Peralta, Angela

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Peralta, Angela

Peralta, Angela, Mexican soprano, known as “the Mexican Nightingale”; b. Puebla, July 6, 1845; d. Matzatlán, Aug. 30, 1883. She made her debut in II Trovatore in Mexico City at the age of 15. In 1862, at age 17, she made her Italian debut as Lucia; she sang in Havana, N.Y., and Madrid. She then barnstormed throughout Mexico as the organizer of her own opera company, presenting operas by Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi. She also appeared in the premieres of several Mexican operas, including Melesio Morales’s Ildegonda (Jan. 27, 1866) and Gino Corsini (July 14, 1877) and Aniceto Ortega’s Guatimotzin (Sept. 13, 1871). She made her last appearance in II Trovatore (May 23, 1883), succumbing on tour to yellow fever, but not before marrying, on her deathbed, one of her many devotees.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire