José Mojica - La Sultana (Serenata Oriental)

Jos&Mojica (1896-1974) was a popular Mexican tenor whose career encompassed stage, concerts, screen and, ultimately, the priesthood.  Born in the town of San Gabriel in Mexico’s Jalisco region, young Mojica lived on a coffee plantation until the death of his father in 1902.  Mojica and his mother relocated to Mexico City, where she worked tirelessly to save money for her son’s education.  When it became obvious that the boy possessed a great musical talent, his mother made sure that he was sent to the Conservatorio Nacional de M&in Mexico City.  His stage debut came about shortly after his twentieth birthday as Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Mexico City’s Teatro Arbeu.  The following year, Mojica’s mother financed her son’s way to New York so that he could pursue an operatic career.  Taking odd jobs to support himself, he always managed to scrape together enough money to attend performances at the Metropolitan Opera.  A meeting with the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso (who was greatly impressed with the young singer) led to a contract with the Chicago Civic Opera in 1919.  For the next two seasons, Mojica sang comprimario roles in Chicago in such operas as Lucia di Lammermoor, Pagliacci, Il Trovatore and Otello and eventually worked his way up to leading roles.  The young tenor was entrusted with creating the role of the Prince in the world premiere of Prokofiev’s The Love For Three Oranges in 1921.  Mojica was a popular fixture in Chicago and sang the leads in...