’s charge was emotive, had he been able to stay still and link the passes (a feat that is easier written from my study, than performed in the plaza) it would have been an excellent faena. In the end, it was simply meritorious. The faena to his third was the highlight of his afternoon; Robleño managed to unlock the bull’s wonderful left horn and performed a commendable faena based on the left hand. He made the fringe ends of the muleta dance during each natural and only a poor effort with the sword prevented him from securing an ear. The fifth bull was the toughest of Robleño’s lot, he spent more time trying to extract a faena from it that the bull probably deserved, to the extent that it cost him a tossing. The highlight of this bull’s lidia was another superb tercio de varas from Gabin Rehabi (who also starred the previous days with the Cebadas).

As a final observation, while the previous three corridas had been partly characterised by the frequent quites this corrida had none – the bulls’ general condition did not lend itself to elaborate capote work, but rather a different, graver lidia. It did not matter; the fiesta feeds off such variety.   

Arles 2013 - Feria de Pascua (III)

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

31/03/2013 Cebada Gago – Luís Bolívar, David Mora & Marco Leal

Another enjoyable afternoon at the hands of Luís Bolivar, David Mora and Marco Leal with Cebada Gago bulls.

The presentation of Cebadas followed from the notable string of Torrestrellas with another set of fine yet impressive animals, the grey fifth bull was particularly beautiful. Their performance was varied yet interesting, a combination of the teasingly tough bull (run in second place), the brave spectacular bull (run in third place) and the noble bull (run in fifth place).

The afternoon’s best faena came at the hands of David Mora. He was able to unlock the noble and profound charge of the fifth bull and constructed a serious and meaningful faena around these virtues. The bull’s initial charge was uncertain, but once focused it had a repetitive and deep charge, Mora was able to harness the bull's positive qualities and based his faena on pure and long derechazos. A good sword thrust gave him an ear, which perhaps should have been two. I was surprised at the lack of petition for the second ear, the faena had been meaningful, but arguably lacked connectivity with the crowd; he was unable to provide the pyrotechnics that Padilla has used so efficiently to reach the crowd the day before, and this probably cost him the second ear. A pity. He first bull was tough and uncertain, but Mora stood his ground and was firm, such firmness cost him an ugly tossing, but showcased his strong mentality.

The corrida’s emotive highlight was the tercio de varas performed by the third bull, called Lagarto. Aside from the obligatory two pics, its matador, Marco Leal, subsequently ordered it to be placed on the opposite side of the arena for two further pics (given that the ring is elliptical, the first placement was across the width of the arena and the second across the length of the same). Lagarto rose to the challenge admirably charging on both occasions and vindicating the emotional and aesthetic values the suerte de varas. A great tercio de varas of course requires a good performance by the picador, on this occasion Gabin Rehabi stood up to Lagarto’s test with bravery and composure (incidentally, I did not know this picador before Sunday’s corrida, but there are some good videos of him piccing on YouTube if anyone is interested). Of course, the lidia goes beyond the pic, and the next test was to assess Largarto’s performance in the final third – unfortunately, Leal was the corrida’s least experienced torero and therefore we are left in doubt as to whether the poor conclusion was down to the bull or the torero. It was a long faena marked by inconsistent toreo. The bull’s charge seemed classless, but, on occasions, Leal was able to lower his hand and extract a meaningful class. The overwhelming feeling was that Leal had been unable to extract the bull’s bravura in order to construct a faena; however, I would hasten to add that, perhaps, the bull had gained favour with the afición after the tercio de varas and they were less willing to see the difficulties posed by the bull in the final third.

Leal’s final bull was clearly more complicated and, once again, the faena was characterised by inconsistency. On occasions Leal was able to submit the bull to his toreo, but all too often the bull passed him by and caused problems. It would have been instructive to see his lot in more experienced hands. Leal also placed his own banderillas and did so with the ease one would expect from a specialist matador banderillero – they were not tercios that will live in the memory, but they were perfectly pleasant for the present.

Luís Bolivar is a torero that likes to cite his bulls from afar and has based his tauromaquia on the Cesar Rincón tenets of distance, dominance and timing and he sought to impose these on both of his bulls with mixed effect. His first faena was a crescendo of series of right hand passes. The opening few series were of low intensity and served to fix the bull on his muleta without overly overpowering it; once this was achieved, he increased the intensity of the passes and performed two very admirable and moving series of derechazos. An excellent sword thrust (both in execution and effect) gave way to an ear. The fourth bull was more uncertain and gazapón, the resulting faena, once again based around cites from distance, was therefore more uneven and never developed as we would have hoped. A satisfactory afternoon from Bolivar that, for its worth, did not show any dimension that would lead us to believe that he is anything more than one amongst many capable, but not brilliant matadors.