Josefa Embil Echániz (

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

: ''Josefa Enbil Etxaniz''; February 28, 1918—August 28, 1994) better known as Pepita Embil was a Spanish

soprano who starred in

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...

and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

productions throughout Spain and Latin America. Known as the "Queen of Zarzuela," she is especially remembered for her son, the internationally famous operatic tenor

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

, whose early career she helped to nurture. Embil began her professional career singing as a soloist in choirs, including the Basque national choir, Eresoinka, which based itself in France during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. While still in her twenties, she appeared in the world premieres of several new zarzuelas. She collaborated with some of the most prominent Spanish composers of the 1940s, including

Federico Moreno Torroba Federico Moreno Torroba (3 March 189112 September 1982) was a Spanish composer, conductor, and theatrical impresario. He is especially remembered for his important contributions to the classical guitar repertoire, becoming one of the leading twen ...

Jacinto Guerrero Jacinto Guerrero (16 August 1895 Ajofrín, Province of Toledo, Toledo, Spain – 15 September 1951 Madrid, Spain), was a prolific composer of zarzuelas and revues, as well as some orchestral compositions. Guerrero was educated at the Colegio de N ...

, and

Pablo Sorozábal Pablo Sorozábal Mariezcurrena (18 September 1897 – 26 December 1988) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas, operas, symphonic works, and the popular ''romanza'', " No puede ser". He was born in San Sebastián, in a working-class family. ...

. In late 1948, she moved to Mexico with her baritone husband,

Plácido Domingo Ferrer Plácido Domingo Ferrer (8 March 1907 – 22 November 1987
''The New York Times'' (AP), 26 November 1987.) was a

. In Mexico they ran a successful zarzuela company of their own, which toured throughout the Americas. Over the course of her career, Embil made several recordings, primarily of zarzuela music.

Biography and career

Early years

Josefa "Pepita" Embil was born on February 28, 1918 in Getaria in the province of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

in the Basque Country of Spain. Her father, Arturo Embil y Lazcano, was a church

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and a lover of

zarzuelas () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...

. He also liked to play piano reductions of operatic music for enjoyment. He and his wife, Germana Echániz Ostolaza, had five children: Francisco, Sebastián, Josefa (Pepita), Agustina, and Angel María. He died at age 45 in January 1930, when his daughter Pepita was 11 years old. '' La Constancia'', a traditionalist Catholic

Integrist In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics within t ...

party newspaper, announced his death and mentioned the "irreparable loss" his family and "political brothers" experienced. With the encouragement of her father, Pepita started singing lessons as a child and eventually attended the conservatory in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

, the capital of Gipuzkoa, where she studied with bass . Embil began her singing career as part of the Euzko-Abesbatza (also spelled "Eusko Abezbatza"), a Basque choir directed by Olaizola. While the choir was in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

for a celebration of the third anniversary of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

, she made her debut at the

Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

in a small part in Basque composer

Jesús Guridi Jesús Guridi Bidaola (25 September 1886 – 7 April 1961) was a Spanish Basque composer who was a key player in 20th-century Spanish and Basque music. His style fits into the late Romantic idiom, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a stron ...

's opera, ''Amaya'', on April 12, 1934. Only sixteen years old, she appeared with Olaizola, who had created the bass role of Miguel de Goñi in the opera's 1920 premiere. Afterwards, they again performed the opera in other theaters, including the Teatro Gayarre in

Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as ...

and the

Teatro Arriaga The Arriaga antzokia in Basque or Teatro Arriaga in Spanish is an opera house in Bilbao, Spain. It was built in Neo-baroque style by architect Joaquín Rucoba in 1890, the same architect that built the city hall. It is named after Juan Crisóstom ...

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

. The latter performance with the

Bilbao Symphony Orchestra Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa (BOS) (Spanish: Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, unofficial English translation: Bilbao Symphony Orchestra) is a symphony orchestra based in Bilbao, Basque Country. History The orchestra's first concert was on May 8 ...

was a success for the singers, including Embil, in front of a full house. Euzko-Abesbatza and another choir, the Juventud Vasca de Bilbao, both of which were involved in the growing Basque nationalist movement, organized the performance. In addition to her choral and operatic work, she also gave concerts. At one 1936 concert in

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with Olaizola, she sang a variety of music: a Basque number, an Italian song by Toselli, a

translation of

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

's "Ständchen" ("Serenade"), and Siébel's aria, "Faites-lui mes aveux," in Italian from

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's opera, ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

''. For the next few years she sang in various choirs, including the prestigious

Orfeón Donostiarra The Orfeón Donostiarra is a concert choir based in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. History The choir was formed in 1897 in San Sebastián. The first music directors were Miguel Oñate, Luzuriaga and Esnaola. In June 1906 the group was a ...

, because as she later said, she needed to "work to live." Pepita Embil & Imanol Valdes - Le Belloy, France, 1938-8-19, Eresoinka

Just days before the fall of his government to

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

's forces in 1937, the president of the Basque autonomous government, José Antonio Aguirre, worked with Embil's teacher Olaizola to form the Basque national choir and ballet, , with the goal of keeping Basque musical culture alive. Embil joined the newly formed choir and toured extensively with the group outside of Spain, often singing as a choral soloist, until it disbanded two years later. Supported by members of the Basque government in exile in France and elsewhere, members of Eresoinka chose Château Belloy in the French city

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

as their home base. The choir made its debut at the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on December 18, 1937. The group also performed in Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam, the Hague, Amsterdam, and London. Although primarily a soprano throughout her career, she sang

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

with Eresoinka. After her final choral concert in Paris in 1939, she remained in the city to study with an Armenian singing teacher.

Zarzuela career in Spain

With the Spanish Civil War at an end, she moved to Madrid and sought work in the numerous zarzuela companies there. She joined a touring company led by composer

. She soon appeared in his zarzuela ''Sor Navarra'' in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

with baritone

Plácido Domingo Ferrer Plácido Domingo Ferrer (8 March 1907 – 22 November 1987
''The New York Times'' (AP), 26 November 1987.) was a

, whom she had recently met for the first time at Madrid's Café de Castilla, a gathering place for the city's artists and musicians. They married on April 1, 1940, and early the following year they had their first child, Plácido. A year and half later, the couple had a daughter, Maria José (1942-2015), known as "Mari Pepa." Pepita Embil - La del manojo de Rosas (zarzuela production, San Sebastián, 1942)

Pepita Embil - La del manojo de Rosas (zarzuela production, San Sebastián, 1942)

Embil was asked to join the company of the Teatro Calderón in Madrid periodically from 1940 to 1945. The soprano and some friends from the Teatro Calderón founded the Ases líricos, a zarzuela company that had many successes over the course of the next several decades. Many of the members of the company were among the best zarzuela singers in the country. She and her husband performed all across Spain as part of the troupe, which was headed by singer and impresario Antonio Medio. Embil soon became one of the favorite singers of several leading Spanish composers, including Moreno Torroba,

, and

. For her first season after the birth of her son, she worked with actor

Salvador Videgain Salvador Videgain García (26 February 1886 – 12 October 1947) was a Spanish author and theatrical actor, director and producer. He was known for performing comedic and zarzuela roles in Spain and the Américas during the first half of the 20 ...

as part of the company of

Maestro Quiroga Manuel López-Quiroga Miquel (January 30, 1899 – December 13, 1988), better known as Maestro Quiroga, was a Spanish composer especially known for his '' coplas'', ''cuplés'', and ''zarzuelas''. He was also a pianist and one of the group of ...

at the Teatro Alcalá in Madrid. With that company, she appeared in numerous zarzuela productions, including the premiere of Quiroga's ''La reina fea'' in 1941. The following year she performed again at the Teatro Calderón, appearing in the premiere of Federico Cotó's

, ''El desfile del amor'', with Antonio Medio. On the day before Easter 1943, she and Medio again sang together in the premiere of Pablo Sorozábal's zarzuela, ''Don Manolito'', at Madrid's Teatro Reina Victoria. It was very well received. She also had a significant success in Sorozábal's ''Black el payaso''. Together with Medio and under the auspices of Maestro Jacinto Guerrero, she performed in the premiere of Guerrero's ''Loza lozana'' at the Teatro Coliseum of Madrid later the same year. The two singers also appeared there in 1944 in the premiere of Jesús Romo's ''En el balcón de Palacio''. It was only the composer's second zarzuela, coming two years after his promising ''El mesón del Pato Rojo''. Embil sang the leading role, Lola la de Jerez, in the new zarzuela, which was an immediate hit. Her last world premiere in Spain occurred on November 22, 1944 in Guerrero's ''Tiene razón Don Sebastián'' at the Teatro Principal de Zaragoza. As a zarzuela written for two baritones—Medio and Domingo—it was considered a novelty. In May of the following year, she starred again in the farcical zarzuela at the Teatro Calderón. The genre was in decline by this time. Pepita Embil starred in some of the last great zarzuelas to be written.

Years in Mexico

Placido Domingo (padre) with composer Federico Moreno Torroba (left) - Teatro de la Zarzuela, 1946

After completing a series of tours around the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

with the Ases líricos—appearing for example in ''La Gran Vía'' in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

in 1946—she and her husband embarked on a tour of Latin America with a new zarzuela company Federico Moreno Torroba had recently formed. Soon after she first arrived in Mexico, a newspaper from Mexico City quoted one of Moreno Torroba's librettists, describing her as a "tall, young, and good looking" Basque with both a lyric and dramatic voice, who had shown herself to be a "grand figure" since she first appeared in ''Sor Navarra'' in Pamplona. While on tour, Moreno Torroba composed a Mexican zarzuela, ''El orgullo de Jalisco'', that incorporated aspects of that country's music and traditions. In September 1947, Embil starred in the leading role of ''El orgullo de Jalisco'' to "warm and grateful" applause at its world premiere in Mexico City. The company's performances were popular among the publics of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and especially

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. This success was decisive in leading the couple to form their own company and to settle permanently in Mexico in late 1948. Embil's sister, Agustina, looked after their children at her home in Getaria while they were away on tour. In January 1949, Agustina brought the children to Mexico to be with their parents, who soon recruited them to appear in various small parts in their zarzuela productions. Although they primarily performed at the Teatro Arbeu and the Teatro Esperanza Iris in Mexico City, Embil and Domingo frequently went on tour in Mexico and many other countries in Latin America. In the years following their move, they produced and starred in zarzuelas like ''

Luisa Fernanda Luisa (Italian and Spanish), Luísa (Portuguese) or Louise (French) is a feminine given name; it is the feminine form of the given name Louis (Luis), the French form of the Frankish Chlodowig (German Ludwig), from the Germanic elements ''hlod'' ...

'', '' La tabernera del puerto'', ''Los gavilanes'', and ''Marina''. Even though Embil was primarily a zarzuela soprano, she also appeared in

operettas Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

, including Spanish language versions of

Leo Fall Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas. Life Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...

's ''La princesa del dólar'' (''

The Dollar Princess ''The Dollar Princess'' is a musical in three acts by A. M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum (after a comedy by Gatti-Trotha), adapted into English by Basil Hood (from the 1907 ''Die Dollarprinzessin''), with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian Ro ...

'') and

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life ...

's ''El conde de Luxemburgo'' (''

The Count of Luxembourg ''The Count of Luxembourg'' is an operetta in two acts with English lyrics and libretto by Basil Hood and Adrian Ross, music by Franz Lehár, based on Lehár's three-act German operetta ''Der Graf von Luxemburg'' which had premiered in Vienna in 1 ...

'') and ''La viuda alegre'' (''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt t ...

''). One Mexican critic wrote in 1949 that Embil and her co-star, Florencio Calpe, "provoked delirious and very loving ovations" during a performance of the zarzuela, ''El dúo de la africana''. In 1951, Cuban movie star and singer

Rosita Fornés Rosita Fornés (née Rosalía Lourdes Elisa Palet Bonavia; February 11, 1923June 10, 2020) was a Cuban-American singer and film actress. She was noted for her multifaceted career in the entertainment industry of Cuba. She worked in cinema, the t ...

hired Embil to alternate with her in her own company's stage productions. Domingo also worked with Fornés' company. For over two decades, the couple appeared before the Mexican public as both entrepreneurs and singers. Embil also gave recitations and concerts, sometimes accompanied by her son, Plácido, on the piano. In the mid to late 1950s, she frequently performed in zarzuelas with her son, who was just beginning a singing career of his own. She and her husband had given him his first singing lessons at home. Teatro de la Ciudad de Mexico

Later life

After years away, she and her husband accepted offers to perform again in Spain. In 1966, Embil and Domingo toured the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

and the north of Spain with José de Luna's zarzuela company. Once they returned to Mexico, they soon undertook another tour that took them to Costa Rica, Peru, and Venezuela. Later they sang at the

Teatro de la Zarzuela The Teatro de la Zarzuela is a theatre in Madrid, Spain. The theatre is today mainly devoted to zarzuela (the Spanish traditional musical theatre genre), as well as operetta and recitals. History The theatre was designed by architect Jerónimo ...

in Madrid, recalling their early successes there in the 1940s. They returned to Barcelona during the 1974-1975 season. Conducted by their son, they performed in the zarzuela ''

Doña Francisquita ''Doña Francisquita'' is a zarzuela in three acts composed by Amadeo Vives to a Spanish libretto by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández-Shaw and based on Lope de Vega's play ' (''The Ingenious Lover''). With its colourful score and com ...

'' at the Liceu. She sang the

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

role of Aurora la Beltrana. This was her final zarzuela performance and her farewell to the stage. During the

1985 Mexico City earthquake The 1985 Mexico City earthquake struck in the early morning of 19 September at 07:17:50 (CST) with a moment magnitude of 8.0 and a maximal Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). The event caused serious damage to the Greater Mexico City area a ...

, her brother Angel María Embil died, along with his wife, Francisca. In the same building, Embil's nephew Agustín García Embil and his three-year-old son, Julio Agustín García Pinilla, were also killed. Her husband, Plácido Domingo Ferrer, died of a heart attack in 1987 at age 80."Placido Domingo Ferrer, Baritone, 80", (obit.)
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' (AP), 26 November 1987. The following year, the Teatro de la Zarzuela paid homage to her by dedicating a performance of Moreno Torroba's ' to her. The theater's director, conductor

Miguel Roa Miguel Roa (Madrid, 1944 – Illescas, 2016) was a Spanish conductor. He was particularly associated with the zarzuela, and joined the Teatro de la Zarzuela in 1978, becoming director in 1985. Selected discography * Tomás Bretón: ''Andalusian S ...

, wrote a poem to honor her on the occasion. In a 1990 tribute to her in San Sebastián, Embil and her son sang a duet together of the Basque song, "Aurtxoa Seaskan," with the Orfeón Donostiarra. Embil died on August 28, 1994 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

from a liver disease caused by a blood transfusion from twenty years earlier. She was 76 years old. She is buried next to her husband at the Panteón Española de México. The

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

at the time,

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wor ...

, attended her wake.

Legacy

Embil remains one of the best remembered zarzuela stars in the Americas. In 2012, one Spanish reporter noted that she is "considered one of the most expressive voices of zarzuela." In his memoirs, her son expressed the belief that she would have made a successful operatic soprano. He also wrote that she had once received an offer from the Liceu for a contract to sing operatic roles there, but declined because she was already a zarzuela star at the time. After her death, music critic Antonio Fernández-Cid praised her "warm and sweet 'spinto' soprano voice with contralto-like qualities." Pepita Embil - Recording in Paris 1938

In 1993, her son created the Pepita Embil Domingo Prize of Zarzuela in her honor, as part of his worldwide

Operalia Plácido Domingo's Operalia, The World Opera Competition is an annual international competition for opera singers. Founded in 1993 by Plácido Domingo, the competition's varied prizes have been given to known artists such as Joseph Calleja, Rola ...

singing competition. Each year since then, a female singer has received the $10,000 prize for the quality of her performance during the zarzuela section of the competition. In 2002, the city of Pueblo, Mexico named one of its plazas, the Plaza Pepita Embil de Domingo, after her. A decade later Basque filmmaker Josu Venero created the Spanish-language documentary ''La reina de la zarzuela'' (The Queen of the Zarzuela) about Embil, which was shown on television in 2014. As part of the documentary, Venero followed Plácido Domingo as he returned to Embil's hometown of Getaria, where he spent part of his childhood. Domingo reminisced about his mother on camera and visited her birthplace, where he read from an official plaque about her. He toured other key locations from her early years as well. Her granddaughter, Mexican actress Maite Fernández Domingo, performs under the name in her honor.

Recordings and television

Embil began her recording career as a Basque choral singer in the late 1930s, when she was around twenty years old. For the next few decades, she continued periodically to record excerpts and numbers from zarzuelas, operettas, and musicals, as well as popular Latin songs like

Ernesto Lecuona Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1896 – November 29, 1963) was a Cuban composer and pianist, many of whose works have become standards of the Latin, jazz and classical repertoires. His over 600 compositions include songs and zarzuelas as ...

's "Siempre en mi corazón." On her album, ''Fragmentos de operetas inmortales'', she also recorded the operatic aria, "Un bel dì vedremo," from Puccini's ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther ...

''. In the 1960s and 1970s, she filmed some popular zarzuelas with her husband for the Mexican television channel 2.

Partial discography

78 rpm records Long-playing records (LPs)

References

Notes Cited sources * * * * * * * * * Other sources * *

External links

Official trailer for the documentary about Embil: ''La reina de la zarzuela''

Getaria Tourism Official Website: Enbil's House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embil, Pepita Spanish sopranos Basque singers Basque women People from Urola Kosta Spanish emigrants to Mexico 20th-century Spanish singers 1918 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Spanish women singers