Marta Pérez (singer)

For the Spanish athlete, see Marta Pérez (athlete).

Marta Pérez (2 August 1924 in Havana, Cuba - 18 August 2009 in Miami, Florida) was a Cuban mezzo-soprano and the first Cuban to sing in Milan's famed La Scala opera house.

Miss Pérez' artistic talents were recognized early in life and as a little girl she studied singing with Marila Granowska. By the age of 13, she was performing as a soloist with the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 1940s she began a series of tours with Ernesto Lecuona. Perez was the first to record Gonzalo Roig's zarzuela, "Cecilia Valdés". She sang at the renowned opera house La Scala in Milan, Italy in 1955, in the role of Preciosilla in Verdi's opera La Forza del Destino, sharing the stage with Renata Tebaldi and Giuseppe di Stefano. In 1961, she performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

In the 1960s she went into exile in Miami. In 1967, she co-founded the "Pro Arte Grateli Society", a Hispanic theater group. She never married or had children.

References

• The Miami Herald; Cuban Soprano Sang at La Scala" by Daniel Fernandez; August 21, 2009 page 4B.