Photos: Sergio Betancort
The Altavista festivities in honor of San Antonio María Claret concluded on Sunday with an outstanding 'Spanish Gala', in which the great art of singing and dancing with copla roots conquered the numerous audience that filled the neighborhood's social hall.
The show began at 8:00 p.m. with a musical introduction by four masters of music: Gonzalo Antolín on piano, Alejandro Jiménez on percussion, Sergio de Jesús on bass, and Yosán Pereda on guitar, who accompanied the three winners of the first 'Mi Barrio Canta' festival held the night before.
The first to take the stage was Armando Ravelo, awarded the third prize, who performed the song 'Secreto de Amor'. Second place went to Gloria Esther Sepúlveda, who came second in the festival and performed her song 'La Tormenta', while in third place the winner of this first edition, Jennifer Hernández, took to the stage, defending the song 'Cenizas'. All three participants enjoyed another night and received the warmth of the audience wrapped in applause, this time with less nerves on stage.
The rhythm of the gala changed completely with the freshness, rhythm, joy and color that the members of the rociero group Al-Andalus entre Alisios y Levante put on stage, led by a master who, in complicity with her colleagues, managed to keep the rhythm going throughout the concert, infecting the audience, who did not stop singing and clapping. Compositions such as 'Te quiero, te quiero', 'Échame a mi la culpa', 'Por ella' and a long repertoire were played, where 'La Salve Rociera' could not be missed.
Performance by Laura María Larrea
The audience, eager to party, asked them to continue singing, but they had to stop to give way to the young Cordovan Laura María Larrea, a whirlwind on stage. With an impeccable staging, she revealed all the art she carries inside, with voice registers that allow her to do any of the many variants that enclose the copla and the Andalusian song.
This young Cordovan began dancing at the age of four and at the age of 12 she received singing lessons with Professor Juan Francisco Mata, who from the first moment discovered the great gifts that Laura María Larrea possessed to interpret whatever was put within her reach. She currently has numerous Spanish song awards and participation in different television contest programs.
During her performance in Altavista, she performed very popular songs that have already been sung by greats of the copla such as Marifé de Triana, Lola Flores, Rocío Jurado or Isabel Pantoja. From the first moment she connected with the public, coming down from the stage to be much closer. At the end of her performance she shared with the attendees and signed her album entitled 'A mi Aire'.
The festivities in honor of San Antonio Mª Claret came to an end with a great fireworks display that for a few minutes filled the sky of Altavista with colors.