Nancy Fabiola Herrera: An international prima donna’s journey
By PEGGY ANN BLISS
Special to The STAR
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, mezzo soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera grew up in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, where she began her music training at eight. After high school she moved to Madrid to finish her piano studies and prepare for a career in tourism. But her vocal brilliance emerged, and she progressed to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York City. After that it was another four years at The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
As a mezzo she had fewer pickings of starring roles but she soon was in demand as the beloved “Carmen” in Bizet’s French-language work from Tokyo to Buenos Aires.
Herrera first charmed local opera mavens in her 2006 appearance here, a concert to honor Spanish tenor Placido Domingo’s 35-year collaboration with the island. She also brought her power-rich voice to Giuseppe Verdi’s immortal “Requiem” in the 2006 Casals Festival (the 50th) and again in 2013.
Now she is an international prima donna, having appeared as leading ladies Carmen and Delilah, as well as the slave Amneris in Verdi’s “Aida,” among other iconic roles on almost every world stage, including the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, where she debuted in 2004 in the role of Suzuki in Giacomo Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly.”
Selling zarzuela abroad
Two years later, Herrera made an award-winning recording of Federico Moreno Torroba’s wildly popular zarzuela “Luisa Fernanda” with tenor Placido Domingo and Spanish soprano Mariola Cantarero. Older Puerto Rican opera lovers may remember Cantarero as the Best Zarzuela Singer in Operalia 1991 held in San Juan. The Deutsche Gramophone recording has done much to elevate their native genre to the level of Italian and French opera, Herrera’s longtime goal.
