Concha Piquer
Who is Concha Piquer?
Concha Piquer López, known by her stage name Conchita Piquer, was born on December 8, 1906, in the Sagunto district of Valencia and died on December 12, 1990. She came from a humble background: her father, Pascual Piquer, was a bricklayer, and her mother, Ramona López, a seamstress. She was already performing on stage at the age of eight, and at fifteen she met maestro Penella, the musician who would shape the course of her career.
Together with Penella and his company she traveled to the United States, making her debut in New York before going on to triumph on Broadway until 1927. It was theater impresario John Cort who was captivated by her grace, prompting Penella to compose the song “El Florero” for her. Convinced she could become an absolute star back home, she returned to Spain and made her Madrid debut on July 6, 1927, before an audience that included dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera and playwright Jacinto Benavente.
Career
Between 1929 and 1931 came the decisive encounters of her life: bullfighter Antonio Márquez, with whom she fell in love and lived from 1933 onward, and songwriters Rafael de León and maestro Quiroga, who penned her greatest hits. Alongside her singing career, Piquer also appeared in films such as “El negro que tenía el alma blanca,” “La bodega” (Benito Perojo) and “La Dolores” (Florián Rey), though her art was always considered to shine brighter on stage than on screen.
In the early 1940s she formed the Compañía de Arte Folklórico Andaluz Escenificado, touring all of Spain with the songs that would make her immortal: “La Parrala,” “Tatuaje,” “A la lima y al limón” and, for many, her masterpiece, “Ojos verdes.” Between 1947, when she returned to Spain for good after her American years, and 1958, when she decided to retire to Isla Cristina, she lived through her most prolific professional period.
Notable discography
Her repertoire, largely written by the songwriting trio of Quintero, León and Quiroga, includes pieces that became copla classics: “Ojos verdes,” “Tatuaje,” “La Parrala,” “A la lima y al limón,” “Cárcel de oro” and “Amante de abril y mayo.” Curiously, a discovery at the U.S. Library of Congress revealed that in 1923, while still a teenager, Piquer had starred in a short sound film shot by Lee DeForest and screened at New York’s Rivoli theater — four years before “The Jazz Singer,” the film officially credited as the pioneer of sound cinema.
Personal life and legacy
She had a daughter, Conchita Márquez Piquer, from her relationship with bullfighter Antonio Márquez. In 1988, already retired, she sang in public one last time at the christening of her granddaughter Iris. Concha Piquer died in her sleep on December 12, 1990, and her sister Anitín dressed her for her final journey in one of the outfits from “La Parrala,” one of her most beloved songs. Her legacy remains an essential reference point in Spanish copla.