Santander, July 25: Fabulous!
Pase de pecho from an inspired Morante de la Puebla
The closing corrida in Santander’s Feria de Santiago had an intriguing line-up - the second feria appearance of Morante de la Puebla, together with the two young promises of Marco Pérez and Aarón Palacio. There had been a great deal of uncertainty in the hours leading up to the corrida as to whether it would take place, as the weather forecasts were for thunder storms and torrential rain, but, in the end, apart from a short, sharp downpour immediately after the paseíllo and a sprinkle of rain before the day’s last bull entered the ring, the bulk of the corrida took place in sunshine. Juan Pedro Domecq provided a string of bulls that, ranging from 522 to 572 kilos, were better-looking than most we have seen this past week and played their part in the event satisfying the full house it had attracted.
Morante’s serpentina to his opening jabonero
Morante’s first bull was the jabonero ‘Cornetero’, met with lovely trademark verónicas and given an equally beautiful quite de chicuelinas, closed with a serpentina, after its sole vara. It charged well en banderillas, almost catching a couple of the peones as they left their encounters, José María Amores being particularly fortunate as he had to throw himself headlong behind a burladero to escape the bull’s intentions. Begun with majestic doblones, Morante’s faena moved all over the plaza and mainly involved muletazos with the right hand (including a molinete and pase de las flores) as the domecq proved tricky on the left. But what good muletazos they were! Then the bull gave up the fight and went to las tablas. A one-third estocada sufficed, but probably lost the matador the bull’s ear; ‘Cornetero’ left the plaza to palmas, while Morante was given an ovation, taking saludos.
Today saw some spectacular toreo from Marco Pérez
Marco Pérez set out his afternoon’s intentions by going across to the toriles to meet his juanpedro, ‘Caudillo’, a portagayola. The lance was executed successfully and was followed by a larga cambiada de rodillas en tablas and some excellent verónicas and delantales up to the point where Marco could only use the capote to get himself out of trouble. Variety continued with walking chicuelinas to take the bull to the horse, where the picing was poor. After dedicating the faena to Morante, Pérez got down on his knees for muletazos, during which he was almost caught. Everything was occurring rather rapidly, but the derechazos, naturales and pases de pecho were executed close to the bull and were linked together well. Marco entered directly for the kill, but paid the price - a cornada in his right leg that saw him rapidly carried to the infirmary while ‘Caudillo’ sank to the ground, mortally wounded. The petition that followed was for two ears, but the president stuck at one and was given a bronca.
Marco Pérez’s goring
Aarón Palacio went down on his knees to greet the third juanpedro, ‘Balado’, with two afaroladas and a media verónica - a short series, but effective in gaining the crowd’s attention - then standing for verónicas. The puyazo the bull was given was a long one, giving rise to whistles. Come the faena, ‘Balado’ had little strength for tandas, leaving Aarón to peg well-formed single passes, whether derechazos or naturales. The swordwork was poor - three pinchazos and a bajonazo - Aarón receiving an aviso and silence.
Aarón Palacio in a verónica to his first bull (above) and (below) a natural to his second
The aragonés was better with his second bull, the colorado ‘Sofista’. After attempting to meet the bull a portagayola and having to throw his body onto the ground to avoid a collision, Palacio recovered with some superb verónicas, slowly given, a media verónica and revolera. The vara was framed by walking chicuelinas beforehand and a risky quite de gaoneras after. After dedicating to the plaza, Aarón began the faena unusally with a pase de cartucho and a natural de frente, both performed well. The naturales and derechazos that followed - some with the feet together: others a compás - were close to the bull and templados and crowned with fine pases de pecho. To some controversy, Palacio chose a sequence of circulares and desplantes before ending the faena with pases ayudados por alto. The estocada was caída but effective, and the youngster was persuaded to take two vueltas al ruedo after most in the crowd generously petitioned for two ears and the president (correctly, in my opinion) only awarded one.
With Pérez’s goring, Morante de la Puebla had two more bulls to face, but he made short work of the first one, ‘Nebli’, a fine-looking castaño, but only given two verónicas by the matador, who was quick to show a disliking for the animal. The bull was given a punishing vara and a few muletazos before Morante killed al encuentro without lining ‘Nebli’ up, resulting in a division of opinions.
Morante de la Puebla (above and below) at various stages of his unforgettable performance with ‘Dichoso’
There was a very different feel to Morante’s initial encounter with the last bull of the day and feria, ‘Dichoso’, a 560-kilo negro mulato originally drawn for Marco Pérez. Taking up a position in between the toriles and the usual area for the opening capework, but a part of the ring where the plaza’s troubling sand remained relatively undisturbed, Morante performed three wonderfully cadenced lances afaroladas, three verónicas and a media verónica, the plaza erupting. ‘Dichoso’ was taken to the picador with walking chicuelinas, receiving a punishing puyazo. While the banderillas proceeded, Morante took off his shoes for the faena. The maestro began with ayudados por alto that already brought some in the tendidos to their feet. This was to be a faena de cumbre, one of those that bring tears to the eyes because of the control, the temple, the beauty and the knowledge that all of this greatness was time-limited and, consequently, fleeting. The passes, whether on the right hand or the left, were gracefully and brilliantly executed and templados. Morante closed, unusually for him, with manoletinas, some performed in profile in the style of Mondeño. The crowd’s delirium ended when it came time to kill, Morante delivering three pinchazos before the estoque hit the spot, but it mattered not, for we had been witness to a memorable performance by a maestro at the peak of his career. Indeed, the corrida as a whole had been excellent to watch.