On Dec. 9, 2021, Spanish Cuban soprano Maria Remolá, who was known as “the Cuban Nightingale,” died at the age of 91 in Santo Domingo.

Born on Dec. 7, 1930, in Barcelona, she settled in Cuba at the beginning of the 1950s with her parents.

She made her debut in 1958 in the Aguilá-Martelo company in the title role of the opera “Marina” and in 1961, she broke out in the title role of “Doña Francisquita,” which was performed at the Payret theater and televised.

She was the founder of the National Lyrical Theater of Cuba, a company where she regularly performed in operas, operettas, and zarzuelas. Among the operas she performed with the company included “Rigoletto,” “Don Pasquale,” “Il Barbiere di Siviliga”,” “La Traviata,” and “Lucia de Lammermoor.”  She also performed a number of zarzuelas with the company including “Luisa Fernanda,” “Los gavilanes,” “María la O,” “Bohemios,” and “La viuda joyful.”

She also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba and toured the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Viet Nam, Korea and Mexico, France, the United States, and Spain.