The Llave de Oro del Cante is a cherished award for flamenco singing. The legendary flamenco cantaor Antonio Mairena won the Llave de Oro del Cante in 1962 and to mark the 50th anniversary, a Gala peformance is being held at the Teatro Central in Seville, Spain on Tuesday 27 November 2012.

The history of the Llave de Oro del Cante (Golden Key of Cante) goes back even further than 50 years ago:

the first Llave de Oro del Cante was awarded to Tomás El Nitri in the 1860s in Seville;

the second Llave de Oro del Cante was awarded to Manuel Vallejo at the Teatro Pavón in 1926.

The 1962 edition of the Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba brought the reappearance of the Concurso Nacional la Llave de Oro del Cante. Four cantaores competed for the Llave de Oro del Cante:

Juan Varea, Antonio Fernández Díaz ‘Fosforito’,

Antonio Núñez Montoya ‘El Chocolate’,

José Vázquez Valls ‘Platerito de Alcalá’ and

Antonio Cruz García ‘Antonio Mairena’.

The Llave de Oro del Cante prize was 100,000 pesetas and each of the other finalists received 25,000 pesetas each for participating.

The 1962 Llave de Oro del Cante was awarded to Antonio Cruz García ‘Antonio Mairena’ (1909–1983) from Mairena del Alcor in Seville .

The proceeds of the Flamenco Gala on Tuesday 27 November 2012 will go to the Spanish charity Cáritas.

Teatro Central, Calle de José de Gálvez, 41092 Seville, Spain. Tel. + 34 955 03 7200.

© 2012 Thérèse Wassily Saba