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Miguel Burró Fleta (1897-1938) was an extraordinarily popular tenor whose brief, turbulent and tragic life is the stuff of legend. The last of fourteen children, Fleta was born in Aragón near the close of the 19th century. He began his working life as a field worker but enjoyed singing the folksongs of his region. Encouraged by his friends, Fleta entered a Jota competition in the fall of 1917. Although he didn’t win, his participation led to studies at the Conservatory of Barcelona. There, Fleta met the woman who would become his mentor, lover and mother to two of his children, Luisa Pierrick. Fleta’s vocal coaching with Pierrick had lasted less than two years when, shortly before his 22nd birthday, the young tenor made his operatic debut in Trieste. The role was Paolo in Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini under the baton of the composer himself. Pierrick aggressively promoted her protégé/lover throughout Italy, perhaps pushing the tenor beyond his youthful limitations. Within three years of h
