An unexpected change of plans for a colleague at work, and I was given two last minute tickets to see a flamenco singer I had never heard of. A quick google revealed how ignorant I was; Diego El Cigala is one of the most famous names in flamenco, not just in Spain but worldwide. He's the winner of two Grammy awards and has countless other nominations under his belt.
The concert, part of the Veranos de la Villa (Summer in the City) concert series, was completely sold out and swarming with television cameras. The audience was bristling with anticipation.
The music had so much more depth than I expected, combining elements of flamenco, jazz and tango. His voice is throaty yet smooth, somehow unmistakeably Spanish.
It wasn't long before the audience were on their feet, cheering the opening bars of each song, emotionally applauding the flamenco guitar and trumpet solos and calling for encore after encore. I'm a new flamenco convert.
