Miguel Burró Fleta was born in Albalate de Cinca, Huesca, on the 1st of December 1897.¹ At the age of 11 he began the study of solfeggio while working in the local agriculture industry, then later on with his sisters in the Zaragoza district. It was in Zaragoza in 1917, at the age of 20, he first appeared on stage, participating in the Jota-festival of Villanueva de Gállego, decisive for his entry into a singing competition in the city of Zaragoza the same year. He was not premiered but received certain recognition from the jury who admitted his voice qualities were superior to the other contestants.
Late 1917 he moved to Barcelona, where he stayed with his brother who managed to gain an audition with the Director of the Music Conservatory of the Liceu (Isabel II), but his application was declined as there were no vacancies in the male classes. However, Fleta had been overheard by the reputed vocal pedagogue Luisa Pierrick, who taught at the conservatory and with a substantial career as a singer behind her. Pierrick considered the potential of Miguel Fleta to be of such an extent that she admitted him into her own classes, which were confined to female voices.²
Pierrick had good faith in the young Fleta and set out to improve his cultural level, while having him undergo intensive studies of both Italian and French, apart from the studying of solfeggio and vocal training. During the course of 1919 he completed his studies at the Conservatory and started preparing for a professional stage debut. He rehearsed a handful of operatic roles with Pierrick before moving to Milano with her in September upon her insistence (they had fallen in love, and Pierrick had subsequently left her husband for Fleta). By October they had achieved a contract with the opera house of Trieste, after having been introduced to the composer Riccardo Zandonai who was preparing a series of performances of his opera Francesca da Rimini. Fleta made thus his professional operatic debut on the 14th of December at the Teatro Comunale in Trieste in Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini. He was 22.
Critics were slightly cool after his debut, but his appearance in Aida in Trieste in January 1920 (in all 13 sessions) completely won the critics over and engagements followed in quick succession. In April he found himself in Wien for Mefistofele, Tosca, Pagliacci and Carmen, and continued to Budapest, Praha and Warzawa, before returning to Wien in October where he met Puccini and starred in the local premiere of the composer's La Rondine. He opened 1921 with two performances of Aida in Monte Carlo and then returned to Italy where he sang in Livorno, Palermo, Napoli, Roma and Bologna, all sessions highly successful. At the Fenice of Venecia he created sensation with his Rigoletto and Carmen, and it has been reported that he was applauded during 20 minutes after his appearance, bringing him onto the stage 16 times after curtain fall.³
In January 1922 he reappeared in Zandonai's Francisca da Rimini at the Teatro Costanzi in Roma and Zandonai chose him to to create the role of Romeo for his new opera Giulietta e Romeo, where the conductor himself conducted the premiere at the Costanzi 14 February 1922.
Fleta was now, shortly after his debut, a fairly reputed and loved tenor and he was invited to Milano for a recording session for Gramophone in April the same year.4 He parted for his native country, Spain, a month prior to the Milano sessions for his debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid. His success as Don José in Carmen was clamorous and triggered a rise of nationalism, españolismo, which was to extend throughout all the Hispanic countries in South- and Latin America. Further appearances in Madrid included Tosca, La Boheme and Aida. Fleta returned to Italy for appearances in Genova in Milano before departing for South America. He had been invited to sing at the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires and debuted on the 24th of July in Cavalleria Rusticana, followed by the world premiere of Flor de Nieve by the local composer Constantino Gaito on 3 August 1922, as well as the local premiere of Zandonai's Giulietta e Romeo. Further appearances followed in Córdoba, Rosario, Montevideo (Uruguay), and Sao Paolo (Brazil). In Rio de Janeiro he appeared in Il Guarany by the local composer Carlos Gomes.
| Notes: |
|
|
1 According to some sources Fleta's birth date was 28 December 1897.
2 It is said that Fleta sang for the reputed maestro Juan Lamote de Grignon, and his voice travelled in the hallways of the Conservatory and reached Perrick's classroom, and preplexed by the splendour of the voice the female students rushed out into the hallways to see who its master was. When learning of his rejection, Perrick shall have uttered the words: "In my class there's a vacancy, if it is of no inconvenience to accept a tenor."
3 Fleta appeared at the Fenice di Venezia on the 27th of October 1921. An Italian reporter asked him after the session how it was possible to sing with such devotion, to which Fleta responded: "Because tonight I was not Miguel Fleta, I was Don José." Thus Fleta had created somewhat of a legend, and his Don José was to be remembered as one of the foremost interpretations ever. (Ref.: Teatro Barkaldo).
4 Fleta recorded the final scene from Zandonai's Giulietta e Romeo and Don José's Flower Aria from Carmen. Shortly after he recorded Ay, Ay, Ay by the Chilean composer Osman Pérez Freire, which achieved phenomenal sales, played in virtually every household where a gramophone was present. |
| |
| |
|
The
short, but brilliant career of the Spanish tenor Miguel
Fleta lasted
for only sixteen years, from his debut in Trieste 1919 until his
retirement in 1935. He died three years later at the
age of 41 only. With his
death, his name escalated to the world of legends and those who cherished
him spoke of the greatest tenor ever.
