Soprano Vanessa Gama (Mozart Prize Winner at the 2025 Carlo Morelli National Singing Competition) and pianist Elías Esparza offered a moving recital on the upper floor of the Ángela Peralta Theater, in the space dedicated to commemorating the legacy of the celebrated Mexican artist. The concert, which took place on the evening of Friday, July 4th, paid a heartfelt tribute to Ángela Peralta on the occasion of her 180th birth anniversary, celebrated on July 6, 1845.
The event not only delighted the audience with the compositions of Ángela Peralta, who at the age of 20 had already received acclaim on European stages, but also educated the audience about the multifaceted life of the first Mexican woman to perform at Milan’s Teatro Scala, revealing fascinating details of her career.
Vanessa Gama, with a captivating voice, and Elías Esparza, with remarkable sensitivity on the piano, guided the audience through a musical and biographical journey.
Gama began the recital by reminding everyone that Ángela Peralta’s name was actually her stage name, and mentioned her full name: María de los Ángeles Manuela Tranquilina Cirila Efrena Peralta Castera. She emphasized that, although she is strongly associated with Mazatlán, Peralta was born in Mexico City. The soprano emphasized the honor it represented for her and Elías to perform the works of such a complete figure, who was not only an exceptional singer, but also a pianist, composer, harpist, and director of her own company.
The tribute to El Ruiseñor Mexicano began with a performance of “El deseo,” the piece Vanessa enjoys performing most because it was written in Spanish and allows the audience to quickly connect with its content.
Among the pieces performed, Vanessa Gama presented “Les Larmes” (The Tears), a French romance that explores the different facets of tears, from those of a husband to those of a mother, son, or brother. Gama emphasized the great technical difficulty of this romance, requiring profound expressiveness to convey the diverse emotions that Ángela Peralta captured in her description of tears.
She explained that Peralta began her musical training at an early age, discovered by her teacher Agustín Balderas, who gave her piano and language lessons before introducing her to singing. This allowed many of her compositions to be written in Italian and French.
A highlight was her performance of “Io t’amerò” (I Will Love You), an Italian romance that describes the pure love that elevates a person to paradise. Gama shared that while traveling to Europe on the advice of a world-famous soprano, in Italy, Angela and her father sought out maestro Francesco Lamberti, who, every time he heard her, would exclaim, “Angélica di voce e di nome” (Angelica by voice and name).
The soprano also recounted Peralta’s early debut at age fifteen in the role of Leonora at the National Theater in 1860, and her triumph two years later, at seventeen, when she won the role of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Teatro Scala in Milan.
The moving romance “La Huérfana,” with its Spanish title but Italian lyrics, was deeply moving. The piece, Vanessa Gama explained, is not available on digital platforms, making it an exclusive gift for attendees. This work, due to its sad and emotional subject matter, required great dramatic skill and control of the melodic line from the performer to express the girl’s longing and despair.
The concert also included the piano dances “Sara and Margarita” from her 1875 album, performed by Elías Esparza. Vanessa Gama explained that some of these pieces were composed during a period of hiatus in Ángela Peralta’s singing career, following her marriage to Eugenio Castera.
The moving “Adiós a México” was presented as a reflection of Peralta’s nostalgia for her homeland. Another vocal piece performed was “Loin de toi” (Far from You), whose French title contrasts with its Italian content. Soprano Vanessa Gama noted that this is an extremely demanding piece, as Ángela Peralta conceived it incorporating technical elements typical of coloratura sopranos, requiring great vocal mastery, agility, and range from the singer.
Gama recalled Ángela Peralta’s tragic visit to Mazatlán in 1883 to present the opera “Aída,” where many of the ship’s crew and members of her company succumbed to yellow fever, a disease that also claimed Peralta’s life on August 30 of that same year, at the young age of thirty-eight. The soprano mentioned Peralta’s marriage in an articulo mortis to Julián Montiel, treasurer of her company, shortly before her death.
To conclude the concert, Vanessa Gama performed an aria from Gaetano Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” the opera that Ángela Peralta performed 166 times. The soprano provided context for the scene, where Lucía, plunged into madness, narrates ghostly visions and the transformation of water into blood. This operatic fragment, known for its technical and dramatic difficulty, demands impeccable coloratura from the soprano. Vanessa Gama captivated the audience by widening her eyes and performing with a deep immersion in the character’s state of mind to convey Lucía’s disturbance.
The recital was a clear demonstration of the commitment of Vanessa Gama (22 years old) and Elías Esparza (19 years old) to spreading Ángela Peralta’s legacy. Both artists emphasized the importance of raising awareness about the life and work of this “icon of Mazatlán,” whose name gives the theater where the moving tribute took place, its name.
Vanessa Gama, who is graduating this year with a Bachelor of Singing degree from the CULTURA School of Music and Singing, expressed the privilege of celebrating her graduation with this significant concert.
Among those attending the recital were important figures in Vanessa Gama’s training, such as Maestro Enrique Patrón De Rueda, to whom she owes much of her education in lyrical singing and who has been instrumental in her rise on the stage. Also present was the General Director of the Municipal Instituto de Cultura, Raúl Rico González gratitude for all the support received from the institution.
At the end of the moving concert, and to commemorate the birth of “The Mexican Nightingale,” the audience and artists joined their voices to perform the traditional “Mañanitas,” thus sealing a night of profound admiration and respect for Ángela Peralta’s legacy.
