Ángela Peralta | "Mexican Nightingale", Ángela Peralta's 175th Birthday

Ángela Peralta, who is widely considered, as one of the most significant Mexican opera singers of her era, celebrates her 175th birthday today. 

Ángela Peralta, was called the "Mexican Nightingale", in Europe. She had sung to acclaim in major European opera houses by the age of 20. Although primarily known for her singing, she was also a composer, as well as an accomplished pianist and harpist. Ángela Peralta Castera, was born in Mexico City, on 6 July, 1845. 

At 15 years old, Peralta made her operatic debut, at the Gran Teatro Nacional, one of 19th-century Mexico’s premier opera houses. This performance received such acclaim, that it prompted Peralta to further refine her talent in Italy, the birthplace of opera.  

In Milan, Peralta’s 1862 performance of the romantic opera, “Lucia di Lammermoor”, so impressed the audience, that standing ovations, brought her back to the stage 23 times! 

She earned the title, “Mexican Nightingale'', for her mastery of the lyrical operatic style, known as bel canto. 

Peralta returned to Mexico City, in 1871, a homecoming announced by yet another grand performance, at the Gran Teatro Nacional.  

Soon after, Peralta utilized this successful momentum to found her own opera company. Her legacy is preserved in an opera house named in her honor: the Ángela Peralta Theater. 

Peralta contracted yellow fever, and died at age thirty-eight. In 1937, her remains were moved to Panteón, in Mexico City.