BLOGG#33 A SPANISH "LEONARD COHEN"

This is my last "musical moment" blogg. The event I want to talk about happened in Bilboa.  We had spent an intense few hours at the Contemporary museum- with some wonderful exhibitions and great contemporary artists such as Anselm Keifer, and after resting in the museum garden for a few hours, we decided to head to our hotel. On the way we saw a group of people milling around a theatre which,according to the billboard, was presenting a poetry reading and Flaminco singing for ten Euros.  We decided to go in even though we do not understand Spanish because Poetry is understood universally. Certainly I was moved. The poet was elderly, lean, with shoulder length white hair and a gentle face. With him was a lovely elegant female singer and a romantic guitarist. The poet read his poems, the singer sang stirring spanish songs after each poem and the guitarist accompanied her.  The audince was delighted and clapped furiously as did we.  It was wonderful. At the end of the program the clapping continued demanding an encore. The singer and guitarist finally returned, she took off her shoes,and started to dance the flaminco. All of a sudden this elegant singer turned into a sultry Spanish dancer. She was fantastic as she whirled and clapped to the beat of the guitar.  The audience was frantic and kept demanding more.  Finally the curtain moved and out came the poet with a beat up old guitar. He sat down on one of the chairs and quietly strummed the guitar and sang a beautiful song of his own. The audience was hushed-you could hear a pin drop. He finished, bowed and walked off the stage.  It was a mesmerizing performance and,I thought, a "Leonard Cohen" one. This night was one of the highest spots of our time in Spain.