Francisco Naya Ramos

Francisco (Panchito) Naya is one of the indispensable personalities in the annals of Cuban lyric art.

Although he was born in Cuba, since his father, Francisco Naya Silva, was from La Coruña, in Galicia, the tenor Francisco Naya spent the first years of his life in the capital of this Spanish province, and there his precocious calling toward singing was guided by professor Viviana Pérez, who taught him the first romances included in his repertoire.

At eighteen years old he made his debut before the public—as an amateur—in the opera El monte de las ánimas, composed by a Galician music enthusiast: the architect Lozada Rebellón, who was inspired to create this work by a legend by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer.

In Havana he studied singing at the Centro Gallego and with Spanish soprano Ángeles Otein. He made his professional scenic debut on February 27, 1931 at the Martí theater, with the company of Augusto Ordóñez, in the role of Jorge, from Marina, whose leading role was played by Maruja González.

After participating in productions of Spanish zarzuelas and operas, he began working at the Martí as tenor of the Suárez-Rodríguez company, and debuted on November 8, 1932 in Cuban lyric art assuming—with Caridad Suárez—the principal roles of Cecilia Valdés. For this company he premiered that year the male lead of the zarzuela El clarín, and performed in La viuda alegre, Las siete capitales del pecado and Tin Tan te comiste un pan (L.: Gustavo and Francisco Robreño / M.: Manuel Maury).

He joined in 1938 the cast of Ópera Nacional, founded that year by Gonzalo Roig, critic and impresario Juan Bonich and singer and artistic director Francisco Fernández Dominicis. For that company he performed in La bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Cavalleria rusticana and La sonnambula. Between 1939 and 1942 he performed in the opera genre in different cities in the United States, tours in which he stood out with soprano Lily Pons in Rigoletto for the San Francisco Opera Company. During this period, he perfected his vocal technique studies in New York with soprano and professor Emilia Vergeri. The outbreak of World War II in Europe and the United States' entry into the conflict frustrated the possibility of Francisco Naya reaching the Metropolitan Opera House, as was expected given his triumphs in North America.

With soprano Evangelina Magaña he sang Rigoletto at the Arbeu in Mexico City in 1945, and two years later he returned to that venue as part of Federico Moreno Torroba's company. As a member of Miguel de Grandy's company, in 1949 he performed at the National Theater in Caracas, where, under the orchestral direction of maestro Jesús Pallas from Cádiz, he sang Marina with Maruja González, Spanish baritone José María Aguilar and Cuban bass Jesús Zubizarreta, among others, at the National Theater. Regarding this performance, journalist Eduardo Feo Calcaño stated in the newspaper El Universal: "Naya possesses a voice of beautiful and rich timbre, with easy emission and firm placement, he has balance in his three registers of good range and intensity. He knows how to breathe and understands the secrets of modulation [...]. Furthermore, Naya commands the stage with ease and correctness. In summary: in Panchito Naya there is: vocal quality, technique, interpretive talent and stage command."

Other notable moments in his professional career in Havana would be as leading figure in the companies of Spanish soprano Felisa Herrero (1933) and impresario Eulogio Velasco (1937); the primary performance at the Auditórium of the operetta-revue Sor Inés (ibid., L.: A. Castells and F. Meluzá Otero / M.: E. Lecuona); La leyenda del beso performed at the Nacional, in a cast also made up of Maruja González, Augusto Ordóñez, Rita Montaner and Carmen Amaya's company (1939); and Doña Francisquita, at the Principal de la Comedia, alongside Zoraida Marrero, Rosita Fornés and Antonio Palacios (1942). To this latter year belong the laudatory reviews received for La traviata sung by him and soprano Helen Jepson, and the Cuban premiere of the opera La zarina (L.: Armand Silvestre / M.: Gaspar Villate), whose stagings took place at the Auditórium. Also worth mentioning is Tosca, further distinguished by the names of Carlo Morelli and Luisa María Morales at the América (1943); Marina, also with Morales, at the Principal de la Comedia (1948); his leading performances in various works presented on the television program Gran teatro on CMQ (1951-1952), and the Cecilia Valdés performed by him and Blanca Varela at the Nacional to pay tribute to Agustín Rodríguez (1955).

After 1960 he settled in the United States until his death. His voice was recorded on long-playing records, in which Gonzalo Roig was in charge of orchestral direction: Cecilia Valdés (1948, Montilla), Luisa Fernanda (1948, Soria), La viuda alegre (1954, RCA Victor) and Melodías cubanas (1956, ibid.).