Consuelo Velázquez
Consuelo Velázquez Torres (August 21, 1916 in Ciudad Guzmán,
Jalisco – January 22, 2005,[1] Mexico City), also popularly known as Consuelito
Velázquez,[2] was a Mexican concert pianist and composer. She was the composer
of famous Mexican ballads such as "Bésame mucho", "Amar y
vivir", and "Cachito".[1]
Beginning
Years
Originally from Ciudad Guzmán, Mexico,[3] she was the youngest
of five daughters born to the soldier and poet Isaac Velázquez de Valle and his
wife, María de Jesús Torres Ortíz.[1][citation needed] At four years old she
started to demonstrate a good ear and an aptitude for music, and at barely six
years old she began studying music and piano at the Académia de Música Serratos
in Guadalajara. After several years of study, when she was eleven, she moved to
Mexico City, where she continued her studies and obtained a degree in teaching
music and concert piano at the National Conservatory of Music.[4] Her first
public concert was held in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in the capital, and soon
after she began as a composer of popular music.[4] As a concert pianist, she
was a soloist of Mexico's National Symphony Orchestra and of the Philharmonic
Orchestra of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
As performing on the radio for a young woman of a wealthy
family was risky, she used a male pseudonym in her first years.[1] Mariano
Rivera Conde, who was the artistic director of the station, pushed her to admit
she was the author of the songs. Velázquez married him six years later.[1]
Composer
As a composer her legacy has been more well known. Her first
compositions, "No me pidas nunca", "Pasional" and
"Déjame quererte", were from the genre "naturaleza
romántica", which emphasizes nature's beauty and strength.[2] Later, songs
like "Bésame mucho", "Amar y vivir", "Verdad
Amarga", "Franqueza", "Chiqui", "Cachito",
"Que seas feliz", "Enamorada", "Orgullosa y
bonita" and "Yo no fui" (a danceable song initially popularized
by Pedro Infante and, in recent years, by Pedro Fernández) emerged among
others. Velázquez's work as an actress in the 1938 Argentinian movie Noches de
Carnaval[5] directed by filmmaker Julio Saraceni was unique for her career. As
a pianist she was also involved in the Mexican movies directed by Julián Soler
Se le pasó la mano[6] made in 1952 and Mis padres se
divorcian[7] made in 1959. Additionally, she appeared in the documentary about
her life, Consuelo Velázquez,[8]
made in 1992. Throughout her life she composed music for several Mexican
movies.
Besame
mucho
With Pedro Vargas 1950
Her most well-known success is the iconic song "Bésame
mucho", composed in the cuban music genre bolero, when she was only 16
years old. This is the piece that gained Velázquez the most recognition and
brought the most pleasure to her. The song was created before Consuelo received
her first kiss from someone she loves.[9] After being recorded by the
Spanish-Mexican baritone Emilio Tuero,[1] in 1944 the famous American pianist
and singer Nat "King" Cole made the first adaptation of the song in
English. From then on, it was interpreted and performed by hundreds of artists
around the world, such as Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, The Beatles, Plácido
Domingo, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Luis Mariano (who popularized it
France), Dalida, Sonora Santanera, Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra, The
Ventures, Antonio Machín, Lucho Gatica, Vera Lynn, Andrea Bocelli, Filippa
Giordano, Luis Miguel, Sara Montiel, José Carreras, Ray Conniff and his
Orchestra, Diana Krall, Zoé, Susana Zabaleta and Mónica Naranjo among
others.[10] "Bésame mucho" is also known as "Kiss Me Kiss Me
Much", "Kiss Me a Lot", "Kiss Me Again and Again",
"Embrasse-Moi" and "Stále ma bozkávaj". Translated into
more than 20 languages, the song has become an icon of popular music. Part of
its great success in the United States was the contextualization of the song
towards women who waited for their husbands during World War II.
Personal
life
Years after the beginning of her career, Velázquez married the
media owner and artist promoter Mariano Rivera Conde (died in 1977), and they
had two sons, Mariano and Sergio Rivera Velázquez. In the period between 1979
and 1982 she was a part of the Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the
Union, which was her only contribution in politics of her country. She was
winner of the National Prize for Science and Arts in the field of Popular Art
and Traditions in 1989.[11]
Affected by cardiovascular sickness, Consuelo Velázquez died
on January 22, 2005. Her body was moved to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the
stage of her first show, in tribute to the known artists of the town. Her ashes
later were buried in the Santo Tomas Moro church, where she went every Sunday
for mass. As her last artistic contribution, she performed piano in the most
recent album of the Mexican singer Cecilia Toussaint titled Para mi...
Consuelo, which contains songs by Velázquez.
In 1977 the concert pianist also received the Award of Peace
of the United Nations, together with her colleague the teacher Ramon Inclan
Aguilar and the journalist and singer Wilbert Alonzo Cabrera, Lola Beltrán and
Maria Medina. This award was presented to them by the General Clerk of the ONU
due to this artistic participation and organization of a lavish Mexican festival
for the "día del personal" of the United Nations, a day that
celebrates the contributions of people in uniform and civilians to the work of
the organization.[12]
Recently, it has been discovered that the composer left seven
unedited songs in her last wishes, among them "Donde siempre"
(dedicated to Cecilia Toussaint), "Mi bello Mazatlán" (that the Banda
El Recodo will record) and "Por el camino", that Velázquez left to
the Mexican singer Luis Miguel.
With affection,
Ruben
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