LOOKING BACK AT VALDEMORILLO AND FORWARD TO THE NEXT FERIAS

Last weekend we were treated to what was, ultimately, a disappointing feria de Valdemorillo. Our taurine starved souls welcomed this short February feria when it was announced, but the lacklustre bulls and novillos put paid to our desire for a string of emotive faenas. Furthermore, once it finished I realised that the next feria was still a month away, and continuous toros would need to wait for another couple of months. However, let us not begin on such a bleak note.

Although the toros were poor, Valdemorillo should serve as the calling card for aspiring toreros who feel that they have something to contribute to the season. As such it was moderately effective. Borja Jiménez continued to show that he is one of the leading novilleros and may indeed forge a solid career in the senior escalafón, while Escudero displayed an aptitude that should hold him in good stead for an alternativa that will surely arrive this season. 

As far as the full matadors are concerned, Gallo gave a solid performance with the Pereda bulls, albeit without dispelling any lingering doubts over his long term prospects and Curro Díaz reminded us that his shining class will be a welcome addition to any cartel during the course of this season. Escribano continued to show that, with the correct marketing and promotion, he is a viable alternative to the tired line ups of popular, spectacular toreros aimed at the casual fan – then I remembered that toreo’s own marketing is entirely absent and the “system” is unlikely to effectively promote this asset effectively.

Above all, however, this feria will be remembered for Victor Barrio’s excellent performance. Above his variety with the capote and muleta, what impressed me was his ability to do the difficult things well. In order to be a consistent torero, one must be able to extract a worthy faena to average bulls and torear well en redondo. The faena to his first Cebada was a perfect example of the former and the performance to close the feria exemplified the latter – despite all of toreo’s technical developments and the variety that is possible with the muleta, well executed toreo en redondo is still the basis for the very best performances. Both these elements made Barrio’s afternoon particularly impressive.

Therefore, if we view the function of Valdemorillo to serve as a shop window for aspiring toreros fighting for contracts, its results were entirely acceptable as we were able to assess and enjoy a range of toreros that we would not usually see on the feria circuit. However, in order for the feria to be worthwhile in the grand scheme of toreo there should be a succession of new contracts for the triumphant toreros so that they may show whether the positive performance was a happy coincidence or the sign of an improving torero. This is where toreo’s system fails us once again.

The afición is asking for a fresh approach to cartels, but those that have been offered by the impresarios of Castellón and Valencia, despite their welcome inclusion of the principal figuras, come across as increasingly stale. Castellón, for example, has programmed eight of the nine toreros that performed in the 2014 feria. The only change? Paqurri in for El Cordobés, certainly not a swap that reflects the development of toreo in 2014.

The impresarios will of course argue that they programme the toreros that the public at large wants to see, and the public is still attracted to fading popular stars from the 1990s[1]. I agree that ferias should programme the toreros who the impresario feels will attract the most public to the plaza and I recognise that the figuras from the 1990s gossip mags still have pulling power[2], but, my reply would be what has been done to promote new toreros in the interim? 

The impresarios expect each torero to torear and do their own PR – surely it is in the interest of toreo as a whole to promote new toreros. Evidently not. The two pronged approach needed to try to launch new toreros, first, opening up cartels to include new toreros and secondly a public relations campaign to promote the most worthy toreros and highlight their triumphs, is conspicuous by its absence.

This is why we are left with an entirely repetitive Feria de Fallas and de Castellón. I have no objections to the programming of figuras, it’s the fillers (we all know who these are) that leave me underwhelmed. All the while good, young toreros, such as Juan del Álamo, José Garrido and Victor Barrio are left at home searching for new contracts. This is no good for la fiesta, even if it leaves space for Paquirri to open up a cartel for the figuras and brings in some casual viewers seeking a peak at their gossip hero of twenty years ago. It may bring bums on seats in the short term[3], but is not good for the long term development of a young generation of toreros that the afición wants to see.

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[1] An indication that the fiesta needs a new generation of aficionados who are taken with gossip stars of the 2010s?

[2] Last year a local feria programmed as its sole corrida El Cordobés, Padilla and El Fandi – a depressing cartel for an aficionado if I ever saw one. I was discussing the corrida with my barber, who says he likes los toros, but has no way to engage with the fiesta other than through the odd local cartel. I was saying how I would prefer a cartel of young toreros who could offer a worthy spectacle. His reply was that he was happy with the cartel, because El Cordobés was the best torero around. For all of Manuel Díaz’s qualities (not least the ease with which he engages the crowd) surely it is in the interest of toreo as a whole to promote a younger generation of worthy toreros whose name my barber would recognise.

[3] This is debatable, despite the allure of Spain’s best torero, my barber did not go to last year’s corrida. The aficionados did though, and they wondered why on earth they could not catch a performance by David Galván instead.

VALDEMORILLO 08/02/2015 – TERCERA DE ABONO

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

 

Cebada Gago bulls for Paulita, Manuel Escribano & Victor Barrio

Paulita’s first Cebada was an underwhelming specimen that lacked the power and casta to excite. Faced with this sub-standard material, there was little that Pauita could do. He managed a well-earned series of linked derechazos at the end of the faena. Nevertheless, this was a performance that could be forgotten as soon as it finished.

His second bull was also dull and lacked class. Paulita was lost in a mire of unstructured flaps that passed for a faena – the bull was rubbish and Paulita lacked the wherewithal to dominate the scene. His sword thrust was delantero and effective.

Escribano engaged the crowd with a larga cambiada in the tercio as soon as the second bull entered the arena. He continued on his feet with some slow veronicas to a bull that already hinted at a bland condition that the rigours of the lidia would only exacerbate. Escribano’s taurine philosophy is lidia total, he seeks to intervene at create spectacle during each third. Therefore, notwithstanding the bull’s form he performed a quite by chicuelinas that was smooth but lacked emotion. His intervention with the banderillas was very welcome, I would particularly highlight a purely executed second par squared between the horns and the spectacular quiebro by the board to close the tercio. Although bland, the bull reached the tercio de muleta with sufficient mobility to allow Escribano to give a sober performance en redondo, peppered with a variety of three in one passes and manoletinas that kept the crowd entertained. This was by no means a vintage performance, merely an entirely professional outing where a torero that was sure of himself and his craft extracted worthy toreo from a bull whose quality left much to be desired. Escribano’s sure sword thrust was the final staging post to a deserved ear.

He again sought to impose his spectacular brand of toreo on the fifth bull and began with another larga cambiada on his knees, this time was a porta gayola, but the bull went straight for the torero and as Escribano ducked and it jumped over him. Once on his feet, the slow and low veronicas were a welcome surprise and the media was to savour. It was an emotive opening that was made possible by the bull’s vibrant entrance.  Once again Escribano took the banderillas to deliver a varied but inconsistent tercio de banderillas. The bull displayed greater class and willingness to charge than its brothers which Escibano was able to mould into some clean series en redondo. However as the animal lacked an edge of vigour and the impetus to repeat successive charges the faena lacked the rhythm that would have brought it to life. Escribano also over extended the length of the faena, the typical failing of many a twenty-first century performance. It is ironic that Escribano was able to construct a more attractive faena from his seemingly inferior first bull… A very swift sword thrust gave way to a petition for an ear that was not granted and, to my mind, would have been unwarranted.

The star of the afternoon was Victor Barrio who took home three ears from the best lot of bulls. Barrio also opted for an opening a porta gayola, meeting his first bull in the centre of the ring with a series of tafalleras and chicuelinas, capped with a recorte after he lost his cape. Although a striking start, from a technical perspective, it lacked the dominance that a torero should strive for. However, not to come across too downbeat; the crowd was hooked and it was certainly the emotive highlight of the corrida thus far. Although the bull bland and disinterested, keeping its head up throughout the lidia, it had just enough mobility to provide Barrio some material with which to sculpt a promising faena. The young torero showed a firmness and determination to extract each charge from a reticent bull; he would not accept defeat and stood his ground to ensure that the bull repeated its charges. On this technical foundation, he performed solid series en redondo with either hand. His work was worth an ear, but above all, I would highlight his decisive attitude and technical aptitude to perform a worthwhile faena to an average bull.

 

Barrio opening gambit to his final bull was also a porta gayola; the bull initially ignored Barrio, who was kneeing just outside of the pic lines, but the torero stood (knelt?) his ground and when he attracted the bull to his jurisdiction performed four admirably clean faroles and, once on his feet, a low, slow and emphatic media veronica a pies juntos. An excellent piece of toreo. Barrio’s brilliant performance with the capote continued by way of a clean and varied intervention at quites; the two crinolinas, two gaoneras and a brionesa were delivered with refreshing sobriety and once again brought the crowd to its feet. The bull was noble, classy and blessed with an emotive gallop; my enthusiasm for it was tempered by an impression that it might lack the strength to sustain a complete faena. The opening couple of series were muddied. Barrio started the faena on his knees but soon realised that he needed to get to his feet, thus stunting the momentum of the series, while his second attempt at toreo was sullied by a desarme. The faena began to take shape from the third series, Barrio once again impressed by the firm attitude of his toreo en redondo and his ability to seamlessly link emotive passes with either hand. The fourth such series was exceptional; he cited the bull from a distance and executed five low, slow passes, controlling the bull though the series. The good toreo continued to flow with two equally dominating series, one with each hand, the second concluding with an excellent, long cambio de mano.  The faena was completed with a statuesque series of bernadinas and the bull was squared for the estocada. However, a section of the crowd began petitioning for an entirely unjustified indulto (the bull was probably not even quite worth the vuelta it was ultimately granted). Barrio doubted for a minute and gave a further series of naturales which had the undesirable effect of increasing the petition (although the series itself was good); thankfully Barrio saw sense and immediately after the naturales executed a full sword thrust that ensured he was awarded two thoroughly deserved ears. 

VALDEMORILLO 07/02/2015 – SEGUNDA DE ABONO

Here's the next instalment. The final corrida of the feria is about to start - let's hope it puts right the disappointing results of the first two!

All the best,

John

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

 

José Luís Pereda and Dehesilla bulls for Curro Díaz, Eduardo Gallo & Arturo Saldivar.

 

Curro Díaz is an exquisite artist that I always enjoy meeting on a cartel. The first two tercios of the opening bull were not promising; it lost its footing during the saludo capotero and never displayed significant mobility. These defects continued into the tercio de muleta, but the animal managed to find life within its brave soul to give Curro Díaz some charges, allowing him to create a pleasingly artistic faena. The highlight was the intense first series of derechazos, five demanding, exceedingy slow and seamlessly linked passes which were accompanied by Curro’s magnificent aesthetic style. The bull had already given more of itself than we might have initially hoped. No doubt taken by this, Curro overextended his faena beyond the bull’s capacity to charge. Even so, there were the odd pleasing passes which might have yielded a cheap ear had he not pinchado. Despite Curro’s bright toreo, this was an underwhelming start to the corrida.

 

His second bull was putrid. Rather than charge like a brave bull might, it dozily wandered about the sand shaking its head in the vague direction of a red lure. In light of the bull’s condition, toreo was impossible.

 

Eduardo Gallo has recently shown signs that the promising novillero of his youth might (eventually, it has been ten years) grow into a significant matador de toros. His first bull was an exceedingly classy Nuñez that lacked just an edge of casta and strength to be described as a truly outstanding bull. Gallo was able to perform very correct toreo en redondo with both hands. However, his faena lacked an edge of personal expressiveness to communicate fully with the crowd. Nevertheless, his passes were technically sound, smooth and well linked. Gallo was able to let his personality come to the fore in the arrimón ojedista with which he concluded his faena. As a novillero he shone because of his encimismo and stoic stillness, it is therefore unsurprising that this facet of his toreo continues to be his primary calling card. An estocada led to a mild petition and a vuelta al ruedo.

 

While being one of the better bulls in a sub-standard lot, the fifth bull continued the generally poor tone set by its brothers. Gallo was able to channel its limited mobility into toreo en redondo and overcome its lack of class with his decisive muleta. This was not an emotive faena, however much we may want to stretch the meaning of that word. Yet, it was difficult to make this bull charge, and even harder to perform clean and smooth toreo with it, Gallo therefore deserves a large measure of credit for his performance. Eduardo concluded with another arrimón, this time it was greeted with jeers from a crowd that had seen enough of this lacklustre bull – a varied conclusion to a faena should be used to garnish a good performance, not recited automatically without considering the performance as a whole.

 

Arturo Saldivar is one of the group of young Mexican matadors that have forged their taurine apprenticeship in Spain, and is arguably one of its leading lights. His first bull was mobile but classless and Saldivar performed a long and varied faena showcasing his capable technique but there was nothing here to stir the crowd. The concluding manoletinas were exciting, but ultimately, we can take little of note from either the faena or the bull.

 

The sixth bull traced a similar path. It moved, but lacked conviction; there was no communicative casta in its charge. Saldivar gave many passes, but none was moving; he was rarely caught out by the bull, but his toreo carried no message. It was difficult to perform emotive toreo with either of his bulls, and his faenas were thus trapped in the taurine purgatory of the spectators’ boredom.

This had been a hopeless corrida, the bulls were rotten and, as a result, I cannot fault the toreros’ general performance. The main failing was that they spent too long in front of the bulls, continuing their faenas long after the spectators had abandoned all hope (forget purgatory, this corrida was hell). Poor bulls and faenas that last too long, a perfect definition for too many corridas in the twenty-first century. It is tough not to be pessimistic after this type of corrida. We know that there will be many more of its ilk during the course of the year, and you cannot help but wonder, what is the fiesta’s attraction to the casual aficionado when the average level of spectacle is so meagre? Besides, the paltry presentation of the cattle meant that they were not even an impressive sight to behold.

VALDEMORILLO 06/02/2015 – PRIMERA DE ABONO

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

Albarreal (1^st, 2^nd, 4^th & 6^th) and JP Domecq (3^rd & 5^th) novillos for Ángel Jiménez, Martín Escudero & Borja Jiménez.

 Although the most senior in age, Ángel Jiménez is the novillero with the least amount of experience on the bill. He drew an unfortunate lot. The first bull was immobile and disinterested; Ángel spent a long time in front of it without extracting any toreo of note. His second was uncomfortable when it charged, but, more often than not, it displayed no desire to move whatsoever. Both his faenas were long and he displayed a competent knowledge of taurine technique. However, I am left with the doubt as to whether he will develop into anything greater than one of the countless toreros that have learnt a solid technique in school but are unable to parlay this into performing toreo with a message; his novillos poor, certainly, but Ángel did not display, on this occasion, any qualities that made me want to see him with better cattle.   

Martín Escudero opted for a quite by saltilleras as an opening gambit to show his desire to please; these were clean, but lacked emotion and thus were accompanied by a stonily silence from the crowd. The novillo was not yet defined by the time Escudero took the muleta. It was noble and mobile, yes, but what would determine the ultimate result would be whether it was able to combine this with a brave desire to charge. Escudero’s first couple of series, with the right hand, were clean and long, but the bull had the defect of losing interest between each muletazo.  This theme continued with the left hand, although, above all, the impression was that Escudero had properly sized up his opponent and was in complete command. As the bull’s mobility lessened and its charge shortened, Escudero was able to keep the bull fully focussed between each pass, which led to the best couple of series of derechazos – although the faena as a whole was entirely correct, these two series, especially the first, were the only truly emotive moments. The token bernadinas gave way to a full sword that might have been sufficient to kill the bull but for the unfortunate intervention of the puntillero which turned what might have been an oreja by numbers into a well-deserved ovation.

The faena to the fifth novillo started with a spectacular voltereta – Escudero wanted to begin through estatuarios, he did not produce a toque at all and the novillo headed straight to the body. The young novillero dusted himself off and opted to repeat the pass, which, happily had a cleaner execution at the second time of asking. The novillo was bordering on weak, but its charge was buoyant enough to allow for meaningful toreo en redondo. This was an utterly dominant faena from Martín: he was in control of the bull at all times and used his developed technique to give the novillo what it needed at each stage of the faena. Due to its weakness, he was not able to lower the hand immediately, but as the faena developed, he increased the intensity and what began as clean, well linked series, became intense and emotive toreo. It was a long faena, but measured at the same time, each pass was well conceived as a part of the whole. A pity that the bull did not have an extra measure of strength, which would have in turn added intensity and vigour to its charge. As such, following a full estocada, the faena only merited one ear, which was duly granted.

It was pleasing to find Borja Jiménez on the cartel, he was one of the stand out novilleros of 2014, along with José Garrido, of course. The faena to his first novillo began with the pendulum in the centre of the ring. While it may seem like a cheap way to try to grab the crowd’s attention, Borja executed it with aplomb and used it to take the novillo to the centre of the ring immediately. The early part of the faena was perfectly structured: the spectacular start, a first series of derechazos giving the bull distance and allowing it to find its rhythm, followed by a very good series of derechazos taking the bull long through the pass, linking each muletazo seamlessly and concluding with a martinete, molinete and chest pass. The crowd was entirely engaged in the faena and Borja swapped hands to execute an equally pleasing series of naturales; Borja recognised that the bull’s class was not accompanied with the greatest strength and he was careful to alleviate it with a mid-height muleta, an ideal recourse that allowed him to perform this well linked series. As the bull’s vigour lessened so did the intensity of the faena, nevertheless, Borja showed his undoubted quality – he gives his toreo a freshness that engages the crowd without descending into prosaic populism. A low estocada took the sheen off his performance, but it did not prevent him from being awarded an ear.

The final novillo was the weakest of the lot and prevented any attempt at a serious faena; it spent far too long on its knees, and Borja spent far too long trying to extract toreo from this vacant animal. The lidia had begun brightly enough with a couple of cheerful larga de rodillas, but when the novillo became rajado half way through the saludo, all signs pointed to the novillada concluding with a damp squib.

I would like to conclude with some words on the disappointing behaviour and presentation of the novillos. We aficionados are often disheartened by the standardised charges we encounter each afternoon from Domecq ranches. However, the Albarreales did not even reach such low expectations. The JP Domecq novillos, as befits their bloodline, did at least reach the expected standard; but this is, of course, below the desired level that we, ideally, would like to see. However, the presentation of the JP Domecq novillos was ridiculous, they seemed like big erales rather than novillos being lidiados in the Comunidad de Madrid. Although better, the presentation of the Albarreales was also poor.

Albacete 11/09/2014 – Cuarta de Abono

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

Fuente Ymbro bulls for Finito de Córdoba, Miguel Ángel Perera & Alejandro Talavante

Even after all these years, I do not know how I feel about Finito. He is a torero of exceptional class, who is able to torear beautifully, but he has lacked the ability to do so on a regular basis (ability is the correct word, I firmly believe that consistency is a skill and rises above being merely lucky). Perera is an entirely different torero. One cannot deny he has the striking demeanour of a torero, but the beauty of Miguel Ángel’s toreo resides in his management of the cloth and the control he exerts over the bull.  His fellow Extremeño, Alejandro Talavante, is another inconsistent toreo, and he has found himself marginalised this season as part of the G5 controversy. Despite his inconsistency, I find him a deeply intriguing torero who can perform stunningly beautiful toreo with his left hand – he might struggle with a certain type of demanding bull, but with the compliant bull, his toreo is angelic.

Before them was a corrida of Fuente Ymbros – predicting bulls’ behaviour is a mugs game. However, I will say that this ranch promises interesting bulls. It may not always deliver them, but it is not one of those ranches where the aficionado’s hopes are all but last before they enter the ring.

Finito’s first bull was average; the type of bull we see all too often, obedient, but dull. After a few inconsistent series, with either hand, the faena peaked with a very well performed series of derechazos; a low, demanding, set of passes impregnated with Finito’s striking elegance. The series, perhaps did not merit the strong ovation it received, but this was pleasing toreo. The bull, however, was finished. It barely accepted two elegant naturales and a couple of sparkling molinetes. He killed poorly, which did not make a difference to the final result (he was never going to be awarded an ear), although he did earn a few jeers for his trouble.

The afternoon’s second bull was equally poor. Its head bobbed loosely during the pass and its charge conveyed no emotion. Perera stood-up firmly to the bull and show its problems. Thankfully, Miguel Ángel also cut his faena short at the right point (I am tired of toreros dragging their performances unnecessarily), unfortunately, it took a great deal of time to squre the bull up for the kill.

Sadly, the corrida continued the downward spiral with the third bull. Another empty bull that did not allow Talvante to create any meaningful toreo.

The tea break allowed us to draw in some breath and hope for a better second half – as I always say, the aficionado’s naïve optimism is boundless!

However, any hopes for the corrida’s resurrection were dashed by the fourth bull. Another disconcertingly dull charge prevented even an attempt at a faena. One might want to keep the odd derechazo for the memory bank, but that would be overly generous. The crowd’s loud jeers were for Finito’s macheteo, but they were entirely unwarranted. The jeers should have been for the bull.

Miguel Ángel Perera’s first bull finally gave us some worthy charges; it came out of the pen with intent and charged nobly at Perera’s capote. He was able to perform a series of silky soft delantales taking the bull to the centre of the ring with aplomb. This gave us the afternoon’s first true ovation. Would this bull be a diamond among the sequins? Happily, the bull’s charge also allowed Perera to perform an emotive and well linked quite by chicuelinas, linked with tafalleras and concluded with a cordobina and larga cordobesa. The toreo was good, not great, but in the context of the afternoon, it was very welcome.

Perera seemed confident that the bull’s charge would continue into the muleta, and dedicated the faena to the crowd before performing characteristically closely worked passes cambiados in the centre of the ring. Although the spectacular edge to Perera’s toreo is welcome, what truly seduces me about his toreo is his wonderful ability to torear in redondo. The bull was noble and possessed a repetitive charge, its one failing was a lack of emotive vitality. Nevetheless Miguel Ángel’s muleta, so often a whip that can tame a nervy bull, was a silk handkerchief that caressed the bull by derechazos and naturales. The torero was entirely in control of proceedings and he concluded with a dominant and well-timed arrimón, garnished with circulares and luqusinas. Miguel Ángel Perera had crafted a complete faena with a good, but incomplete bull, thereby showing why he is the leading torero of the moment. He killed the bull with an estocada, but it came at the price of a chilling voltereta. The bull hooked the torero at knee level and ripped his suit up to his chest; thankfully the horn did not pierece the flesh, but his bruised torso was visible through his shredded shirt. Perera was awarded two ears for his work.

The corrida concluded in the vein of the first four bulls. The sixth was another poor bull and a mere hint of positive toreo. The highlight of Talvanate’s performance was a bright media to conclude his capote greeting. The bull’s inconsistent charge put paid to any further attepts.

Given my hopes for the corrida and that I have often enjoyed Fuente Ymbro’s bulls and it was painful to see such a poor string – worryingly, the ganadero said that the eight bulls he brought to Albacete were from seven different stud bulls. Let’s hope that the corrida’s problems were tangential, rather than deep rooted. There have been enough good Fuente Ymbro bulls run this year for us to believe that the former, rather than the latter, may be the case.

Bilbao 18/08/2014 – Tercera de Abono

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

 

Alcurrucén bulls for Paco Ureña, Joselito Adame & Juan del Álamo                                     

As pretty much the sole remaining Nuñez bulls in the ferias, I am always intrigued by a string of Alcurrucén bulls. They can be inconsistent, given the size of the ganadería, but they generally provide for varied an interesting behaviour. I was also looking forward to seeing Paco Ureña and Juan del Álamo after seeing a couple of good performances from each this summer.  

The corrida’s opening bull was a mobile and tough opponent. He transmitted danger with each charge, and possessed the strength and endurance to give the bullfighter a tough assignment. Despite a slightly inconsistent performance, I felt Ureña was mostly up to task. The faena began with some doblones with the aim of reducing the bull’s vigour, following which, Pacoo changed terrains to the centre of the ring and set to perform fundamental toreo. Given the bull’s lack of class, it was difficult to perform well structure toreo en redondo, but Ureña did he best to link emotive series with the right hand, re-setting his footing between each pass as necessary. As the faena wore on Paco shortened the distance to the bull with mixed results. If Ureña kept the muelta in front of him close to the bull’s face, he was fine, but when he hid the muleta behind his body, in an apparent show of bravery, the torero found himself unable to control the bulls properly. The faena concluded with some well executed circulares and a very emotive estocada. The standing ovation he received was a testament to the fact that he had faced up to a brave bull and emerged intact.

Adame’s first bull seemed reticent to charge, but when it did so it came with commitment. The bull required a heavy call between each pass in order to link toreo en redondo, and when Adame managed to find the correct distance and call between the pass he was able to seemlessly link emotive toreo. However, he was only able to do soacheive this on a few occasions, and never during a whole series. As usual, the figure of eight arrimón was greeted with more enthusiasm than his toreo en redondo. Adame’s performance had been of interest, but too inconsistent to be entirely pleasing. I could have also done without the concluding manoletinas, in my view they added nothing to the faena, besides, he had already dragged it on for a few minutes too long.

The third bull of the afternoon displayed a marked mansedumbre during the first tercio and was very reticent to charge at the horse; to compound matters, he was placed too far from the horse for the second pic leading to an overly protracted lidia.  Fortunately, the bull’s charge greatly improved for the muleta – it was somewhat reticent to charge, but when it did, he did so with his head held low and with class. Del Álamo unlocked the noble charge by ensuring that he kept the muleta in the bull’s face throughout and he executed three good series of derechazos that had the public calling for music. By the time Juan took the left hand, the bull’s charge was fading, but he managed some long and pleasing naturales that sparked up the band. It had started playing too late, the faena was done and del Álamo was only able to execute another couple of good naturales. The faena had not been a complete performance by any measure, but it had been the afternoon’s most emotive faena thus far. For once del Álamo managed a clean estocada that gave way to a petition for an ear that was not granted (in my view the faena was probably a notch below what is needed to cut an ear in Bilbao).

Ureña’s second bull also showcased manso tendencies during the tercio de pics, but, like its predecessor, arrived at the muleta with a very good charge. The bull was vibrant and committed, allowing Paco to perform three excellent series of derechazos to begin the faena. He kept the muleta in the bull’s face between each pass, and performed low, long and well linked toreo en redondo. It was an excellent example of exciting toreo en redondo. Ureña’s toreo al natural was equally emphatic, and although the bull was losing some impetus, the faena remained emotive. If, with the first bull, Ureña had shown his willingness to stand up to a tough bull, here he displayed his ability to torear very well with the muelta. Two bernadinas and a couple of chest passes were a pleasing coda to a well worked faena. Although he managed to execute an estocada, it was too low and would lost him the ear his toreo deserved, even without the two descabellos he needed to kill the bull.

The fifth bull had a wonderful charge for the muleta. It was rhythmic, noble and classy, with the requisite repetitiveness to allow for well linked toreo. Adame managed to exploit these qualities to perform three very good series en redondo, his derechazos were smooth and well-timed, and correctly linked to create greatly emotive series. The good work continued with the left hand, the bull’s charge was pure sweetness and Adame matched this with his clean muletazos. Back to the right hand, and the bull continued to charge tirelessly without losing any of its class – an excellent bull for a potentially great faena de muleta. In the circumstances, Adame performed at a good level, but, unfortunately, his toreo lacked the class and repose to perform the great faena that the bull’s charge deserved. Despite the full estocada the bull stayed on his feet for a long time and resisted with all his might the death that slowly overcame him. As the crowd petitioned for an ear, which was duly granted, I was left dreaming of what might have been with a bull of this quality – hopefully we will see a few more of this ilk in the remainder of the feria.

Thankfully, we only had to wait until the next bull for a repeat. The sixth animal was another wonderful opponent, and one that displayed the valued Nuñez trait of having an extra yard of charge in the muleta which it combined with a noble and classy manner. The excellence of the charge allowed del Álamo to construct a good faena marked by its well-executed and smooth toreo en redondo. However, as with Adame, I had the impression that the faena lacked a measure of repose and structure that would have elevated it to the level that the bull’s charge called for. That is not to say that del Álamo did not perform good toreo, on the contrary, there was a string very good isolated passes, with both the right and left hand, and the odd excellent series. However, it was all too inconsistent and rather than construct the faena towards a climax, the performance merely meandered until it was time for the kill, as he did so with a complete (although low) estocada, del Álamo cut the ear that his muleta work had merited. The bull, however, had been worth two.

At the conclusion I was left with the satisfaction of having enjoyed an excellent string of bulls. They maintained my interest throughout the corrida and the only bull that did not allow for good toreo, the opener, created the problems posed by the casta and, as such, captured my attention. Unfortunately, the bullfighters were a level below the bulls and we were unable to enjoy the magical afternoon that the bull’s charges warranetd. The toreros did not have a bad afternoon, per se, and they justified their inclusion in the feria; however, they showed themselves incapable of giving us the type of performances that would allow them to reach the next level in the taurine pecking order.

Gijón 13/08/2014 – Tercera de Abono

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

 

Montalvo bulls for Diego Ventura, Miguel Ángel Perera & Alejandro Talavante

 

After the disastrous string of Monalvo bulls we saw in Santander and Madrid, my hopes were tempered in advance of this corrida. However, most ganaderías can manage to produce the odd good string of bulls (even if by sheer dumb luck) and the line-up of toreros invited positive thinking. Besides, I always try to be optimistic in my afición and, perhaps naively, try find interest in most cartels. So as I sat down before the TV I thought of the reports I had heard of good Montalvos and of Perera and Talavante’s potentially excellent toreo.

 

Miguel Ángel Perera’s first bull displayed nobility but weakness the opening tercios. He used the noble condition to perform a closely worked and measured quite by chicuelinas. In the circumstances it was a pleasing and welcome quite. As the clarions sounded for the tercio de muleta we were left wondering, how long will the bull last? In light of the bull’s weak condition, the well-executed estatuarios were perhaps not the ideal beginning, however the first couple of softly timed series of derechazos were far more suitable. The faena was at a crossroads – if the bull was able to showcase endurance and bravery we could see a good performance, but the fear with these noble bulls is that their charges dissipate after the opening gambit. Perera took the muleta in his left hand and, despite trying to create a miracle with his timing, it was not to be. The faena, ultimately, was a non-entity.

Perera’s second was an invalid that spent more time sliding across the sand than chargin on its feet. He spent to long trying to torear, even though the bull was running on empty; it may have been best to shorten our afternoon by five minutes and pick up the sword sooner. It’s unfortunate that the expectation of seeing the season’s leading torero was entirely undermined by a string of rotten bulls. Fortunately, the Gijón crowd had another opportunity to enjoy his toreo on Sunday, unfortunately, Canal Plus only broadcast the first three corridas of the feria.

 

Talvante’s first bull was far better (relatively speaking). It was not as strong as one might hope, but its charge was lively, noble and repetitive; it was the ideal bull for Talavante’s silky smooth toreo. He began the faena with a couple of right hand series that were well linked and capped with bright remates. It was Talavante’s toreo at its best: relaxed, unaffected and aesthetically pleasing. The bull did not respond as well to toreo on the left side, and as such his toreo al natural was less clean. The conclusions of the series with the left hand, were, once again, inspired. As a whole the faena was marked by Talavante’s inspired adornments rather than by the intense fundamental toreo of the opening couple of series. Talavante tried to complete his faena by extracting passes from a short distance but, by then, the bull was exhausted. The estocada was executed with the slowness of his toreo, but he required the descabello to kill the bull. Nevertheless, Talavante was justly awarded an ear for his pretty faena.

 

Alejandro received his final bull with a pleasing series of veronicas, that was concluded with a couple of nice medias and a very pretty larga. The good performance with the capote continued into the first tercio with a lively galleo by chicuelinas to take the bull to the horse. The start of the faena was wonderfully creative. Talavante began with some estatuarios por alto but, after noting that these were not apt for the bull’s weak condition, he switched to a beautiful set of ayudados por bajo, capped off with a fabulous natural a pies junto and a molinete with the left hand. The bull, without being great, had a vibrant and emotive charge that allowed for moving fundamental toreo. On this occasion, the fundamental toreo shone above the remates and the faena was the better for it. The series, with both the right and left hand, were well linked and continued to be characterised by Talavante’s naturally silky toreo. They were peppered with some attractive remates that complimented the fundamental toreo perfectly. A final series of manoletinas was the prelude to an emphatic estocada and a strongly merited ear.

 

I enjoy the communion between man, horse and bull that is created by rejoneo, but I feel completely under qualified to make any meaningful comments about it. I will just say that Ventura cut three ears, and I enjoyed his performance as a compliment to the spectacle a pie.