{"id":587378,"date":"2025-11-22T19:48:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T19:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/587378\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T19:48:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T19:48:29","slug":"art-of-andalucia-edinburgh-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/587378\/","title":{"rendered":"Art of Andalucia \u2014 Edinburgh Music Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queen\u2019s Hall, 22\/11\/25<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company: Daniel Martinez (composer, guitar, voice), Inma Montero (voice), Danielo Olivera (voice), Julian Ticotico (percussion), Gabriela Pouso (dancer), Angel Reyes (dancer).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A guitarist plays a slow, mournful melody, flanked by two singers (male and female) and a percussionist. Gradually the singers join in, their harsh, beautiful voices pushing the music to the extremes of emotion. Then two dancers (male and female) appear, creating a crescendo of rhythm, emotion, and physicality. This is the Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Flamenco is the everyday music of the gitanos (gypsies) of Andalucia, a fusion of different regions and cultures, and its songs and rhythms are the background to everyday life. To the musicians and dancers, it is a way of life, and an extension of their passions and feelings. In flamenco, the music is usually subservient to the dance. The dance is everything. Here however there is an equal three-way relationship between cante (song), baile (dance), and toque (music).<\/p>\n

\u00a0Born in Cordoba in Andalucia, Daniel Martinez is a flamenco guitarist and composer who studied for eleven years from the age of 7 at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in his home city.\u00a0He moved to Edinburgh in 2015 and founded his company two years later, touring Europe and appearing regularly at the Fringe.<\/p>\n

All the music this evening has been composed by Daniel, in the improvisational style that flamenco is famous for. His expressive virtuoso performance captures perfectly the duende (soulful essence) of flamenco, while also pushing the boundaries of the art form.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The two singers, Inma Montero from Cordoba (also the choreographer) and Danielo Olivera from Cadiz, sing in the cante jondo (deep song) style associated with flamenco. It is strong, intensely emotional, harsh, and low, with a narrow vocal range and ornate embellishments using microtones (intervals smaller than a semitone) and subtle, intricate rhythms. <\/p>\n

\u00a0Dancer Gabriela Pouso was born in Galicia and raised in Edinburgh from the age of eight. Her performance is mesmerizing: strong, powerful, but also vulnerable. Her elegance, skill, and intensity seduce the audience. <\/p>\n

Joining the company tonight is world-renowned dancer Angel Reyes, a friend of Daniel\u2019s from Cordoba. He uses his whole body in the dance, with passionate facial expressions, eloquent finger, hand, and arm gestures, and percussive slaps of his shoulders, chest, and thighs. The singers join in when not singing: whistling, clapping hands, and clicking fingers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Among the compositions by Martinez are: \u2018Al Compas del Querer\u2019, the mournful \u2018Mar del Norte\u2019, the dramatic \u2018Huelva\u2019, and \u2018Granada\u2019, the latter two pieces inspired by dances from these places in Andalucia. <\/p>\n

In one piece, the guitar performs a duet with the female dancer and a duel with the male dancer. Both are utterly mesmerising. I find myself so caught up in the experience that I forget to breathe.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The musicians and dancers show impeccable technique, and together, they create an unforgettable evening of flamenco, where music, song, and dance are perfectly combined. An enthusiastic audience of all ages fills the Queen\u2019s Hall with applause and cheering, and as we leave sunny, warm Andalucia and re-enter cold, damp Edinburgh we keep an ardent flame of passion in our souls. Ol\u00e9!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company<\/p>\n

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