Jerez reconciles with Don Antonio Chacón | Culture

Born in Jerez, on the flamenco Calle del Sol in 1869, the legendary singer was the greatest of his time. The epithets he received, a clear sign of his supremacy, touched the hyperbole. Recognized as a transmitter of a historical heritage and as a great creator of styles, Don Antonio However, he went from being divinized to demonized in a few years in which a Manichaean and exclusive flamencology prevailed. Over time, the school chaconian It has recovered its value and, despite its difficulty, its creations maintain an undeniable topicality. That in the world of flamenco, but in your land? The Republican City Council of 1936 dedicated a street in the neighborhood where he was born with a marble plaque that resists the passage of time. Not far from there, a small bust also remembers it. However, inside and outside, there has always been the opinion that the city had an old debt to it. A series of acts around the anniversary of the 150 years of his birth may have led to a certain reconciliation with the memory of the singer.

The Cadiz University last week he dedicated his V Days of study of flamenco singing to the figure of Chacón and, in his inauguration, the last editor of his discography, Carlos Martín Ballester, suffered from the treatment that the cantaor had received in his city throughout decades The activity coordinator, flamenco artist José María Castaño, explains in this regard that "his singing may not match the aesthetic tastes of a city more inclined to other repertoires" and that, perhaps, "the excellent contribution of the Jerez gypsy has been able to overlap high-rise proposals, such as Don Antonio's. " Therefore, he adds, the conference "has intended, precisely, to revisit its figure to place it in the place it deserves, although without confronting any school."

In one of the sessions of those days, he approached the cantaor to the forefront of his time, Ramón Gómez de la Serna through, in a brilliant exercise of flamenco philosophy on the part of the researcher Juan María de los Ríos, who described Chacón as "an Orpheus of the Jondo", for the descent of his song to hell. Flamenco guitar teacher Roberto Savater addressed the touch that accompanied him, with special emphasis on that of Don Ramón Montoya. And as an addition, an original contribution: the tasting of the wine that is known favorite of the master, an excellent piled up that, according to Reyes Gómez, the winemaker from the Jerez winery that produced and continues to produce it, brings together attributes such as "roundness, complexity and balance ", the same that flamencology grants to the teacher's song.

Beyond the analysis, the art of Chacón was contemplated in the way that should be enjoyed: through his songs and styles performed by Jerez artists. A gala with which the town hall and the Flemish Cultural Center that bears the name of the teacher brought up more elements for the aforementioned reconciliation. The show was an honest approach to the work chaconian with nuances in each case. Ezequiel Benítez, for example, is recognized as a faithful reenactor of his school, but he also left his personal mark in the Cartagena. With the soleá of La Serneta he stayed in the canon with comfort and his malagueñas were tasteful and adjusted to the master's model. The case of the young Lela Soto, from the Sordera saga, is quite different: she comes from another school, which did not prevent her from appropriating the malagueñas with delicacy and daring with the milonga, to feel free and intoned with the tangos. Finally, Antonio Malena, who represents as few black sounds, he warned that he would make letters of the teacher, but with the echo that is his own. And so it was: with an admirable dignity he scratched taranta, granaína and cartagenera while still being him. The dance was not lacking: almost obligatorily, some snails exhibited with force and figure María del Mar Moreno. All this before ending with a tribute to the teacher "for Jerez" in the broadest sense. A party by bulerías with all its ingredients.