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A banquet at the Café Royal with Raquel Meller -
With cuplé, the artist must communicate a variety of feelings
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Una cupletista en Poble SecLa considerada cupletista por antonomasia nació en un pueblo de Zaragoza con el nombre de Francisca Marqués (1888-1962). Su familia se trasladarÃa a Barcelona atraÃda por las oportunidades que ofrecÃa una ciudad a punto de celebrar la Exposición Universal de 1888. Desde entonces se la asocia con el barrio del Poble Sec y, sobre todo, con la avenida donde se concentraban la mayorÃa de teatros y cabarets: el Paralelo. Su manera de interpretar los cuplés la llevó por medio mundo. Destacan: El Relicario, La Violetera o el insinuante La Pulga. -
Friends with Chaplin
Raquel Meller and the Arnau del Parallelo theater are indissociable. Nevertheless, her walks along La Rambla shocked everyone. Surely, she’d remember her first singing lessons in those academies at Nou de la Rambla street. She was linked with renown painters like Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol or Joaquim Sorolla, as well as the writers such Benito Pérez Galdós. She performed at the Olympia in Paris and was received in Hollywood by Chaplin and Rodolfo Valentino. She could boast of appearing in the cover of Time magazine. She lived for a while in a palace in Versailles. -
Rivals but friendsDespite heir quarrels, Raquel Meller established a close friendship with dancer Tórtola Valencia. A group of intellectuals decided to pay tribute to her after the 1915 world tour. They contacted the singer to sing in her honor after the banquet. All this took place at legendary Café Royal (currently occupied by the Moka Restaurant). Painter Santiago Rusiñol or dramatist Àngel Guimerà , among others, were there.
