Niño de la Huerta
Who is Niño de la Huerta?
Francisco Montoya Egea was born in 1907 in Lora del Río (Seville), into a family of farmers, and died there in 1964. His nickname, Niño de la Huerta, comes from the fact that his neighbors heard him singing while he worked the agricultural fields of the area, before devoting himself entirely to cante.
Career
He trained in the wake of Antonio Chacón’s school, though he also performed styles from Pepe Marchena. He won a cante contest in Córdoba in 1925, at only sixteen years old, and in 1927 took part in the Copa del Monumental Cinema in Madrid; the following year he sang at the Teatro Avenida in the capital and began his path through the so-called óperas flamencas. Throughout his career he toured alongside Angelillo (1934), took part in the Certamen Nacional de Cante Flamenco at the Circo Price (1936), and performed alongside El Sevillano and Pepe Pinto (1940-41), Canalejas de Puerto Real (1944), José Cepero and Manuel Vallejo in the show “El sentir de la copla” (1950), and La Niña de Antequera in “Toros y cante” (1951), in addition to touring Tetouan, in Spanish Morocco.
Palos and discography
His hallmark was fandangos, together with the vidalita known as the Romería Loreña and some cantes from the republican repertoire. He left around eighty recorded songs over the course of his life, a body of work later restored across four albums released by the Agencia Andaluza del Flamenco, accompanied by a biographical booklet.
Legacy
He is remembered as a figure much loved by aficionados, thanks to the “bien decir” of his cante, full of sweetness, and for his role as one of the great exponents of the ópera flamenca of the first half of the 20th century.