MIAMI, United States. — Romana Elena Burges González It was her birth name on that leap February of 1928. Cubans would know her as Elena Burke, one of the most sensational performers in Hispanic America. It could be said that without her voice, the history of Cuban song would be much less interesting, despite the existence of other great vocalists.
The girl that Elena was loved music, especially tango. She had to persevere to make her way in the thorny world of show business. On three consecutive occasions she appeared on the radio program The Supreme Court of the Airwhich promoted new artists, and was rejected in each one.
But Elena did not understand fear or pessimism. She continued to sing for a select group of friends, studying and perfecting her powerful voice, convinced that her opportunity would come. And so it happened.
In 1943 he signed a professional contract with the radio station thousand and ten, where she sang accompanied by an orchestra conducted by the maestros Adolfo Guzmán and Enrique González Mantici. At the same time, she performed in various nightclubs, accompanied on piano by Dámaso Pérez Prado, who later achieved international fame as the inventor of Mambo.
He was part of several quartets, such as those of Facundo Rivero and Orlando de la Rosa, with the latter he toured the United States for six months, performing songs that were very popular in Cuba, including old moon, Our lives and You are my happiness. Those themes, in his contralto voice, reached unparalleled heights.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Havana was inundated by the feeling, a variant of the song that, to this day, remains inextricably linked to the name of Elena Burke. Señora Sentimiento was one of the first women to join this new movement, along with composers such as César Portillo de la Luz, Ángel Díaz, José Antonio Méndez, Adolfo Guzmán and Frank Domínguez.
Other high-carat interpreters, such as Omara Portuondo, Moraima Secada and Marta Valdés, also gave prestige to the scene feeling. In fact, in August 1952, the pianist Aida Diestro formed the quartet The D’Aidamade up of Elena, Moraima, Omara and her sister Haydée, with whom they resoundingly triumphed in cabarets such as Tropicana and Sans Souci, considered the epicenter of Havana nightlife.
Memorable were their performances, the quality of Aida Diestro’s arrangements and the perfect coupling between four different voices and temperaments. It is still spoken of with admiration today. The D’Aidawhose imprint transcended even when the singers decided to continue separately.
La Burke, in particular, had a successful solo career. She collaborated with the best musicians and singer-songwriters, leaving for posterity anthological recordings that continue to shake listeners.
Elena had “that thing” in her voice that never bores or leaves anyone indifferent. Although her interpretations have been heard a thousand times, there is always time for one more of hers, to sing with her songs that she knew how to make exclusively hers, such as The material, Love me as I am, of my memories either my 22 years.
Señora Sentimiento died on June 9, 2002, at the age of 74.
