Live music and stuff in Santander and Valencia, November 2022

This is what I’ve seen in November:

• 2 November: Xur Estévez Quartet @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol, 4, Santander
  With Xur Estévez (double bass), Pablo Costas (piano), Ancor Miranda (drums) and Pablo Maza (tenor sax, flute). Watch the full concert here.

  

• 5 November: La Chica @ Centro Botín, Muelle de Albareda, Paseo de Pereda
  One hell of an artist and one hell of a concert.
• 6 November: Jazz Jam @ Rvbicón
  The base band of Javier San Miguel (sax), Carlos Pizarro (guitar), Diego Gutiérrez (drums), Manuel Cavero (double bass) with the guests Pancho Arredondo (trumpet), Nadir Ibarra (tenor sax), Adela San Miguel (drums), Rafa Santana (piano) and others.
• 9 November: Marz García 4tet @ Rvbicón
  A quartet featuring Nico Alvear (guitar), Iván Ceballos (electric bass), Marz García (drums) and Juan Saiz (sax, flute). Themes of Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard and, closer to the end, a wonderful rendition of Nature Boy. Watch the full concert here.

  

• 12 November: Día Internacional del Flamenco @ Plaza del Ayuntamiento
  There were shows at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento both Friday and Saturday; I only came to see these two Saturday evening:
  • Another “not-quite-flashmob” choreographed by Lucía Serrano, accompanied by Jose Hernández (cante), el toque de Antonio León (guitar) and y la percusión de Dani Peña (percussion).
  • Tablao by Compañía Paula Rodríguez, featuring the very Paula Rodríguez (baile), Jose Luis Medina (guitar), Roberto Lorente and Niño Ginés (cante).

  

• 18 November: Luna Sefardita @ Salón de Actos E.T.S. de Náutica de la Universidad de Cantabria, Calle Gamazo, 1
  Ana Alcaide (vocals, nyckelharpa), Bill Cooley (percussion) and Rainer Seiferth (guitars).

What I saw during my (way too) short holidays in Valencia:

• Four exhibitions at Museu Valencià de la Il·lustració i de la Modernitat (MuVIM), Carrer de Quevedo, 10, Valencia:
  • Disseny + Salut (“Design + Health”)
    A fascinating exhibition covering various aspects of design applied to health, from medical illustration and pills to CoVID-19 propaganda and sex toys.
  • Elena Francis. Franquisme i subordinació de la dona
    Consultorio de Elena Francis was a Spanish radio programme broadcast between 1947 and 1984. In spite of her utter non-existence, the fictitious agony aunt Elena Francis was tremendously popular: every month, women from all over Spain were sending her some 20,000 letters. Invariably, Ms. Francis recommended patience and submission. From 1966 and till the programme’s demise, it was actually a man, one Juan Soto Viñolo, who single-handedly dispatched those advices to anxious radio listeners. The booklet of the exhibition (in Valencian and Spanish) is available here.
  • Joan Martí: l’ofici d’escultor
    A sample of the creative process of Joan Martí (1946—2004), the author of Els Guardians del Pont (“The Guardians of the Bridge”) of the Pont del Regne de València.

    

  • València segons el Pare Tosca
    A three-dimensional recreation of the Father Tomás Vicente Tosca’s map of Valencia (1704). The detailed description available as a PDF file in Valencian, Spanish and English.

    

• Four exhibitions at Centre Cultural La Nau, Carrer de la Universitat, 2:
  • No tan invisibles: Dones en la impremta Valenciana. Segles XVI al XXI.
    Documenting the role of women in Valencian printing industry from 16^th centrury till now.

    

  • València 1972: Cap a la ciutat monstre (“Valencia 1972: Towards the Monster City”).
    The transformation of the urban space of Valencia during the last 50 years.
  • Sanchis Guarner, il·lustrador. Els dibuixos del llibre (1972) sobre la ciutat de València.
    The drawings by Manuel Sanchis i Guarner for his fundamental book La Ciutat de València. Síntesi d’història i geografia urbana (1972), none of which, however, made it into the final edition.

    

  • Negro Espanto
    Presentation of comic books Espanto by Laura Pérez and Goya. Saturnalia by Manuel Gutiérrez and Manuel Romero.

    

• 24 November: The Hillbilly Moon Explosion @ 16 Toneladas, Carrer de Ricardo Micó, 3
  The only concert I attended in Valencia had to be this one! Some new songs and old favourites that I first heard (and fell in love with) five years ago. Featuring Oliver Baroni (double bass, vocals), Emanuela Hutter (vocals, guitar), Duncan James (lead guitar, baritone guitar, vocals) and Sylvain Petite (drums).

Back to Santander and counting the days to go home.

Amarcord

a film by Federico Fellini
score by Nino Rota

It’s been a while since I watched Amarcord last time, still in Soviet (or maybe early post-Soviet?) era. Just like Cabaret, it was (brilliantly) voiced-over in Russian by Victor Tatarsky who sadly passed away this year. Now, watching it at the Filmoteca de València (and subtitled in Valencian!), I was able, for the first time, to enjoy the original Italian version in its full glory. It didn’t disappoint.

Dos vidas

by Emanuele Trevi
translated by Juan Manuel Salmerón Arjona

From an Italian writer I never heard about comes this homage to his friends, two other Italian writers I also never heard about. It may not sound terribly exciting, but the book it totally worth reading. For those who hates biographies: it’s not a biography. (Ditto for those who loves biographies.) A memoir? An essay? A novel? Who cares? I got intrigued with the protagonists, Rocco Carbone and Pia Pera — no, these are not made-up names. Especially with the latter, who translated to Italian works of Pushkin, Lermontov, Chekhov and even protopope Avvakum, among others, and whose Lo’s Diary is now on my to-read (when?!) list.

Tendría que haberme apresurado a tomar notas, a retener algo antes de que fuera demasiado tarde. Como flores de manzano que la brisa se lleva, también los requerdos de las personas a las que conocimos tan bien que la costumbre se volvió un reflejo condicionado vuelan y se alejan con una rapidez inconcebible. Pensamos que hemos acumulado muchos, que son tan numerosos y vívidos que no se extinguirán nunca, y de pronto vemos que no nos queda en la mano más que un revoloteo de imágenes inciertas y fugitivas. Formas de memoria tan insignificantes y menudas que equivalen al olvido.