José María Pérez

José María Pérez Busquier (at times also called Juan Pérez, don't ask me why) was the son of a shoemaker. When he was six years old, the family moved to Valencia, where he began studying violin at the conservatory at eight years old. He graduated in 1952, and for several years, he toured Europe as the head of a successful background band in the pop business, accompanying luminaries like Edith Piaf, Gilbert Becaud, Xavier Cugat or Georges Brassens.

However, when he heard Mario Del Monaco as Otello in Lausanne, he knew that he wouldn't stay in pop music but had to become an opera singer (an unfortunate decision since he was to become a major pusher). He studied for two years at the conservatory in Basel, and began his career at the Stadttheater in Lucerne in the 1959/60 season. He spent the next season in Innsbruck, then two in Basel. From 1963 to 1978, he was a member (and then a permanent guest until 1985) of the Opernhaus Graz.

His repertory included:
Duca, Alfredo, Manrico, Don Alvaro, Radamès, Otello, Turiddu, Andrea Chénier, Rodolfo, Cavaradossi, Calaf, Gounod's Faust, Vasco da Gama, Don José, Pelléas, Grigorij, Vsevolod (Skazanie o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii/The legend of the invisible city of Kitezh), Sergej (Lady Macbeth Mtsenkogo uezda) or Albert Gregor (Věc Makropulos).

In the 1970s and 1980s, he sang also operetta: Alfred, Barinkay, Paganini, Sascha (Schön ist die Welt)...

He made guest appearances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1969), Liceu (1974), Wiener Volksoper and Staatstheater Wiesbaden (1981).

After retiring, he moved back to Valencia and taught voice at the local conservatory.

Reference 1, reference 2: Pérez' Facebook page, reference 3: Kutsch & Riemens