Perlita de Huelva, days before her great tribute

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Next to the door of the Great Theater of Huelva We were impatiently waiting for our partner Irra Torres and I his arrival. Without knowing it we had crossed paths and we were waiting for each other a few meters away. It was the call of Rainbow wrasse the one that made us realize that we were looking at each other without recognizing each other.

«Antonia, we are not journalists, but we are sure that you have a lot to tell us and from this meeting we can learn experiences that will make us grow as fans and be able to tell our friends and followers about Expoflamenco. So, if you don't mind, let's spend some time talking about what you want to tell us about your life around art." And there we went, to the old house of The Litri, now converted into a hotel establishment.

Antonia Hernandez Peralta (Huelva, 1939) was born in the populous neighborhood of Las Colonias, moving several years later to the neighborhood of Isla Chica, where she grew up. Daughter of Rafael hernández, from Moguer, and Josefa Peralta, from El Rosal de la Frontera, a fishmonger by profession, he first went on stage at the age of seven. It was in the same theatre where on December 4th he will receive the homage of his city and the artists of this land: the Gran Teatro de Huelva. At that moment, with tears in his eyes, he remembers his brother Manuel, The Little One of the Island, a distinguished singer from Huelva. He reminds us of the last words his brother said to him: “I knew you were going to come.”

“I always had a lot of respect for my brother. He sang in such a way that it was impossible to hold back. I admired him a lot. The way he sang about Manolete's death. And the fandangos, and the siguiriya, and the soleares? He couldn't have sung better. I opened my record store for him, but family matters and lifestyles kept him away from the Madrid of artists. The way he sang that fandango: Hot to love / you are cold to hate / hot to love / you are a bad gale / hot and cold at the same time / you are snow on a volcano".

“I have been an artist who has rarely alternated at night. I had to work double duty every day. I didn't like staying up late, but I couldn't, and I shouldn't. I had to give my best the next day. I have known how to get along with the public and, above all, respect them. It doesn't mean that one day Lola Flores "He would tell me let's go to some restaurant to have dinner or a drink, and I would leave. We did it once or twice and we would even end up singing and enjoying each other's artists. But there weren't many of those moments."

Antonia, who is the artist you have liked the most, and who have you admired the most?

Marchena is the one I liked the most. He was a music box. How much elegance. I have worked with the best: Valderrama, Canalejas de Puerto Real. Nobody has sung Christmas carols like this guy. I have recorded some of his Christmas carols.At the door of a rich miser, Jesus Christ arrived and asked for alms, sings to us pearl. And we hear: hello, aunt, by his niece Toñi Triviño, who is also with us]. They all loved me very much and admired me. From Valderrama to Canalejas, through Lola and Farina. Just as I did with them and we shared the stage on many occasions. Lola, in addition, had a huge affection for me. We loved each other very much. It was great.

Between couplet and flamenco, what are you left with?

With the flamencoI am a flamenco dancer. My mother sang very well. Pastora. In my family we were nine siblings. Five girls and four boys. My sisters sang, my brother Rafael did it very well for Sevillano, my brother Manolo (El Peque) is the one I liked the most. cante It comes from my mother's family. My aunts and my grandmother also sang. When my father heard my mother sing, he would say: What are you going to do now? I came to copla through Alejandro Cinta The boy from OrihuelaHe loved me a lot and he really liked me singing. He used to say: “If Perla asks for a glass of water, you have to say ole.”

«The mayor's office has given us the theatre and even though it is a working day we know that it will be full. I am very happy that my land, which I have carried as my flag, wants to recognise me in this way. It will be a high-quality show»

Julia, her daughter, makes an aside and tells us that Perlita has not studied music. That she gets the cante naturally. It is a brave voice. We all agree on that, because it is also one of the qualities that come from seeing her on stage. But we also experienced it in this meeting. She cannot contain herself and gives us a few strokes. How beautiful she just sang for us por peteneras when remembering her mother, Josefa.

How did you end up in Madrid?

I arrived in Madrid after marrying my first husband, José Espinosa, father of my first two daughters. He was the creator of Friend driverI didn't like the song. He wrote it for me in block letters so I could read it well and learn it. I went to see Encarna Sánchez. She, who was a genius, told me: "Record it without too much fuss so that people pay attention to the lyrics more than the music. Release the record and I'll spread it to you through the radio station." In Madrid I worked at the Circo Price. Among others, I met Habichuela viejo, Marifé de Triana and Rafael Farina, who introduced me to the man who would become the love of my life, Pedro Romón, the father of my daughter Julia. I left everything for him. Those were different times. The laws didn't protect women and I had to leave my house with the clothes on my back. Pedro wasn't an artist but he knew many of them and he was the one who, along with Manolo Escobar, put me on the best stages and guided my career in the best way.

Antonia, the tribute you are going to receive from Huelva is full of great figures. What do you expect from it?

The show is going to be a marvel. There have been very few artists that have been contacted who are not there. And it is because they cannot do it for work reasons, such as Lolita and Rosario Flores or Estrella Morente, among others, or Pepe Habichuela for health reasons. But when we started to organize it, a group of great artists joined without thinking twice, all of them top-notch. The mayor's office has given us the theater and although it is a work day we know that it will be full. I am very happy that my land, which I have carried as my flag, wants to recognize me in this way. It will be a high-caliber show.

You were also featured in the documentary Fandango

Oh, yes. I was in the Peña Female with Argentina and María José Matos. They treated us very well. We sang and it was a very nice moment. There we remembered moments and experiences, and we talked about this great hallmark of Huelva, which is its cante by fandangos.

Are you following the current music scene?

I haven't followed all of them for a few years now, but there are young artists that I really like, like Estrella Morente. Her father drove me crazy at the time, I went to hear him in Granada for the first time. There are artists of a very high level. Rafael Estévez, Arcángel, this kid, what's his name, Cristian de Moret. He sings so well, or Perrete, who my husband, Pedro, really liked. La Moneta. The day I saw her come out to dance for the first time, I said: wow, how this girl dances. I really like these young artists, among others. The best that have been there will come to my tribute in Huelva.

«Marchena is the one I liked the most. He was a music box. How much elegance. I have worked with the best: Valderrama, Canalejas de Puerto Real. Nobody has sung Christmas carols like this guy»

Antonia Hernández Peralta, at 85 years of age, is a treasure chest of memories, wisdom and essence. She continues to be that brave woman with artistic ethics and contemporary aesthetics, who has walked the best stages. Despite her many years away from her hometown, she still retains the touch of this land and her voice, as she says, to spend time with friends, still respects her. Huelva must be up to par. But not only Huelva, but the artistic and musical world of this country. Antonia –Toni, as her closest friends call her– looks forward to the embrace of a more than deserved tribute from the land that saw her birth and heard her first lyrics. It will undoubtedly be one of the events of the year in Huelva, and we will be there to tell the story and enjoy it, thanks to the collaboration of artists from inside and outside Huelva, who make up a historic lineup worthy of remembering: Arcángel, Argentina, Sandra Carrasco, La Moneta, La Arquilleja, El Perrete, Rafael Estévez, Blanca Villa, Pilar Boyero, Los Mellis, Carmen Molina, Pepe el Marismeño, Naike Ponce, Chelo Pantoja, José de la Marga, María José Mato and Rubén Levaniegos. All thanks to the work of Julia Romón and Ángel Reimúndez, both part of XArte Producciones, who have organized the event.

Huelva, the Atlantic jewel of southern Spain, will embrace and embrace the artistic recognition that one of its pearls deserves. Its most beloved little pearl. The one that bears its name.