Néstor Chayres

At 17 years old, he was granted a scholarship to study at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City. He graduated in 1930. His main professor there was the former Mexican tenor Lamberto Castañares. Later, in New York, he studied with the baritone Emilio de Gogorza. When he was still at the conservatory, in 1929, he made his debut as a soloist at the Teatro Bolívar, but later that same year he obtained national fame singing in a waltz contest that took place at the Teatro Colón in Mexico City. He obtained a second place with the song "Divina mujer" by Jorge del Moral.

When he left the conservatory, he obtained a contract to sing at the XEB radio station with the composer Jorge del Moral at the piano. Later he was to become Chayres' favourite composer, together with María Grever, Agustín Lara and Rafael Hernández, who wrote songs specially for his voice.

In 1933 he presented, at the Teatro Politeama, for the first time the song "Españolerías" by Agustín Lara, and made his first international tour to Cuba.

In 1934, he recorded his first disc in Mexico, for the Peerless label, with the songs "Morena" (Jorge del Moral) and "Rocío" (Alfonso Esparza Oteo).

In 1942 he sang at the Follies (a variety theatre in Mexico City), and his success was such that the public insisted that he sang the same song up to eight times (songs like Padilla's "Princesita").

On 25 April 1943, he sang at the Bellas Artes Theatre in Mexico City for the presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt (USA) and Manuel Ávila Camacho (Mexico), with the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico conducted by André Kostelanetz. The conductor was so enthusiastic with the voice of the Mexican tenor that he called him to New York to sing for the CBS. In a short time he was also contracted by the NBC, and it is one of the few cases of an artist singing at the same time for the two most important broadcasting companies of America.

Chayres was also one of the few "pop" artists represented by the manager Sol Hurok, who obtained for him many important tours through the United States, Canada and Latin American countries.

As a CBS artist, he appeared in countless programs of great popularity during the war years (1943–45), such as "The Pause that Refreshes" under the auspices of Coca Cola; "The Radio Hall of Fame" under those of Philco; "Viva America", "Starlight Serenade" and "Through the Years".

In June 1945, he sang in a variety program at the Ziegfield Theatre on Broadway (36 performances). On 14 November 1945, he gave a legendary recital at the Town Hall. "The New York Times" commented: Town Hall played host to the Mexican tenor, Nestor Chayres. Mr. Chayres well deserved his large and enthusiastic following, for he is a first rate artist. His voice is of a beautiful quality, and is used with intelligence and musicianship. Mr. Chayres also possesses an admirable stage presence which plays no small part in the effectiveness of his interpretations.

On 12 May 1946, he sang at the Carnegie Hall, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alfredo Antonini. The program was broadcast by CBS under the name of the "Network of the Americas".

In June 1946, he made his debut in Canada with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He appeared in concerts also with Buffalo's Symphony Orchestra and at the Roxy Theatre in New York. He sang for 26 weeks on the radio programs under the auspices of Conti Shampoo. The same year, he made one of his most successful South American tours, to Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In Uruguay, he sang a concert on 6 September 1946 at the Teatro 18 de Julio in Montevideo. It was a classical program:

First part:
Paisiello "Nel cor più non mi sento" from the opera La molinara
Pergolesi "Nina"
Veracini "Pastorale"
Lalo "Vainement ma bien aimée" from the opera Le roi d'Ys
Martini "Plaisir d'amour"
A. A. Scott "Think on me"
R. Hageman "Do not go, my love"

Second part:
Falla "Asturiana" – "El paño moruno" – "Nana"
Obradors "Tres morillas" – "La guitarra sin prima" – "Aquel sombrero de Monte"
Cilea "È la solita storia" from the opera L'arlesiana
Nin "Montañesa" – "Canto andaluz" – "Granadina"
del Moral "El camino canto"
M. Grever "Atardecer en España"
Padilla "Princesita"
A. Lara "Granada"
Donato Colacelli at the piano

"El Diario" from Montevideo wrote on 8 September: He has a beautiful voice of warm quality. Educated in the Italian belcanto school, he possesses a pefect sense of melody, which he expresses with the subtlest of shadings. An amazing control of sustained tone and temperament, which he has mastered in the interest of a good melodic line.

From Uruguay he went to Santiago (Chile), singing in October 1946 at the Salón Lucerna, and recording a dozen of songs for the Victor Company of Chile. After Chile, he visited Buenos Aires, making appearances at Radio El Mundo. In that city, he met the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla who taught him personally the details of his "Seven Spanish Popular Songs". De Falla would die a few days later in Argentina, on 14 November 1946.

In December 1946, Chayres sang again in Canada, at the Auditorium du Plateau in Montréal, in the so-called "Quatre soirées d'enchantement", with the soprano Ninon Vallin and the baritone Jacques Thibault. The "Daily News" from Montréal wrote: The great impression which Nestor Chayres made last June was more than confirmed at the Plateau Hall on Thursday evening. Before he had been singing more than ten minutes, he made it clear that he was one of the best tenors that have been heard here in a long time, both in voice and in the way in which he uses it. It would be hard to find a singer with a purer tone and a more sure and smooth phrasing, and in addition to that a big range of feeling and expression. It is not every tenor that has so much sense of humour.

In February 1947, he made several successful appearances in Chicago. The "Chicago Tribune" commented: ...phrases were exquisitely shaped, and the handling of voice color and tempo modifications suggested a deep absorption in an intuitive understanding of the content of the music.

And the "Chicago Daily News" wrote: Chayres possesses a mellow, liquid voice. His English, in caressing melodies like Ann Scott's "Think of me" and Hageman's "Do not go my love" was pure and limpid. Dramatic power blended with fine lyricism.

On 30 March 1947, he sang for CBS in the show "Fiesta in New York". In October and November 1947, he was to be heard in the Dominican Republic through the radio station The Voice of Yuma, and also sang at the Teatro Independencia in Santo Domingo. In July and August 1948, he visited that country again.

In 1949, he went to Europe for the first time and sang in Holland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, France; and in Spain, where he made several recordings for His Master's Voice, among them the pasodoble "Silverio" by Agustín Lara, one of his most applauded creations.

On 30 March 1950, he sang at the Riverside Auditorium of the Plaza Hotel in New York, in the annual gala concert under the auspices of the Italian-language newspaper "La Follia di New York". The other guest singers were the soprano Lushanya Mobley, the Chilean tenor Ramón Vinay and the Italian bass Italo Tajo. Emilio Roxas was at the piano. Chayres sang "La playera" ("Spanish Dance n° 5") by Enrique Granados and "Princesita" by José Padilla.

On 8 and 9 July 1951, Chayres sang on the open air stage in Grant Park on Lake Michigan in Chicago. Herva Nelli (one of Toscanini's favourite sopranos) also sang with him. The tenor obtained his greatest success with the song "Granada" by Agustín Lara. The "Chicago Tribune" critic, Claudia Cassidy wrote: ...singing sweetly with a small voice made to order for intimate expression of non-provocative music.

In 1950, Chayres returned to Buenos Aires with several appearances at the Teatro Maipo.

In May 1951, on Mother's Day, he gave his mother a new car as a present. But a few days later, as they were driving to visit his brother who lived in Celaya, they had a terrible accident resulting in the death of his mother. Chayres was so shocked that for some time he was unable to sing at all. Professor Ernest Belloc helped him to recover his voice and to continue his career, but he was never again the same singer.

Arístides Incháustegui in his book "Por amor al arte" writes: In 1951, the Mexican tenor came to our country (Dominican Republic) in poor vocal condition due to the recent death of his mother, occurred in May of the same year, barely three months before he came to honour his contract. He sang at the IX Anniversary of the Dominican Voice. He came again and for the last time in 1955 for the XIII Anniversary of that radio station.

The voice of Néstor Chayres was a "tenore leggero" (tenore di grazia), with a sound similar to Tito Schipa's. They say that in his best years (1930–50), the voice of the Mexican tenor was intrinsically more beautiful than that of the Italian singer. His range was not exceptional, but appropriate. His breath and musicianship were astonishing. He was an absolute master of "rubato", and his phrasing was of a virtuosity and expansion not common among Latin American singers. He was very fond of Spanish music and was nicknamed "the gypsy from Mexico".

Néstor Mesta Chayres died on 29 June 1971, at only 63 years old. They say it was of moral pain.

Néstor Chayres made a great number of 78 rpm records for several labels: Peerless, RCA Victor, Decca and Pro-Arte (SMC) in Mexico, USA, Spain, Venezuela, Argentina and Chile.

His recorded repertoire was essentially of Spanish and Latin American songs. And as already told above, his greatest successes were the songs composed by Jorge del Moral, María Grever and Agustín Lara. He also recorded several Italian songs, "hits" by Tito Schipa (like "Torna, piccina mia"). His only classical recording was the complete "Siete Canciones Populares Españolas" by Manuel de Falla, with pianist Oscar Kosches.