![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.expoflamenco.com\/archivo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/franciscocuaresma2b_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe latest album of this master of Seville is a tribute honoring this unique landmark in his hometown, the Mar\u00eda Luisa park. To be able to speak with authority, even if just to give a subjective opinion about this work, it\u2019s essential to listen to this album more than once, I\u2019d say many times. Only then will listeners become bound to the music playing in their minds like an ever-present heartbeat. No one should rush to give their opinion without knowing this album well, because\u00a0Parque de Mar\u00eda Luisa<\/i>\u00a0will become part of Spanish musical history, just like\u00a0Noche en Los Jardines de Espa\u00f1a<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0Recuerdos de La Alhambra<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Riqueni once told me that, while he was a flamenco guitarist, he considered himself, above all, a musician. I would say about Rafael what Lorca said about himself: that above being Spanish or Andalusian, he is universal. That 13-year old kid who in 1976 amazed the public at the Lope de Vega theater playing\u00a0ronde\u00f1as<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0soleares<\/i>\u00a0had a brilliant career ahead of him, although he would experience thorny periods which would bestow upon him that hostile strand which characterizes all geniuses.<\/p>\n
His discography speaks by itself, as he leaves behind albums where all his technique captures a mixture of flamenco and sacred precision. Riqueni is a flamenco guitarist, but above all a musical genius, who in 2017 gifted us all with a suite honoring a landmark of Seville, as twelve years before he had already released an album paying tribute to the whole city. It\u2019s almost one hour of music that can be enjoyed by everyone, or rather by everyone with good taste, as it\u2019s devoid of virtuosity but loaded with melodic richness, a clean resonance of new tunes and colossal expressive wealth. His scale of arpeggios evokes ripples in the water rocking the dry leaves in \u201cLa Isleta de Los Patos<\/i>\u201d, and he hints of that 19th century joy of elegant ladies and gentlemen on a walk in \u201cPlaza de Espa\u00f1a<\/i>\u201d, which starts with a cheerful Sevillian dance and ends with the tinge of a Madrid\u00a0chotis<\/i>. It\u2019s a remarkable display of amazing skill combining the notes of a lost melancholy with joyful scenes wrapped in the memory of times past.<\/p>\n
Parque de Mar\u00eda Luisa<\/i>\u00a0would make the perfect soundtrack for a sepia-colored 1800s Seville. That link, without any hope of continuity, of sorrows, romantic or childish, of loneliness and foolish love; with the exuberant explosion of anger and self-assurance, of exhilaration diluted in memories, evoked like children\u2019s songs sang together, all imprinted with a polyphony that he manages to bring to the present and write down on a music sheet; is art that can only express feelings mixed with experience and hard work. That quick cycle between two contrasting moods is an urgent expressive necessity which has the luxury of defying conventional norms in guitar albums and in the established statutes of flamenco\u00a0palos<\/i>, revealing a kind of freedom, yearned and achieved, which without a doubt will open the door to new forms.<\/p>\n
This duality is revealed with the titles, which allude to specific places in that regal park of Seville, alternating with more subjective hints, interpreted with a lyricism bordering intimacy and romanticism, sensory and scenic perceptions of the gardened enclosure where the fragrance of\u00a0jasmin, orange blossoms<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0lady-of-the-nights<\/i>\u00a0surround a creative sense perfectly expressed in accords, where the constant chirping of birds and cooing of doves evokes the sequence of notes, from low to high and back. It all mirrors a wounded soul waiting for a day without time, or rewarded with the warmth of one hand, the synesthesia of a visionary artist who knows how to focus his melodic creativity in a place rich in nooks and memories, like the\u00a0glorieta de B\u00e9cquer<\/i>, with its statue in a desperate gesture, which makes such an impact on the artist.<\/p>\n
Parque de Mar\u00eda Luisa<\/i>\u00a0is not an album of flamenco guitar, although flamenco is not forgotten, being featured in\u00a0Buler\u00eda del Parque<\/i>, where the master himself cheers Raimundo Amador, or\u00a0por tangos<\/i>\u00a0in\u00a0Monte Gurug\u00fa<\/i>, although well above being a localist work, it\u2019s a masterpiece of contemporary classical music, and that\u2019s the clear intention of the artist, ending the album with a piece that doesn\u2019t feature on single guitar note.<\/p>\n
Rafael, you are flamenco to the bone, but remember the words of Paco de Luc\u00eda\u2019s father: \u201cYou\u2019ll do better with classic<\/i>\u201d. I think he\u2019ll do better with whatever he put his hands on, because Rafael Riqueni has shown to be able to handle anything in multiple occasions.<\/p>\n
Thank you, master, for this gift you\u2019ve given to Culture.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Francisco Cuaresma<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The latest album of this master of Seville is a tribute honoring this unique landmark in his hometown, the Mar\u00eda Luisa park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\n