Beloved Darling of Flamenco Delights Istanbul
The passion and soul of Spain was in Istanbul this week as the world-famous flamenco singer Estrella Morente graced the stage İş Sanat Culture Center with a mesmerising performance of her music.
Estrella Morente, the daughter of Enrique Morente, the worldwide famous artist also known as ‘the legend of flamenco’, made her first record with virtuoso guitarist Sabicas when she was only 7. She has won a number of awards in her music career, starting when she was 17. Ms Morente has won ‘the Ondas Best Flamenco Singer’ and ‘Golden Microphone Awards’ as well as receiving nominations for one Latin Grammy and two Premio Amigo Awards. She attracted the whole world’s attention after she sang for the soundtrack of the movie called ‘Volver’, which starred Penelope Cruz and directed by Pedro Almodovar.
While raising Estrella, her father Enrique Morente inspired her with the works of many masters musicians and writers, among them Federico Garcia Lorca, one of Spain’s two greatest poets of the century. Her father Morente adapted the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca in songs of the album ‘Omega’ of Morente and famous Canadian artist and musician Leonard Cohen, while Estrella Morente putting into song a number of Lorca’s works.
Renowned flamenco singer Estrella Morente spoke to members of the press in İstanbul including on Aydınlık Daily and Aydınlık newspaper before her concert on the 6 February in Turkey, a part of her world tour for her new album, ‘Autorretrato’. After answering the question of a number of Turkish media organs, enlightening fans that flamenco is as important as bread and water to her, that her incredible energy comes from her heart, and how she feels very much at home in İstanbul, Aydınlık Daily and Aydınlık reporters sat down with the Spanish music star:
*Your father is a flamenco master and your mother a dancer. Your grandfather was a guitar virtuoso. You were born into flamenco. You are so lucky…
My biggest luck was to be around my father, we were never away from poetry and songs. Our lives and house were full of flamenco, yet it was always my father particularly who made me and my sister familiar even with tango. He used to consider all kinds of music as a tool which brings people from different cultures together.
*What affected your development, how do you comment on it?
Everybody who knows about my songs are witnesses to how my career has grown and expanded with my father. I have been on stage since I was 7 and I inherited my dance and singing skills from my father. I have never been disappointed since my very first album. Frankly, my last album is the one which represents me best. Personally, the reason why my songs catch on is because of my individual style of singing.
*If there were not music in your life, would you choose music again?
Every kind of art attracts me and all is mixed. Dance and music, music and cinema, poetry and songs are all mixed. I would find a way to sing again. Perhaps, I am not keen on poetry as much as my father, still I like the poetry in the songs.
*What should the audience expect from your concert in 6 February?
The most fun part of my concerts is the theatrical side. Because my songs are also suitable for that. 6 of February will be a night which we will have fun with songs and moved by them. You will listen to so many wonderful musicians who accompany me. Flamenco is full of life and we produce music by experiencing that enthusiasm both during the concerts and records.
*You also have a theatrical side. Your stage and esthetics are quite beautiful. What do you have to say regarding the theatre stage?
Theatre is not more different to me than my concerts. I get the chance to carry the stories and emotions of different characters on the stage along with the songs. It is a splendid pleasure to transfer the different worlds of completely different identities to the audience by experiencing their feelings.
*You have won many awards, and I am sure there are many more to come…
It is important for me that, when I am no longer here with you, I am remembered for my songs. I want to stay in people’s minds as a woman who sang beautiful songs, made delicious meals and told great stories; no greater reward than this exists.
*What do you think of the world-famous Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, a republican and democratic artist?
As the daughter of Enrique Morente, we grew up in our home with an adoration for poets. Since our childhood, our heroes have been poets. Federico Garcia Lorca was one of the brave ones. We all have a need for courageous and creative artists.
*Your father, Enrique Morente, was himself a famous flamenco singer who was a pioneer in experimentalism in the genre. To what extent have you followed in his footsteps during your career?
My father was a very creative man and took songs from the past into modern times. I am trying to continue this. I am accommodating a number arts in my work such as that of the theatre and I have been able to work with many important names, such as Paco de Lucia, and I have been very lucky to be able to work with them because I don’t know when we will next be able to come together and work on a project.
*You started very young in the world of flamenco at the age of seven, alongside your father. What developments have you seen in the world of flamenco since this time?
Like everything flamenco is changing and progressing, like all of us too, and I am carrying it and improving under this influence. I know that people can reach into the flamenco I do as it acts like a bridge between different genres.
*In recent years the popularity of flamenco has spread across the world, a you have done concerts across the globe. In which country were you most surprised by the passion for flamenco?
Some of the places we go feel like the same, there is not too much difference, however one of the concerts I remember was in Helsinki, there was snow right up to the door and the weather was so cold, but the audience was so warm and the atmosphere was so surprising. Wherever there is a passion for music, I am there, no matter the distance. Music is a global language and wherever I am in the world I will share this lingo.
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Just like in her interviews, where she gave a little a cappella taste of her upcoming show to journalists, Estrella Morente took to the stage at the İş Sanat Culture Center on Thursday evening with a great passion, a passion and energy that continued throughout the show with the star dazzling the sold-out crowd with her voice, her flair, her dance, and her great love for flamenco. Accompanied by a band who help bring the sounds of Spain to Istanbul, Morente’s performance of Volver from the Pedro Almodóvar was given a standing ovation by the crowd, with Morente reciprocating the adoration by coming out into the audience to sing to them a little more intimately. Adoring fans from İstanbul and across Turkey will be hoping the flamenco icon will be back to grace the nation with her music and energy again soon.