Contributed by Evangeline Kim, Afropop Worldwide Board of Directors

"¿Quién supiera reir como llora Chavela?" - Joaquín Sabina

During her Tuesday night concert (September 15, 2003) in Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium, Mexico's Chavela Vargas asserted a magnificent presence in the firmament of the greatest world-music divas, once and for all time. New York has awaited Ms. Vargas' live performance not only since her recent cameo appearance in Julie Taymor's film "Frida." At the age of 83, Mexico's Queen of Song has long been known and loved by Latin and world music aficionados, and her belated Carnegie Hall debut was a moment to savor.

It all started with a shared dream and happen-chance musing in mid-summer 2002--well before the biographical Frida Kahlo movie release--between Carlos Gutierrez, Director and co-founder of www.cinematropical.com and Ben Kelly, Virgin Mega Store World Music Buyer. Their long-held mutual enthusiasm for Ms Vargas eventually inspired behind-the-scenes momentum among the city's Mexican promoters who ultimately over-sold the prime concert seating.

Indeed, there was mob-scene frenzy at Carnegie Hall's entrance an hour before the performance. During the rainy evening harbinger of an impending hurricane in the city, scalpers were trawling the sidelines seeking tickets, fervent crowds jammed the sidewalks, doorways and stairwells, and you felt lucky to have a ticket.

Amidst thunderous cheers and a standing ovation for her first appearance in the US after decades, a beaming and stately Ms. Vargas stepped on stage in a long, black-and-red poncho, raised her arms and head to the sky, blew kisses to the audience and started her 14-song set with "Macorina," dedicated to a Cuban woman. The inner sanctum of classical, acoustic perfection in Carnegie Hall's main auditorium seemed shattered forever by Ms. Vargas' hour-and-a-half performance, which culminated in three encores of one song each. The selections were all favorite songs and ballads culled from some 80 albums she has made during her epic career.

Two acoustic guitarists, Juan Carlos Allende and Miguel Pena Tovar, were Ms. Vargas' only musical accompaniment for the evening. Most of her songs were in Mexico's ranchera style, woven with slow, intense bolero and traditional son tempos. Through brilliant vocal phrasing, swooping glissandos, quivering tremolos and hoarse, sobbing embellishments, Ms. Vargas slowly built to her musical denouement, charging the whooping audience with every nuance of her private passion. With an occasional wry, twinkling smile, a flick of the wrist, graceful, uplifted gestures with her arms and hands, Ms. Vargas conveyed between-the-line meanings in her repertoire of romantic and erotic poetry and songs by some of Mexico's key songwriters such as José Alfredo Jiménez. Her harsh, gruff voice full of savage, bittersweet tonalities, but tempered with full dramatic control, occasionally shifted to brief passages of light-hearted humor, softly crooning tenderness, or a lover's pleading supplication.

Toward the end of this deeply emotional performance, a completely hushed audience listened to Ms. Vargas' rare version of the popular Mexican folksong about the mythical weeping woman, "La Llorona." As if possessed by the tragic woman's ghost, Ms. Vargas' fierce, haunted voice rasped and whispered the plaintive lyrics, as the guitar rocked back and forth, plucking a gentle ¾ waltz rhythm. "La Llorona" brought the crowds roaring with applause to their feet. Fans offered her an armful of bouquets, the Mexican flag and a green, tasseled rebozo (shawl) that she draped over her shoulders. During her first encore, the entire audience sang along to her sentimental "Volver Volver." Her final encore song, "Hacia La Vida," seemed at once a life-affirming vow and a testament to her eternal qualities. "I am going toward life now… Before, I was going toward death."

In the Carnegie Hall Program Notes on Ranchera Song, Monica Ramirez-Montagut and Carlos Gutierrez write: "Recognized as an expression of cultural identity, rancheras accompany Mexicans, regardless of their social class, through important moments, while also providing a catharsis for everyday life. In a culture where emotional intimacy is repressed, "la cancion mexicana" becomes the means of communicating with the heart."

Chavela Vargas stands as a symbol of liberation for Mexico and Latin America. Having vanquished many personal difficulties in her early life, she now uses her own despair, anguish and passion in song to console listeners about their own troubles and misfortunes. Her artistic generosity and humor help transcend the challenges and disappointments in life. She remains the soul of Mexico. Her status as a woman of triumph is universal. In November, 2000, the government of Spain presented Ms. Vargas with "la Cruz de la Orden de Isabel la Catolica," Spain's most prestigious award for artistic achievement. She and Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral are the only women ever to receive this honor.

Recommended albums by Chavela Vargas: Para Toda La Vida, Volver Volver and Macorina.
Contributed by: Evangeline Kim