Yma Sumac attracted the attention of the public not only thanks to her powerful voice with a range of 5 octaves. She was the owner of an exotic appearance. She was distinguished by a tough character and an original presentation of musical material.
Childhood and youth
The real name of the artist is Soila Augusta Empress Chavarri del Castillo. The celebrity's date of birth is September 13, 1922. Her name has always been shrouded in a veil of secrets and mysteries. Alas, the biographers failed to establish the exact birthplace of the celebrity.
She was brought up in a large family of a simple teacher. The girl's parents were Peruvian by nationality. From an early age, Soila discovered the ability to music, and even earlier, she impressed her parents with her ability to parody various sounds.
The girl never realized that she was special. She had a magical voice that from the first seconds fascinated even ordinary passers-by. Surprisingly, she developed her vocal abilities on her own, bypassing educational institutions and experienced teachers.
The creative path of Yma Sumac
In the early 40s, she was invited to the radio of Argentina. The listeners, who were lucky enough to enjoy the honey voice of the singer, literally flooded the radio with letters so that Yma Sumac would appear on the radio again. In the 43rd year of the last century, she recorded two dozen Peruvian folk compositions at the Odeon recording studio.
Parents did not want their daughter to leave their homeland. In 1946, she had to go against the will of her mother and head of the family. Soon she appeared at the South American Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. The audience showered the singer with thunderous applause. It was a great performance that opened the door to a great future for Yma Sumac.
Most of the producers who wanted to work with the singer were already lost in the process. No one knew how to use such a powerful voice. She had a good command of her vocal skills. The performer easily moved from baritone to soprano.
At the beginning of the 50th year of the last century, she decided to take a bold step. The singer signed a contract with Capitol Records. Soon the presentation of the debut LP took place. The record was called Voice of the Xtabay. The release of the collection marked the opening of a completely new page in the creative biography of the talented Yma Sumac.
Yma Sumac tour
After the presentation of her debut album, she went on tour. The singer's plans included only a two-week tour, but something went wrong. The tour lasted for six months. It is noteworthy that her work was interested not only in her homeland, but also on the territory of the then Soviet Union. For a long time she remained a popular favorite of the public.
The release of the Mambo! and Fuego del Ande increased the popularity of the singer. Despite this, her financial situation left much to be desired. Yma Sumac was not even capable of paying taxes. Without thinking twice, she organized another tour, which greatly helped the performer to increase her income. During this period of time, the performer visited over 40 cities of the USSR.
Rumor has it that Nikita Khrushchev himself was crazy about the divine voice of Imu Sumak. He personally paid the singer considerable fees from the state treasury for her to visit the Soviet Union. Due to the fact that she was not in the best financial situation, the performer agreed to stretch the tour for another six months.
Perhaps the star would have received citizenship in the USSR, if not for one interesting case. Once, in one of the rooms of a Soviet hotel, she discovered a cockroach. Imu was so outraged by this fact that she immediately decided to leave the country. Khrushchev, to put it mildly, was outraged by the trick of the Peruvian. On the same day he signed the decree. He blacklisted the name Yma Sumac. She never performed in the country again.
The decline in the popularity of the artist
At the beginning of the 70s, the popularity of the performer gradually began to fade. She gave rare concerts and practically stopped working in a recording studio. She was not embarrassed by this situation. By that time, Yma Sumac will enjoy all the delights of public life.
“For many years I sang and performed on stage. I think I signed millions of autographs during that time. It's time for rest. Now I have other life priorities…”, – said the singer.
In the mid-90s, the singer still performed in the best concert halls. The voice of the performer continued to delight the audience. On the records of this time, bewitching Indian exotic melodies are ideally mixed with the then popular rhythms of carnival rumba and clockwork cha-cha-cha.
Details of the artist's personal life
On June 6, 1942, she legalized relations with the charming Moises Vivanko. Thanks to him, she mastered musical notation, and her voice began to sound even more refined. At the end of the 40s, a woman gave birth to her first child from her husband.
Yma Sumac was the owner, to put it mildly, not the most accommodating character. She often gave the man public scandals. She even accused him of encroaching on the authorship of her musical works. At the end of the 50s, they parted, but love turned out to be stronger than resentment, and they began to see the couple again together. But, they could not avoid divorce. In 1965 they separated.
Then she was noticed in a relationship with musician Les Baxter. This novel was not further developed. In her life there were short novels, but, alas, nothing serious came of it.
The surroundings of the star confirmed that she had a very complex character. For example, she could cancel the concert on the eve of the performance. Yma often fought with the managers, and sometimes came into open conflict with the fans when they crossed Sumac's personal boundaries.
Interesting facts about Yma Sumac
- She knew how to imitate the voices of birds.
- In her creative biography, there was a place for filming in films. The brightest films with her participation are called: "The Secret of the Incas" and "Music Always".
- The pseudonym Imma Sumack was invented by her husband.
- She managed to get American citizenship.
- The singer's most popular expression is: "Talents are born not only in New York."
Death of Yma Sumac
The last years of her life she led a moderate lifestyle. She tried to hide the details of her biography as carefully as possible. So, she claimed that she was born in 1927, but later, her close friend told the Associated Press that a different date of her birth was recorded in the Sumac metric: September 13, 1922.
Even in her old age, she claimed to be in good health. Sumak believed that proper nutrition and daily routine is the best prevention of many diseases. She ate a lot of vegetables and fruits, meat and fish preferred to steam or bake. Her diet consisted only of healthy foods.
Her life ended on November 1, 2008 at a nursing home in Los Angeles. One of the causes of death was a tumor in the large intestine.
