translated from Spanish: Who was Matilde Sánchez, better known as La Torcacita?

Mexican music has had great performers such as Flor Silvestre, Lucha Reyes, Lucha Villa, Lola Beltrán, “La Torcacita” and many more. All of them had an indisputable artistic talent, as well as grace and beauty. Each with its own style, left a great mark on our traditional music. The singer Matilde Sánchez Elías, better known as “La Torcacita”, in addition to having been considered as “The young queen of the ranchera song”, was also one of the actresses of the golden age of Mexican cinema, having the opportunity to work with Pedro Infante, Pedro Armendáriz and the Soler brothers.From an early age “La Torcacita” showed that she would be an artist in all the extension of the word. She was originally from Tequila, Jalisco and began as a child prodigy in Tampico, Tamaulipas, where her family moved when she was little; it was in this place that he obtained his first success at the age of 7, by winning a radio contest. Together with his sister Faustina he formed the duet “Las Tapatías”. Later they travel to Mexico City in the company of their mother, being minors, to audition at XEW; in this audition was present the telecommunications magnate Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, father of Emilio Azcárraga Milmo (founder of Televisa). The audition was a success and Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta invited them to participate in one of his programs, but he did not like the name “Las Tapatías” and baptized them as “Las Torcacitas”. Years later Faustina marries and Matilde Sánchez continues alone. With her sympathy, talent and beauty, “La Torcacita” conquered the public. Photo: Fonoteca Nacional de México. Little by little she became one of the great interpreters of the ranchera song; among his most emblematic songs are “El herradero”, “Dos arbolitos”, “Mi preferida”, “Paloma torcaza”, “Arriba Tequila” and “Imploración”. Her incomparable vocal skills were evident in the song “Aires del Mayab”, where she reaches the highest point that a singer of the ranchero genre can reach. According to the Fonoteca Nacional de México, “La Torcacita” was the heiress of Lucha Reyes, but with her own style of falsetto, very much in the style of Miguel Aceves Mejía. In this regard his daughter Norma Grimaldo commented: “Just as Lucha Reyes is recognized for his high-pitched voice, Lucha Villa for his grave tone and Lola Beltrán for reaching very high notes, my mother is remembered for her falsetto, this resource was used because she did not reach very high notes, but in her voice the falsetto took a new name and is considered the creator of the ranchero falsetto, because before nothing else existed in the huapango”. Matilde Sánchez “La Torcacita”, died at the age of 61 on November 1, 1988 in Mexico City, as a result of kidney failure. Read more: This was the terrible death of Lucha Reyes, the queen of ranchera song



Original source in Spanish