San Isidro, May 23: Diamonds in the dust
Today’s cartel (Alejandro Talavante, Juan Ortega and Tomás Rufo with bulls of El Puerto de San Lorenzo) was the kind that other toreros will travel to see, as was epitomised by the sight of Leo Valadez (his arm in a sling following his tossing earlier in the feria) in my metro carriage as I journeyed to Las Ventas.
Unfortunately, today’s bulls were a grave disappointment. While most ticked the presentation box, their behaviours, with the possible exception of that of the opening animal, were pretty dreadful. The second would not focus on the lure and took up a querencia by the toriles; the third was weak-legged and short charging; the fourth was completely invalid; the fifth insipid and difficult; and the sixth determined to spend its time beside the barrera.
Yet, amongst this dross, the three matadors still managed to exhibit their respective qualities.
For the second year running, Alejandro Talavante is the most favoured torero of Madrid’s programming, the empresa (also his manager) giving the extremeño three feria appearances (of which this was the first) plus a place on the ‘In Memoriam’ corrida. As Alejandro has given the Las Ventas spectators little to remember recently, however, I wondered what reception he would receive, but the more critical elements of the crowd were uncomplaining as Talavante gave his opening bull some half-hearted opening capotazos. His approach, I thought, was typical of his post-comeback performances: a brief quite of slow verónicas and a media from Juan Ortega did bring applause.
Javier Ambel placed some fine banderillas, but the lack of a brindis and Talavante’s languid walk across the ring towards the bull did not give much hope of a decent faena. But then he began immediately on the left hand, citing cartucho con pescao, to bring off the first in a series of graceful naturales, the bull obedient (in fact, a bit of a pussycat) and its accomplished matador well able to construct fluid tandas and keeping mainly to the left hand where the outcomes were most successful. A winning al encuentro estocada sealed a respectable showing and the president finally relented to a majority petition for an ear.
Things at this stage looked highly promising, but, by the time of Alejandro’s second atanasio, the mood of the corrida had turned; he retreated in the opening capework and there was simply nothing to be done with the animal come the faena except kill it, which Talavante managed with a pinchazo and a trasera media estocada. This was the third consecutive faena to end in pitos for the bull and silence for the matador.
Juan Ortega never got on top of his impressively horned opening bull, which was in total command of terrains in the opening tercio and was picced poorly. In the faena, the bull was uninterested in the muleta and Ortega unwilling to achieve much with it before killing with a bajonazo to the lungs.
The sevillano’s second atanasio was loudly protested throughout the first two tercios, only the lack of a fall following its second vara or in banderillas preserving its time in the arena. Despite the hubbub, Juan opted to try to achieve something in the faena, only for the bull to cut in during a trincherazo and send the matador flying, Ortega being fortunate to emerge from the tossing without a cornada (he was later treated in the infirmary for two puntazos to his left leg). The “miaows” ended at this point. And he must have noticed something in this animal, as he returned to cite it, standing still, and shortly afterwards found its sweet spot, bringing off linked series of slow and beautifully formed passes, the protests against the bull suddenly being replaced with ringing olés. It was just a shame the series were so short, Juan doing well to get three consecutive linked passes from his bull. The faena ended with a pinchazo and media estocada, pitos for the bull and an ovation for Juan Ortega from all except the diehards of Tendido 7.
Tomás Rufo produced some lovely delantales to his first atanasio, only for it to be picced badly on both of its entries to the picador. Tomás tried to succeed in the faena, begun on his knees, but the bull was weak-legged and could only manage short charges and Tendido 7’s occupants complained loudly every time Tomás opted to embark on a new series rather than collect the estoque. A bajonazo ended a lidia completely lacking in emotion, the bull receiving whistles and its matador silence.
The sixth bull did not look at all promising, Rufo content with teaching it to follow the capote initially and opting against a quite. It was nevertheless dedicated to the plaza to cheers from the spectators, a gentleman in front of me standing up and raising his hat to the matador in return. However, all too soon in the faena, the bull left Rufo in the middle of the arena, preferring the tablas, and thereafter Tomás followed it around the edge of the arena, determinedly forcing passes from it (including some fine naturales) before chasing after it again. It was a brave showing, and the affection the Madrid crowd has for the young toledano was palpable. Perhaps it was the estocada caída that lost him the ear that most of the crowd wanted to give him but which the president withheld. Today was the last of Rufo’s two appearances in San Isidro, and he has come away from the feria with his reputation as today’s leading young torero, if anything, enhanced.