By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net

The legendary Argentine trova singer Mercedes Sosa enthralled a packed Palacio de los Deportes arena in Heredia, north of San José, Saturday night in a concert in which the emotional Costa Rican audience, and their president, stole much of the spotlight.

Before the first note of Sosa's performance, President Oscar Arias was ushered into the front row and a large portion of the audience erupted into a fierce bout of booing and shouting, “Get out! Get out!”

Arias supporters were visibly annoyed and frowned with disgust; some shouted back or raised their fists with thumbs down.

While enjoying the best approval rating of his term, according to a recent CID-Gallup poll, Arias is still on the hot-seat for pushing forward a controversial free-trade agreement with the United States, known as CAFTA. Many Sosa fans yelled “ No al TLC!” – to denounce the treaty, using its Spanish acronym.

However, once the singer was escorted onto the stage, bitter jeers quickly turned to overwhelming cheers.

Sosa responded to the protest, reminding the audience that it does not know the kind of suffering her compatriots faced under Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship, from which she took exile.

Then she commenced to sing. At 72, Sosa's already husky voice has grown deeper since her early recordings including the 1971 Homenaje a Violeta Parra, a tribute to the Chilean poet who penned the words of one of Sosa's most loved songs “ Gracias a la vida ” (meaning “Thanks to Life,” heard on Sosa's Web site: www.mercedessosa.com.ar ). But the rich quality and power remain, and almost seemed capable of shaking the vast stadium unmiked, if she had chosen to do so.

During sudden crescendos, Sosa's voice thundered with vibrato against a restrained and excellent quartet of keyboard, guitar, bass and percussion. But in the enthralling mood piece “ Vengo a ofrecer mi corazón ” (“I Come To Offer My Heart”), she sustained somber, almost still, notes.

Some audience members wept throughout the event. Almost all mouthed the words to every lyric of such hits as “ Todo cambia ” (“Everything Changes”) and, of course, the eternal “ Gracias a la vida. ” To its credit, the Tico crowd's singing was in key and on the beat. The singer thanked the crowd for its musicality.

Ill health has forced Sosa to sit throughout her performances – except the last upbeat number brought her to her feet to dance. Not to stay quiet for long, the audience rose with her and roared again with gratitude.