Chavela Vargas

Chavela Vargas ( born April 17, 1919 in San Joaquín de Flores, Costa Rica; † August 5, 2012 in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Isabel Vargas Lizano actually ) was a Mexican singer of traditional Mexican rancheras, usually carried forward by men songs about their devotion to women. There was a marked their deep, throaty voice.

Life

At the age of 14 years, Vargas came to Mexico. In the 1950s she began singing professionally for many years and came up with the most famous ranchera singer and composer José Alfredo Jiménez Mexico. 1961 was Vargas ' first recording session; about 80 more followed. In 1979 she retired from the music business and lived in Cuernavaca.

Werner Herzog moved Chavela Vargas in 1990, playing an Indian in his film Scream of Stone. A year later also discovered Pedro Almodóvar her distinctive voice and chose her as an interpreter for the soundtrack of his films The weapons of a woman ( Tacones lejanos ) and Flower of My Secret (La flor de mi secreto ). In 1993 Chavela Vargas in Spain in just one day, two new albums, a third in 1994. Then she went on tour.

For the film Frida, she worked together with composer Elliot Goldenthal and took, among others, their classic Paloma Negra scratch. In a scene with Salma Hayek, she appeared as death. Vargas said to have had as a young woman even an affair with the painter Frida Kahlo. In a Colombian television interview in 2000, she confessed to her homosexuality.

At the age of 83 years Chavela Vargas made ​​his debut in 2003 at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Was released in 2007 the album Cupaima at Marburger Label Tropical Music, 2010, the album ¡ Por mi culpa! and 2012 was followed by the album La Luna grande, a tribute to Federico García Lorca.

Awards

• 2000: Grand Cross of the Orden de Isabel la Católica