Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Casa de la Guitarra
When it comes to Flamenco music, I would recommend listening to the classic such as Camaron de la Isla, Paco de Lucia, Antonio Molina, Jose Merce and the Gipsy Kings. There are a lot more artists that I left out of this list, but I just wanted to make it clear that Flamenco music is one of my favorite music that exists in the world. Aesthetically the music has a tint of Hispanic guitar playing along with acapella voice singing similar to an Arabic chant. And, the songs are usually written about a sad story or a comical story. All in all, the songs are artistic and have a nice rhyme to it.
Historically speaking, Andalucia is the southern part of Spain that is pretty much the face of typical stereotype culture such as a passion for Flamenco music, Mediterranean food, tan people and Flamenco music. What people do not know is where the name comes from. Andalucia is one of the 17 autonomous regions in Spain and was known to have an Arabic influence as early as 711 during the Moorish invasion until 1492 when Queen Isabel and Fernando defeated the last empire in Granada and kicked out all of the Arabic people to north Africa. Andalucia during the Arabic reign was known as “Al-Andalus” and there are many words in Spanish that are Arabic such as guitarra, almohada, alfombra, etc.
The relevance of this little historical story is just to keep Americans up to date with how Flamenco in reality has a nice mix of Arabic and Spanish/Hispanic roots. For my 26thbirthday I went to see a Flamenco show in Casa de la Guitarra with 3 performers. It lasted about 1 hour and was ranked as one of the top 4 places to attend in Sevilla when it comes to watching Flamenco shows. Another famous place to attend is “El Tablao – Los Gallos,” which I will attend in the future since it has a 1 hour and 45-minute Flamenco performance.
La Casa de la Guitarra is a very intimate venue and an area where seats must be reserved in order to attend a show. I had the opportunity to be seated in the very front left side with 2 of my friends that I invited to come with me. It is a venue I will recommend with 5 stars if you are an individual looking for something private and close up.
In terms of the show itself, the performers would give an introduction of the specific type of Flamenco they were performing which was either guitar playing, guitar and hand clapping, guitar and singing or guitar and female Flamenco dancing. The styles mainly came from areas in Cadiz and there was a sense of appreciation for the past artists that are from Cadiz who made Flamenco famous. It was outstanding and also makes me want to explore Cadiz and watch a Flamenco show with friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment