We must thank the Art Festival Flamenco from Mont-de-Marsan that has closed its programming in the Le Molière Theatre with a concert by three Sevillian maestros: Segundo Falcón, Paco Jarana, and Manolo Franco. On this occasion, the title "maestro," so often trivialized in certain circles flamencos, it is fully justified.
Second Falcon It extends the great Sevillian tradition of encyclopedic flamenco singers, represented by figures such as Pastora Pavón, La Niña de los Peines, Manuel Vallejo, Luis Caballero, Paco Taranto, and Esperanza Fernández, to name only the artists born in the Andalusian capital. Their inexhaustible melodic inspiration and Apollonian style link them to Manolo Franco with Niño Ricardo, Pepe Martínez or Rafael Riqueni. Paco JaranaSegundo Falcón's regular collaborator, for his part, develops a musical thinking more inclined towards contemporary harmonic and rhythmic experimentation, as evidenced by his numerous compositions for the stage, especially those created for Eva Yerbabuena.
Both guitarists are exceptional accompanists of cantecapable of putting their art at the service of their countless colleagues, whatever their style or repertoire – just think of Manolo Franco's extensive discography as an accompanist. It is worth remembering, once again, the richness of Seville's guitar tradition: Eduardo de la Malena, Antonio Moreno (born in Cordoba, but a Sevillian by adoption), Niño Ricardo, Antonio Carrión, Quique Paredes, Eduardo Rebollar, Manuel Herrera…, etcetera, etcetera.
To open the concert, both guitarists offered a sample of their conception of the solo guitar. Manolo Franco performed a farruca in D minor—with modulations in the mode flamenco homonymous and, above all, in the manner flamenco over the dominant, the—. Next, Paco Jarana unleashed a torrential soleá, of enormous harmonic density, built on rhythmic phrases of great tension that were suspended by dizzying silences.
The overall structure of the program proved particularly successful, as it allowed the audience to appreciate first the stylistic personality of each guitarist performing solo and then their complementarity as a duo. It was also an excellent opportunity to see how much the touch influences the canteDespite his solid artistic personality, Segundo Falcón "sounded" and phrased very differently depending on whether he was talking to Jarana or Franco.
The first demonstration came with two malagueñas: the one by Gayarrito —or by Manuel Torres, or by Antonio Chacón, depending on which specialist you consult (To find the flower he loved…)— and that of La Trini (It won't leave my mind…Whether due to nerves or a lack of warm-up, Segundo Falcón's voice sounded unusually strained, and his pitch was somewhat imprecise in the higher registers. But knowing how to mask potential vocal difficulties is also part of the craft of great accompanists, as they have demonstrated time and again. Melchor de Marchena o Juan Habichuela.
The singer finally settled into the recital with the two canteThe following abandolaos were: the rondeña del Negro and the fandango de Frasquito Yerbabuena. It never ceases to amaze us, by the way, the current fashion of performing the first at a medium tempo and the second with an accelerando in the style of verdiales, when the breadth of its melodic arc seems to demand precisely the opposite, with a slight dose of rubato.
"The dialogues between Manolo Franco and Paco Jarana were masterful, as they engaged in delightful musical feats with a truly devilish ease, relaxation, and sense of humor."
From that moment on, the concert fully lived up to expectations, beginning with the two peteneras, the "short" one (Rafael Romero) and the "long" (Girl of the Combs), canonical in the order of interpretation, although not in their reading. Segundo Falcón applied two of his stylistic hallmarks to them: first, an internal articulation of the thirds that allowed them to be linked with breaths of delightful inventiveness; then, a very measured use of the famous "flat" degrees of Enrique Morente in the melodic paraphrase of the second. Over an ostinato of ternary arpeggios from both guitars, the piece also culminated with his own version of the bambera created by Morente.
Three suites completed a program that was especially original for deviating from the usual paths and dispensing, for once, with the cantes considered as the only truly «jondos”, like the soleares or the seguiriyas. We deeply admire those palosOf course, but the occasion invites us to repeat that three musicians of such caliber are capable of turning into true "gold" jondo» any repertoire they tackle, even the lightest tanguillo.
The first of these suites consisted of two tarantellas, popularized in their day by Child of Marchena (Open up, it's me, Moreno…) and Manuel Vallejo (How sad for sailors…).
The second was a masterful anthology of Extremaduran jaleos, the same ones that already appeared on the only album released to date by Segundo Falcón —at least as far as we know—, (One second of cante, Karonte, 2002), one of those incomprehensible discographic deficiencies so frequent in the field of canteEqually masterful were the dialogues between Manolo Franco and Paco Jarana, who engaged in delightful musical flourishes with a truly devilish ease, relaxation, and sense of humor.
The third one brought together two fandangos ad libitum, followed by fandangos from Alosno —including the «cané»—, culminating in a magnificent recreation of Paco Toronjo's style.
It was hard to imagine a better ending. That's why it's difficult to understand the appearance of Miguel 'The Blonde' for a few minutes of dancing to alegrías, an intervention that harmed both the musical continuity of the evening and the dancer himself, an otherwise perfectly estimable artist, but reduced here to a brief dispensable exhibition.
The only possible explanation for these kinds of decisions, as frequent as they are unfortunate, seems to lie in the conviction—attributable to the funders, not the programmers—that A room can only be filled if the show includes a dose of dancing.An idea we do not share for two reasons. Firstly, we have attended numerous recitals of cante and/or guitar with all tickets sold out, provided the artists were of high quality and the venue's capacity was reasonably sized, as was precisely the case this past Friday night. Secondly, if the aim is to attract those only interested in dancing, it's hard to understand how such a marginal concession could convince them, when the Arte Festival itself... Flamenco It offers free flamenco dance shows every day at the Village Stage.
Credits
Footprints of alberoSegundo Falcón, Paco Jarana and Manolo Franco
Art Festival Flamenco Mont-de-Marsan, Le Molière Theater
July 3, 2026
Original idea, art direction and cante: Second Falcon
Composition and guitar: Paco Jarana and Manolo Franco
Guest artist (dance): Miguel Ángel Ramos 'El Rubio'
Text: Claude Worms
Photos: Laurent Robert / LR Flamenco Photos
