Raimunda Paula Peña Álvarez

Outstanding interpreter of Cuban rhythms, director of her own orchestra. She was called "The Empress of the Danzonete".

Paulina Álvarez was born on June 29, 1912 in the city of Cienfuegos, in the former province of Las Villas. Since childhood she sang at celebrations of the public school where she studied her first letters.

At fourteen years of age the family moved to Havana, and the young woman began to perform at benefit functions of the societies Unión Fraternal and Centro Maceo. In the capital theaters Campoamor, Esmeralda and Martí she began to be known as a singer of tangos and popular songs.

She made her radio debut at the 2PC station, located on Hospital Street, in the bustling heart of Havana, with Moisés Simons's pregón son El manisero. Later she performed at CMCJ station, which by the late 1920s was one of the most powerful and popular radio stations in the Cuban capital. There she began her professional career as a soloist with the Elegante orchestra, directed by Edelmiro Pérez, which had Obdulio Morales as pianist, who would later become a composer and orchestra director.

Among the early successes of Paulina Álvarez –an artistic name chosen by the young vocalist– were Mujer, by Agustín Lara, to which a final montuno was added, and Lágrimas negras, by Miguel Matamoros.

The composer and flutist from Matanzas Aniceto Díaz chose her in 1929 to premiere his danzonete Rompiendo la rutina in Havana, with such success that announcer Rafael Ruíz del Viso baptized her as "The Empress of the Danzonete", a nickname that accompanied her throughout her career.

In the 1930s Paulina Álvarez integrated as principal vocalist several dance orchestras: those of Castillito, Ernesto Muñoz, Cheo Belén Puig, the Martínez brothers, and Neno González. With the latter group she remained for a long time.

In 1938, in an interview published in the press, the artist lamented that, despite being a known and respected figure in Cuba, and having triumphed on stages in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Argentina, some orchestra directors paid her less than what was usually paid to a male singer. This led her to organize her own group that same year.

Paulina Álvarez's first orchestra had Everardo Ordaz as pianist and arranger. The musical knowledge that the singer had received at the Musical Academy of Havana (now the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory), where she studied solfège and theory, piano, guitar and singing, allowed her to direct effectively, and not merely nominally, her group.

She recorded several numbers between 1939 and 1940 for the RCA Victor record label, among them Cacarajícara, by Hermenegildo Cárdenas; Honda pena, by Joaquín Mendível; Duerme, by Gabriel Ruíz; Pimienta y sal, by Rosendo Ruíz and Arrepentido, arranged as a bolero son from a well-known Argentine tango. On the reverse side of the sung numbers, these records contained instrumental danzones.

Her stage performance was impeccable, and she often sang keeping the rhythm with the claves. In the 1940s she organized a second group, which her husband directed musically, the notable violinist Luis Armando Ortega. In 1943 she maintained a stellar program of an hour and a half in duration on the powerful CMQ Radio station.

In the early years of the following decade, Paulina Álvarez retired from the stage, although public favor never abandoned her. This break culminated in 1956, when she returned to perform not only her past hits, but a new repertoire, which included the cha-cha-cha, the fashionable rhythm at that time.

She recorded several numbers with Senén Suárez's ensemble, among them Alma de niño, by Armando Valdespí, which she turned into a national hit.

In the late 1950s she made charming versions of La violetera (in guaguancó time) and Mimosa (as cha-cha-cha), old couplets that films starring Spanish actress Sarita Montiel had brought into the musical present.

In 1959 she was invited by maestro Gilberto Valdés to join as a solo singer with the Gran Orquesta Típica Nacional, which brought together sixty-four of the country's best charanguero musicians. Under the advisory of Odilio Urfé and Rodrigo Prats, the Orquesta Típica Nacional made a series of successful presentations and recorded an LP, which included an extraordinary symphonic arrangement of the danzonete Rompiendo la rutina, sung by The Empress.

From then on, Paulina Álvarez performed in recitals and concerts at various venues on the Island; she did seasons at Tropicana and at the Caribe cabaret in the Habana Libre hotel, and performed regularly on the best radio and television programs.

In 1964 she recorded an LP for the Egrem label, backed by a big band, with arrangements and direction by maestro Rafael Somavilla. The record includes Campanitas de cristal and Ahora seremos felices, by Rafael Hernández; Obsesión, by Pedro Flores; No vale la pena, by Orlando de la Rosa, Flores negras, by Sergio de Karlo and El panquelero, by Abelardo Barroso, among other famous numbers that, in her voice, acquired a special character. This record also captured her versatility in facing the characteristics of each genre, her maturity as a vocalist and her musical intelligence, since Rafael Somavilla's arrangements possess a high degree of complexity.

She performed for the last time on May 18, 1965 on the television program Música y Estrellas, in which she sang, danced and performed a duet with Barbarito Diez in Lágrimas negras, by Miguel Matamoros, and performed Honda pena, by Mendível, backed by the Orquesta Aragón.

A few weeks later, on July 22, Paulina Álvarez died in Havana, victim of an old ailment that very few knew about, because The Empress of the Danzonete was sovereign also of joy.

Source: En Caribe.org