“Sorceress” Raquel Meller, TIME Magazine cover

Trevor @ Friday April 18th 2008 13:07

Raquel Meller

This delectable flor del mal from Barcelona’s Poble Sec district is a daisychain from A Nun’s link to a review of a book dealing with degradation and deviancy in the same neighbourhood. New York, April 26 1926:

Ushers with tall combs and white mantillas stole back up the aisles as the house lights faded out. The orchestra blared some opening bars, then hushed to a faintly drumming vamp. Into a pool of amber light on the empty stage, stepped a small woman with hair of jet, a stocky little figure in velvet flounces, with a broad, flat face of extraordinary mobility. Her black eyes grew slowly wider and deeper as a spattering storm of applause burst upon her, swelled and rumbled with calls of “Brava! Brava!” which took five minutes to blow over… For the next-to-last of her baker’s dozen of songs, Meller chose “Flor del Mal” (Flower of Sin). It tells, with the utter simplicity of all Meller’s repertoire, the hopeless, disdainful story of a street girl. Her clothes were shoddy, ill-fitting; her hair slovenly, black about her forehead. Midway in the singing Meller moved out on a little platform almost over the heads of the first row, and lighted a cigaret. She smoked it singing and walked over to lean, dejected, against the stage wall. The song ended and she disappeared.

Other comments suggest the audience felt it had been had by the marketing of “the most successful Spanish artist of the 20th century“, a Rioja girl who made her debut in the now ruined Teatro Arnau on the Paralelo of Barcelona in 1908 (or perhaps “in a dingy Barcelona fishermen’s cafe“) and was apparently later sought by Chaplin to star in City lights. Her statue is opposite the Arnau, next to the Bagdad strip club. I think her singing is fairly ordinary–Barcelona’s music halls tended to be regarded as crass rather than class by foreigners–but we’re clearly dealing with A Star, three maids, eight dogs and 42 trunks and all:

Aside: I don’t read it nowadays, of course, but wasn’t TIME good between wars?

Tags: ,
Categories: Liberals & locals, Music, Theatre

« · »

RSS: post comments, blog comments, blog posts

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. kalebeul » Three versions of “El relicario”
    April 21st 2008 18:58

    [...] Meller, the most successful Spanish artist of the 20th century, struggling with pitch and pace in [...]

Share this post
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • LinkedIn
  • Live
  • Ma.gnolia
  • Meneame
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
See also
Book recommendation

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also enjoy La mala vida en Barcelona or other books by Max-Bembo. More book ideas here.

Música en vivo para fiestas infantiles y geriatricas en Barcelona

Canciones, bailes, juegos y cuentos por cantante y pianista en inglés y castellano. Modus operandi: sublime y ridiculisimo. Repertorio: Cri-Cri, Ivor Cutler, extravagancias latinoamericanas de los 40, anuncios oeste-africanos de los 50, Tom Lehrer, Kurt Schwitters, bordados avanzados, etcétera. Precios a partir de 300€. Contacto aquí.

Original scores and arrangements

Check out the musical services I provide over at Oreneta.com, as well as my barrel organ project.

Guided tours

FollowTheBaldie.com provides guided tours of Barcelona and various other cities in the Western Mediterranean, as well as country walks and hikes in the Barcelona region.

Kalebeul gallery

More photo-posts here.

Google Reader

I share other stuff over here.

Pordiosería

If you're feeling generous, check out my Amazon wishlists for Deutschland, France , and the UK, or use PayPal to

My 5% bookstore - new stuff



Spanish history

Modern Spanish fiction

Spanish classics

On this day

Barcelona

  • March 21 1848 

    En Barcelona como en otras partes comienza hoy la primavera, que en honor de la verdad no suele ser aqui la estacion mas hermosa del año. Cierto que ya los árboles comienzan á echar hoja, y que la linda y olorosa violeta alfombra los jardines y ribazos, y que le hacen cortejo otras flores; per...

Josep Pla, Palafrugell (1918-9)

  • 21 de març de 1918 En aquest paĂ­s tenim un costum molt curiĂłs. Quan ens trobem, al carrer, dues persones, cara a cara, no tenim, a penes, res a dir-nos. Però, una vegada acomiadats i fets set o vuit passos, se’ns ocorren tot d’una una sèrie de coses urgents a dir a la persona que hem deixat fa un moment. [...]
  • 21 de març de 1919 Inici de la primavera. Biblioteca. Tot traduint Renard penso que Ă©s mĂ©s important dominar un ofici qualsevol que posseir una curiositat dilatada, vastĂ­ssima. La curiositat es pot improvisar; un ofici, no. La curiositat Ă©s superficialment agradable, però deixa una certa buidor amarga per dintre. Un ofici Ă©s monòton i pesat, però tĂ© moments d’una voluptuositat [...]

The peepul's choice

Back to top