Mont-de-Marsan, the city in France where ‘Orobroy’ was born, the flamenco anthem that consecrated David Peña Dorantes | Culture

David Peña Dorantes (Lebrija, Seville, 55 years old) arrived a quarter of a century ago to the small French town of Mont-de-Marsan, nestled on the edge of the Landes forest, determined to seize an opportunity: the oldest Flamenco Art Festival in France, which has been held since 1979, scheduled that year (in the summer of 1998) the first solo concert by the musician from Lebrija, only known then in very flamenco circles for his deep family roots, which connect him to the great gypsy lineages of Lebrija and Utrera that have written the history of cante jondo.

It was in the secluded theatre of this city, on the banks of the Midouze River, where the chords of Orobroya melody that Dorantes had composed in his adolescence and that was also waiting for its chance in a drawer that the musician did not open until years later. And the miracle happened: from Mont-de-Marsan to the world. Advertising campaigns, ringtones on mobile phones, TV show theme music, hotel music, Orobroy It became the flamenco anthem that it is today, claimed by the gypsy people, with its lyrics written and sung in Romani, reproduced ad nauseam and with a level of popularity at the level of Between two watersby Paco de Lucia.

For Dorantes, the opportunity of the festival made him the reference of flamenco music that he is today, as one of its main composers; it took away from his piano that feeling of being an intruding instrument in the world of flamenco and took it out of the gypsy circles of his native Lebrija to take it around the world. But everything has a limit and, for a time, after digesting the popularity, he needed to separate himself from this melody to show that there was “much more than that”. Orobroy“, confesses this great artist, almost blushing, who has preserved almost intact the shyness and humility of that summer of 1998.

On the same stage 25 years ago, last Wednesday, Dorantes recalled the start of his solo career. Mont-de-Marsan has hardly changed, the flamenco fandom remains intact, the city is living these days with Spanish hours and customs, between workshops, classes, open stages and aperitifs with tapas. But the musician from Lebrija, yes. Received and applauded like a great star, Dorantes made a review of his career throughout the concert that was marked by gratitude, virtuosity and memory, with a tribute to his father, the guitarist Pedro Peña, brother of Juan Peña, The Lebrijanto whom he owes his career as a pianist.

“I was barely 4 years old when I went to visit my grandmother and played a piano that was in her house in Lebrija. But my father, who was a primary school teacher, was transferred to Seville, we moved, and suddenly I lost sight of that instrument. I calmed my musical concerns with the guitar, but the piano was still there. Until one day my father showed up at my house with a piano. I felt all kinds of emotions, I remember myself as the happiest child in the world,” Dorantes recalled at the end of the concert.

His family was also the protagonist of that first night: his father, who sang, and his uncle accompanied him to Mont-de-Marsan. “I have a very family-oriented memory, I was very supported, but I also remember the fear, the responsibility and the anxiety of seeing if it would work, especially with a different audience.” And it did.

Last Wednesday, Dorantes gave it his all. Accompanied by the gypsy voices of the Rodes sisters, the dance of Leonor Leal and his inseparable Sergio Fargas on percussion, he was “happy with the reaction of the public”, with the place where he had played, with everything it means. “It was the first festival that opened the door for me to be able to show my work. From that concert, I began my career as an instrumentalist, I have a lot of affection for it. I have continued coming, but none like that magical night.”

At the doors of the Le Moliére theatre in Mont-de-Marsan, dozens of fans were waiting to take a photo with the Sevillian artist. However, seven albums later and an international career of consolidated prestige, Dorantes feels that he is still “on permanent alert, in continuous preparation”. His classical training has allowed him to weave flamenco with other musical languages. His conversation – and his recordings – include names ranging from Béla Bartok to Stravinsky. “I don’t want to have chains or limits,” he says, but also music from the roots, such as Indian or Brazilian: “In each of them I find things to be able to carry my backpack and have resources and a much broader musical palette.” Precisely, from Mont-de-Marsan he returned yesterday, Thursday, to Seville to lock himself in his studio. On the near horizon is the premiere at the next Seville Flamenco Biennial Scarlattianas (tribute to Domenico Scarlatti), a new work in which he will bring works by this Baroque musician into his world: “I am in a more daring creative moment.”

In these 25 years that have followed the premiere of Orobroy “A lot of things have happened, but they have also happened very quickly,” he explains, looking back. One of the most important things for Dorantes has been to achieve a certain normalisation of the piano as a flamenco instrument. “It still has a long way to go. It doesn’t have the same role as the guitar, which is logical, but I hope that in the future it will have a more important role. That it becomes more normalised.” He knows that he chose the most difficult path, with a guitarist father and a family of singers who would have smoothed the way for him if he had chosen the six strings. “I didn’t even think about it. I fell in love with the piano and nothing else, I encountered difficulties but I have tried to resolve them. It was a difficult path that I am taking with great pleasure,” he says hurriedly before going to meet his audience, many of them belonging to the gypsy community of the south of France, where these days Spanish is spoken and clapping is played in bulerías in a beautiful cultural event that marks the summer of the capital of the Landes.