The present Doodle praises the 175th birthday celebration of Mexican pianist, harpist, composer, and internationally-renowned operatic soprano Ángela Peralta, who is broadly viewed as perhaps the main Mexican opera singers of her time.
On this day in 1845, Ángela Peralta Castera was born in Mexico City. Her reputation as a remarkable singer began to take hold with her solo performance of a cavatina from the Italian show “Belisario” at only 8 years of age. At 15, Peralta made her operatic debut at the Gran Teatro Nacional—one of nineteenth century Mexico’s chief opera houses. This performance got such approval that it incited Peralta to additionally refine her talent in Italy, the birthplace of opera.
In Milan, Peralta’s 1862 performance of the heartfelt drama “Lucia di Lammermoor” so dazzled the audience that standing ovations took her back to the stage 23 times! The extent of her worldwide tours broadened to include some of Europe’s most prestigious opera houses just as the U.S., earning the title of “Mexican Nightingale” for her mastery of the lyrical operatic style known as bel canto. Peralta got back to Mexico City in 1871, a homecoming declared by one more grand performance at the Gran Teatro Nacional.
Before long, Peralta used this fruitful momentum to establish her own opera company. On their last visit in 1883, Peralta’s group headed out to the coastal Mexican city of Mazatlán. Here, her legacy is preserved in a show house named in her honor: the Ángela Peralta Theater.
Happy birthday, Ángela Peralta. Here’s to all those performances that ended on a high note!