Israel Hernández

Born in Potrerillo, Cruces, former province of Las Villas.

Linked to the stage as an amateur, he joined the choirs of the National Opera of Cuba in 1968 and participated in productions at the Leipzig Opera—The Marriage of Figaro and Fidelio—and the Cuban premiere of Halka.

He stood out as a soloist in the roles Il trovatore (Fernando); The Barber of Seville (Basilio); Rigoletto (Sparafucile); La bohème (Colline); Lucia di Lammermoor (Raimondo); Aida (Ramfis), without overlooking minor roles in La traviata (Grenville) or Tosca (Angelotti), in which he achieved excellent characterizations.

He participated in the world premieres of the operas Soyán, by Berroa, Ecue Yamba O, by Sánchez Ferrer and Hemingway, by Kassarian. He sang in several European and Latin American countries, notably his interpretation of Jim in the Cuban version of Porgy and Bess, by Gershwin, at the Graz Opera, Austria (2000).

He also participated in the Franco-Cuban-Mexican film production, El recurso del método (1978, dir. Miguel Littin).

Israel Hernández died in Havana, on July 5, 2003.