PERU, THE BEGINNING

    

  Growing up in Peru, I did not have the chance to have a lot of exposure to music.  I had strummed one or two chords on the guitar during my teens, but that was the total of my involvement in it; with exception of those shows my sister and I used to put on for my parents as kids during a birthday or anniversary...

 
My mother had some LP's -- do you remember those? -- of Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and her favorite, Nat King Cole that she had purchased during her days as a flight attendant for Branniff.  Oh, and some awesome Brazilian music (as she also used to fly to that neighboring country.)
 
My father was always singing, home and whenever he attended any kind of gathering.  And he was always recalling his days in Hollywood.  Yes, he had been a singing actor and had the chance to participate in classics like The Ten Commandments, Kartun, Gaby and South Pacific.  He even had a singing role in this last one.  If you ever have the chance to watch this on screen gem of the American musical, look for the dark-haired, skinny guy with a solo in "There is Nothing Like a Dame."  I cannot tell you how many times I heard this song growing up!
 
Well, back on the subject...It all happened really by chance.  My father used to work for the government and had heavy interaction with the diplomatic corps.  By the age of 13, I was already doing the rounds to cocktails and receptions at embassies every other week.  It was one night at the Egyptian Embassy, when I was in my early twenties, that I met the person who would stir me towards the path of music, my friend and incredible Peruvian singer Elsa Maria Elejalde. 
 
We kept on running into each other, specially at the embassy where we had met.  (By the way, the ambassador used to look a lot like Bing Crosby. Go figure!)  It turned out that Flax (as I have always called her as a spin off of her nickhame, Flaca, which in Spanish means "skinny") and I had attended the same school, Villa Maria.  (As a side note, I must say that attending a non co-ed Catholic prep school cetainly did not do much for pulling me out of my shyness.)  And, even though we belonged to different generations, we became very close friends.  So I started to hang out with her and attend her concerts where I met the likes of Lucho Salazar, Chino Figueroa and GianPierre Magnet, the cream of the crop of the Peruvian musicians of the time.
 
One day Flax said to me, "You know, you have a very nice voice.  You should get in touch with Manuel Cuadros and take some singing lessons."  So I did.   Cuadros or "El Profe," as we used to call him, was a reknown conductor in Peru.  He and his wife at the time had studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in München and had returned to Peru to work and teach there.  I still remember my first voice lesson.  I was so nervous I got dizzy and thought I was going to pass out!   It was Cuadros who, eventually, encourage me to pursue my studies abroad.  Th 
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During my time with him, though, I lived and breathed music.  My first exxperience on stage was in the choir for his concert production of Verdi's Aida.  Believe or not, it was not until this time that I actually found out who Verdi was, I am embarrased to admit.  But, say no more, I was hooked!  I remember Cuadros telling me after the concert,  "You looked like you were in another planet!"  And I surely was.
 
I also got involved in the production side of music working with Cuadros.  I did everything, from building props to being a stage hand, fund raising, publicity to working with government security for the visits of His Holyness John Paull II to Peru.  Cuadros was in charge of the music for the two instances in which the Pontifice visited our country, organizing two choirs of 1,000 and 1,500 people respectively.  They were, most certainly, amazing experiences!
 
Cuadros was -- and is 'till this day, and entrepreneur.  In one instance, he had organized the presentation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Chan Chan.  Built around AD 850, this is the largest pre-Columbian city in South America.  The concert was to take place in the open air sanctuary.  So, I flew ahead of time to take care of advance preparations in my capacity as his assistant.  (By the way, this was the first time I travelled anywhere, much less by myself.)  The day of the concert, which took place during a military carefew, the Chilean Symphony was flown from Lima to Trujillo as well as soloists and choir.  The city had lit the road to the ruins with torches.  It was a breathtaking view driving in the busses.  And the concert, well, how many times do you get to sing in acoustically perfect 1,000-year old ruins with the ocean as your backdrop?  Oh, and by midnight, everybody was back in Lima and safe home.
 
Four of us, all students of Cuadros, became good friends:  Patty Perez-Albela, Cecilia Alcantara, Ana Maria Gonzales and myself.  Once in a while, we would get together, and Cuadros would give us group lessons on sight singing, music history, and music appreciation.  We also participated in all his productions and two of us were members of his professional a capella vocal ensemble, Camerata Vocal Orfeo.  Cuadros had founded this ensemble many years ago and it was very well known in Lima. Years before, it had been contracted by Werner Herzog to partcipate in Fitzcarraldo, which he filmed in the Peruvian jungle.  (Cuadros used to tell us stories about the volatile relationship between Herzog and Klaus Kinsky.  But that is another story.) 
 
Many opportunities came my way being part of this ensemble as well as the chance to earn some money.  When Peru was finally free of its milary coup, Camerata Vocal Orfeo was invited to sing in Congress during the power exchange to the first democratic government in twelve years.  It was a sureal time.  I had spent most of my life living under a dictatorship with carefews, tanks in the streets, and military parades.  I must say, it was something to see the previously overthrown President, Fernando Belaunde Terry, asume the leadership of the country once again, even though I was too young to remember his first time around; and, in some small way, to be a part of such a historical moment.
 
One of Cuadros' ventures was to create the first opera company in Peru, at least in my lifetime, Compania Municipal de Arte Lirico.  Here, I had the opportunity to have my first fully staged opera experience as part of the chorus for Pucinni's Tosca. By that time, I had been able to save enough money to buy my first sound system, which I had a friend bring for me from the States.  You have to remember, there were no imports during the years of military government and it was very difficult to leave the country.  So this was a big deal.  I had also been able to get the tape of Katia Ricciarelli's recording -- an original by the way, also a big deal -- which I have 'till this day.   I must have listened to that recording a thousand times.  I learned it so well, I could sing any part of it at any time!  I know, I know.  There is only one soprano part in it.  Still, I knew every single note in the score.
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