Omara Portuondo Peláez
(b. Havana, 29 October 1930) is a Cuban singer and dancer whose career has spanned over half a century. She was one of the original members of the Cuarteto d'Aida
, and returned to perform with The Buena Vista Social Club
ensemble.
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OMARA PORTUONDO TICKETS
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Early life and career
Portuondo was born one of three sisters; her mother came from a wealthy
Spanish family, and had created a scandal by running off with and marrying a black professional
baseball player. Omara joined the dance group of the
Cabaret Tropicana
in 1950, following her elder sister, Haydee. She also danced in the
Mulatas de Fuego
in the theatre
Radiocentro
, and in other dance groups. The two sisters also used to sing for family and friends, and in 1947 joined the
Loquibambia Swing
, a group formed by the blind pianist
Frank Emilio Flynn.
[1]
From 1952–1953 she sang for the
Orquesta Anacaona, and later in 1953 both sisters joined (together with
Elena Burke and
Moraima Secada) the singing group
Cuarteto d'Aida
, formed and directed by pianist
Aida Diestro.
[1] The group had considerable success, touring the
United States, performing with
Nat King Cole at the
Tropicana
, and recording an
album for
RCA Victor. In 1957 the sisters recorded an album with the quartet.
[3] In 1959 Portuondo recorded a solo album,
Magia Negra
, involving both
jazz and Cuban music. Haydee left the Cuarteto d'Aida in 1961 in order to live in the U.S.A. and Omara continued singing with the quartet until 1967.
1967–1996
In 1967 Portuondo embarked on a solo career, and in the same year represented Cuba at the
Sopot Festival in
Poland, singing Juanito Marquez' "Como un Milagro". Alongside her solo work, in the 1970s she sang with the
charanga Orquesta Aragon, and toured with them abroad.
In 1974 she recorded, with guitarist Martin Rojas, an album in which she lauds
Salvador Allende and the people of
Chile a year after the military coup led by General
Augusto Pinochet. Among other hits from the album, she sang
Carlos Puebla's beautiful "Hasta Siempre Comandante", which refers to
Ché Guevara.
During the 1970s and 1980s Portuondo enjoyed success at home and abroad, with tours, albums (including one of her most lauded recordings in 1984 with
Adalberto Alvarez),
film roles, and her own
television series.
Buena Vista Social Club and since
Portuondo sang (duetting with
Ibrahim Ferrer) on the album
Buena Vista Social Club
in 1996. This led not only to more touring (including playing at
Carnegie Hall with the Buena Vista troupe) and her appearance in
Wim Wenders' film
The Buena Vista Social Club
, but to two further albums for the World Circuit label:
Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo
(2000) and
Flor de Amor
(2004). In July 2005 she presented a symphonic concert of her most important repertoire at the Berlin Festival
Classic Open Air am Gendarmenmarkt for an audience of 7,000. The entire program was specially orchestrated by
Roberto Sánchez Ferrer, a conductor/pianist with whom she had worked during her early years at Havana's
Tropicana Club.
Scott Lawton conducted the
Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg.
In 2007 she is performing the title role to sold out audiences in Lizt Alfonso's dance musical "Vida", the story of modern Cuba through the eyes and with the memories of an old woman. In this same year, her performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival was released on DVD.
She recorded in 2008 a duets album with Brazilian singer
Maria Bethania, named
Maria Bethania e Omara Portuondo. In 2008 she recorded the Album Gracias as a tribute to the 60th anniversary of her singing career.
Discography
- 1950s: Amigas
(by the Cuarteto las d'Aida
)
- 1996: Palabras
- 1996: Buena Vista Social Club
- 1997: Omara Portuondo & Martin Rojas
- 1997: A Toda Cuba le Gusta
(by the Afro-Cuban All Stars
)
- 1999: Desafios
(with Chucho Valdés)
- 1999: Oro Musical
- 1999: Magia Negra
- 1999: Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer
- 2000: Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo
- 2000: Roots of Buena Vista
- 2000: La Colección Cubana
- 2001: Pensamiento
- 2001: La Sitiera
- 2001: You
- 2002: 18 Joyas Ineditas
- 2002: La Gran Omara Portuondo
- 2002: La Novia del Filin
- 2002: Dos Gardenias
- 2004: Flor De Amor
- 2005: Lágrimas Negras (Canciones y Boleros)
- 2007: Singles
- 2008: Maria Bethania e Omara Portuondo
- 2008: Gracias
Omara Portuondo on DVD
- 2007:Live in Montreux
- 2008:Omara Portuondo Maria Bethania Live(Biscoito Fino)
References
- Giro Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana. vol 2, p5.
- Giro Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana. vol 2, p5.
- Victor LP 1532 Cuarteto d'Aida con la orquesta de Chico O'Farrill. ''An evening at the Sans Souci''.