Niño del Almadén
Who is Niño del Almadén?
Jacinto Antolín Gallego, known artistically as Niño del Almadén, was born in 1899 in Almadén (Ciudad Real). He belongs to that minority of payo (non-Roma) cantaores, outside the predominantly Roma-Andalusian environment of the genre, who managed to carve out a place of their own in early twentieth-century flamenco thanks to a voice of great expressive power and a deep respect for tradition.
Career
He made his debut very young, barely sixteen years old, in Calzada de Calatrava, where he replaced Niño de Genil on stage. His official presentation in Madrid came in 1918, at the Kursaal Magdalena, and from then on he became a regular face of Madrid’s cafés cantantes throughout the 1920s. He shared bills and mutual admiration with some of the great figures of his time: he felt particular devotion for Antonio Chacón and appeared on stage alongside Angelillo, Guerrita, and Pepe Marchena. He performed at the Teatro Pavón in 1928 alongside Angelillo and Guerrita, and in 1929 took part at the Teatro Cómico in the show “Mira que Bonita Era” alongside Pepe Marchena. In 1946 he joined Pilar López’s dance company, coinciding there with Manolo el Malagueño, and in 1960 he returned to the Madrid stage at the Teatro Comedia.
Palos and discography
His repertoire centered on cañas, tientos, and garrotín, styles in which he developed a personal signature. Of his recorded legacy, a recording survives included in a collectors’ compilation, along with an audio recording in which he performs tientos, a testimony to the timbre and style that earned him the recognition of his contemporaries.
Legacy
The playwright Jacinto Benavente, one of his most notable admirers, went so far as to call him “the artist of the most outstanding personality,” praising the good taste, enthusiasm, and affection he brought to every performance, qualities that for Benavente placed him above a mere performer. Niño del Almadén died in 1968 in Igualada (Barcelona).