One of those singers that he brought to light Antonio Mairena es Juan TalegaA truly peculiar singer for his cante, her voice and her figure. Already Anthony Gala defined it, by its appearance and by its cante, with these words in 1973 in the magazine Graphic Saturday:Juan Talega, with his leonine features like a thousand-year-old leper, was there, on stage, cornered, fake, wiping the dry sphinx of a face he had with a large handkerchief. He was there, and yet he wasn't. How could a lion really be in a theater? There are animals that don't reproduce in captivity. A lion born in a zoo cage has a mane, claws, a wagging tail, and angry eyes. But is that all that makes him a lion?
Other poets have also written profiles of him. On the blog The art of living, so useful, of José María Ruiz Fuentes, we can see the following, in addition to data about the singer and many other artists:
Seville and its province
they lament and cry.
Because his gypsy has died
who sang to them Soleá,
seguiriyas, tientos, tonás,
Bulerías and Martinetes.
Juan Talega where are you?
gypsy of great purity
I'm in heaven
singing to my land,
We want to hear from you
so as not to forget you
because you are the gypsy
from our school
the biggest.
The poet Juan Sebastián, a big fan of flamenco, has dedicated a poem to him, as he has to other artists. I'm posting it here for your enjoyment:
Voice of sensitive lead
that carries us with its weight,
inevitable and dark,
to the depths of heaven.
Remains of the Roezna
and his albero romances,
Alcalareña clarity
with its ethereal celestials,
and Joaquín from Paula,
prisoner in the caves.
Juan rings, more than a bell,
to the murmur of the eternal.
Antonio Mairena knew it
and hung it as an example
of the purity of the Cante,
among the black sounds.
Maybe it ran through his veins
"instead of blood, poison."
Juan Fernández Vargas, for flamenco posterity Juan Talega, was born in the Sevillian town of Dos Hermanas on November 4, 1891. That is to say, we are dealing with a singer born in the 31th century, although obviously, his adult life developed in the first half of the 1971th century. He died on July XNUMX, XNUMX in the same place where he was born. He was the nephew of Joaquin from Paula, the one of the cantes of Alcalá, which in the voice of our protagonist reaches, as the doctor says Antony Queen in the libretto, "an unparalleled majesty." It is, thus, a link, Reina continues, between the canteThe oldest ones, those of the school of Thomas the Nitri of the Crazy Matthew, of which we have no direct recordings, hence the importance of the link, testamentary chain, inheritance. In his voice, he concludes, "resonate remote racial echoes, as if past Gypsy generations were complaining in the mystery of their voice." And he ends by quoting Domingo Manfredi, who answers those who accuse him of knowing too much, of being a bit cold, saying that "the elves were with him, but so submissive and so attentive to what he was doing, that it was hardly noticeable."
«Always a necessary job, a tribute to Rafael Infante, of priceless work and a simplicity and elegance that I enjoyed and we enjoyed, a singer who leaves no one indifferent, sometimes also rejected, but always more flamenco y jondo that one… put whatever you think"
There are words from other traveling companions of the director of the collection Flamenco and University, Rafael Infante, to whom we all owe so much and whom we personally remember with affection. Second Falcon He remembers him with admiration and friendship, even calling him a friend and father, a guide to integrity and integrity. They also intervene Josema Pelayo, The Winery Recording Studio, and Juanpe Carabante, graphic designer of the collection.
En this link You can see the profile we made of Rafael Infante after his death in the magazine The muse and the duendeDirected by José L. Navarro, another great of the research of the flamencoA special issue was dedicated to him, in which I participated with the article "Rafael Infante. Personal memory of a flamenco atypical and endearing»: https://loscaminosdelcante.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/la-musa-y-el-duende-45.pdf
The booklet is completed with a list of the letters of the canteAnd the magnificent cover is a drawing, the head of Juan Talega in profile, the work of the painter, such a great fan Juan Valdes, dated 1977. The CD is dedicated to Rafael Infante.
This album is the seventieth in the collection, which is saying something. It contains cantethat Infante himself had already left prepared for the edition, so this content has been respected, as Segundo Falcón told us, including canteunreleased and others already known. His repertoire is well known, limited but intense, for the reasons indicated above and for his own interpretation with that deep voice, as if coming from a cave. We listened to thirteen cantes, distributed in only four palos: soleares (from the Serneta, of Alcalá, etc.), seguiriyas (different styles), bulería por soleá and martinetes and tonás. All representative of their house, their cante, with its seal.
Let's listen to this link cante by the singer's seguiriya. You can close your eyes, or turn off the light, and you'll see how profound the sensation is. In this case, it accompanies Diego del Gastor with its unique touch:
There are a total of 48:41 minutes of cante as if from another time, which bring us a memory of what the flamenco It has something special about it, at least that's how we personally understand it. From the start, it invades us with its echo, the soleá of Alcalá and the Serneta, with lyrics as familiar as the following:
You say that you don't love me
I have no shame
because I with your love
I had not done any writing.
Among those that follow, we have been most impressed by the seguiriyas of Loco Mateo, concentrated, almost liturgical, and aching, with lyrics like the well-known "Oleaítas, mare...", or the martinetes and tonás of the eighth cut, with another singer, Antonio Mairena. Likewise, the bulerías por soleá "Te tenía a ti que faltar..."
A necessary work always, a memory of Rafael Infante, of priceless work and a simplicity and elegance that I enjoyed and we enjoyed, a singer who leaves no one indifferent, sometimes also rejected, but always more flamenco y jondo that one… put whatever you think.
→ The truth of the cante, by Juan Talega. 2025. Collection Flamenco and University, volume LXX. In memory of Don Rafael Infante.
