Conchita Balparda
Who is Conchita Balparda?
Conchita Balparda was a Spanish soprano born in Portugalete (Biscay) in 1932. She began her training after winning first prize at the Biscay Conservatory Competition in May 1953, held at the Philharmonic Hall of Bilbao. Shortly after, she also took first prize at the “Ibáñez de Betolaza” singing competition and made her official debut in April 1955 with a recital at the Salón San Vicente in Bilbao, accompanied by the Masa Coral del Ensanche.
Thanks to a scholarship from the Biscay Provincial Council, she traveled to study in Milan at age 24, refining her technique under Mercedes Llopart; back in Madrid, she continued her training with Lola Rodríguez Aragón.
Career
Focused on opera from the start, in 1958 she sang “Marina” at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, alternating with Ana María Olaria, and later “Luisa Fernanda.” In the summer of 1959 she performed in “La Bohème” and “Rigoletto” at the Teatro Colón in A Coruña, the latter alongside Alfredo Kraus and Manuel Ausensi. In 1960 she made her debut at Bilbao’s ABAO Opera Festival, having already signed contracts in Italy, and sang “Rigoletto” at the Coliseo Albia with baritone Cornell MacNeil.
In the following years she performed in several Italian and German cities — including Cologne and Baden-Baden, in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and “L’Elisir d’Amore” — and returned to Bilbao to reunite with Alfredo Kraus in “La Traviata” and “Rigoletto.” In 1963, as part of the Compañía de Zarzuela de Mendoza Lasalle, she sang “Marina” at the Teatro Campos in Bilbao and, that same summer, “Carmen” and “La Traviata” in her native Portugalete. Shortly afterward, family reasons tied to her mother’s fragile health led her to give up singing while still young, and she never resumed her career.
Notable discography
Although her time on stage was relatively brief, she left behind recordings of complete zarzuelas such as “La picarona,” “La Generala” and “La Marchenera.”