Chalía Herrera, born ''Rosalía Gertrudis de la Concepción Díaz de Herrera y de Fonseca'' (17 November 1864, in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. She had the distinction of being the first Cuban musical artist to be recorded. She recorded, outside Cuba, numbers from the

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 o ...

''Cádiz'' in 1898 on unnumbered Bettini cylinders. Much of her career was spent in Cuba, but she also sang in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

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and

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. Chalía studied

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

with Angelo Massanet, then she went to New York to perfect her skills at the School of Opera and

Oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

of Emilio Agramonte. Later on she studied violin with Laureano Fuentes Matons in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

. In 1895 she appeared in the Weber Hall in New York, performing to raise money for the

Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Litt ...

.Fuentes Matons, Laureano 1981. ''Las artes en Santiago de Cuba''. 2nd ed, La Habana.

References

External links

Rosalia Chalia recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Chalia 1864 births 1948 deaths Cuban operatic sopranos Singers from Havana 19th-century Cuban women opera singers 20th-century Cuban women opera singers Women in Latin music 19th-century Cuban women singers