Hugo Avendaño Espinoza (8 March 1927 – 5 January 1998) was a Mexican singer and actor.“HUGO AVENDAÑO: EL BARITONO MAS BRILLANTES DE MEXICO”
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Career

He was a student of the Faculty of Medicine,

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

, but abandoned his intended career in medicine to study singing as a baritone. He began his studies at the Academy of Singing, where his teacher was Jose Pierson, whose other students included

José Mojica Fray José de Guadalupe Mojica (14 September 1895 – 20 September 1974) was a Mexican Franciscan friar and former tenor and film actor. He was known in the music and film fields as José Mojica. (Spanish) Mojica joined the world of the Ameri ...

Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Alfonso Ortiz Tirado (Álamos, Sonora, 24 January 1893 – Mexico City, 7 September 1960) was an opera singer and medical doctor. His musical talent was apparently evident early in life, but he studied at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria and unive ...

, Fanny Anitúa,

Jorge Negrete Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno (; 30 November 1911 – 5 December 1953) was a Mexican singer and actor. He specialized in the musical genre of ranchera. His posthumous album "Fiesta Mexicana Volumen II" has been ranked by critics at No. 163 on t ...

Pedro Vargas Pedro Vargas Mata (29 April 1906 – 30 October 1989) was a Mexican tenor and actor, from the golden age of Mexican cinema, participating in more than 70 films. He was known as the "Nightingale of the Americas", "Song Samurai" or "Continental ...

, Ramón Vinay,

Francisco Avitia Francisco Avitia Tapia (13 May 1915 – 29 June 1995), commonly known as "El Charro Avitia", was a Mexican singer, primarily of ''ranchera'' and ''corrido'' genres. His best known songs include "Maquina 501," "Caballo alazán lucero," and "El ...

and José Sosa Esquivel. Later, he studied in New York at the Metropolitan Opera House with the baritone

Leonard Warren Leonard Warren (April 21, 1911 – March 4, 1960) was an American operatic baritone who was a leading artist for many years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Especially noted for his portrayals of the major baritone roles in the opera ...

among others. In 1950 he debuted at the

Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It hosts performing arts events, literature events and plastic arts galleries and exhibitions (including important permanent Mexican murals). "Bella ...

in Mexico, playing the role of Amonasro in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

's ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

''. He participated in several opera seasons 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 ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

and

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

. His repertoire included operas such as ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'', '' Il trovatore'', '' La traviata'' ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

'', ''Faust'', '' Un ballo in maschera'', ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'', ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' and ''

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 Lu ...

'', where he shared the stage with the soprano Betty Fabila. He also performed symphonic works by

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

, ''Carmina Burana'', and other works. He won the contest of the Gran Caruso and traveled to Brazil. He won an award for singing on the air at the Metropolitan Opera House. Avendaño's romantic folk style and mastery of various musical genres led him to perform in Latin America, Central America, the United States and Europe, receiving several awards for his work. From 1955 he began to work in the genre of romantic popular Mexican music, becoming known for performing the works of

Agustín Lara Ángel Agustín María Carlos Fausto Mariano Alfonso del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Lara y Aguirre del Pino (; ; October 30, 1897 – November 6, 1970), known as Agustín Lara, was a Mexican composer and performer of songs and boleros. He is rec ...

and recording the album ''Mis favoritas de Lara'' for

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. Also for RCA, he recorded folk songs by composers such as

Manuel Ponce Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar (8 December 1882 – 24 April 1948), known in Mexico as Manuel M. Ponce, was a Mexican composer active in the 20th century. His work as a composer, music educator and scholar of Mexican music connected the concert s ...

, Lorenzo Barcelata,

Ignacio Fernández Esperón ka (Oaxaca 14 February 1894 – 1968) was a Mexican composer. He grew up in Oaxaca in a middle-class home. His alias was a childhood nickname. In 1937, he debuted his music on XEW, Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital a ...

Alfonso Esparza Oteo Alfonso Esparza Oteo (Aguascalientes, 2 August 1894 - Mexico City, 31 January 1950) was a Mexican composer. Esparza first success among Mexico City music fans was a foxtrot, and his music was enormously popular in the 1920s. Álvaro Obregón was li ...

María Grever María Grever (14 September 1885 – 15 December 1951) was the first female Mexican composer to achieve international acclaim.Rodríguez, Lee M. L. María Grever: Poeta Y Compositora. Potomac, Md: Scripta Humanistica, 1994. Print. She is best kn ...

, Arturo Tolentino, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada and

Francisco Gabilondo Soler Francisco Gabilondo Soler (October 6, 1907, Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico – December 14, 1990, Texcoco, State of Mexico) was a Mexican composer and performer of children's songs. He recorded and performed those songs under the name of '' Cri-Cri: E ...

. He performed on the XEW radio show ''La hora azul.'' He also appeared in the

Telesistema Mexicano Telesistema Mexicano was the predecessor of Televisa. Telesistema Mexicano was a television alliance made up of the independently owned television flagship stations XEW-TV, XEW Canal 2, XHTV-TV, XHTV Canal 4, and XHGC-TV, XHGC Canal 5 in Mexico, D ...

programs ''De visita a las 7'' (1959) and ''El Estudio de Pedro Vargas'' (1959), and later in four episodes of the

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

show ''Variedades de medianoche'' (1977). Hugo Avendano Mercedes

Personal life

He was married many years to the soprano Graziella Garza. Together they had 3 children: Hugo Avendaño, Rodrigo and Laura Graziella. He was afflicted for some years with pancreatic cancer and died on January 5, 1998.

Radio and television

* ''The Blue Hour'' * ''De visita a las 7'' * ''El estudio de Pedro Vargas'' * ''Variedades de Medianoche'' * ''Noches Tapatías''

Filmography

* ''El Gallo Colorado'' (1957) * ''Melodías inolvidables'' (1959) * ''La Valentina'' (1966)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avendano, Hugo 1927 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Mexican male actors 20th-century Mexican male opera singers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Mexico Male actors from Veracruz Mexican baritones Mexican male film actors Mexican male television actors People from Tuxpan, Veracruz Singers from Veracruz