The expected return to La Havana

Vicent went back to Cuba by the end of 1917. He joined the Adolfo Bracale Opera Company from December 1917 until the end of January 1918. They performed their plays in the National Theater in La Havana. He performed with his fellow José Palet.

In La Havana he was remembered and I can say, appreciated. Journalists wrote about his rise in the opera field and they praised his voice. When Vicent, his best PR, first arrived in La Havana went to a newspaper office (At least, there’s one piece of news about it) to visit his “friends”. Another newspaper pointed out that in his first appearance, performing Rigoletto: “Ballester was welcomed with a great deal of applauses given by the audience filling the room”… “He was cheered several times and he had to step out from the scene after each act to receive again the audience tribute”. Other newspapers also talk about him the same way, praising the quality of his voice and his performance. This last quality, his talent as an actor, received constant praises during in his short career: to the quality of his voice and his performing skills, it’s worth noting his acting skills (probably due to the fact that it was quite unusual back then). A journalist from “El Imparcial” in his review of his second performance of Rigoletto pointed out that “The audience enthusiastically cheered Vicent Ballester several times and I’m so glad they did: Ballester is in love with his art and he’s my friend”.

In 1918 there was a first contact between him and the Metropolitan in New York but it didn’t reach to an end.

On February 12th, the Valencian Center in La Havana organized in the Payret Theater a concert. Vicent Ballester performed with his fellow Amador Famadas. Three days later, the same center organized a tribute performance to both of them.

And here comes a fact which is non understandable to me because of the lack of concrete information. I know nothing about him until the end of July 1918. He’s then found singing zarzuela and operettas with a company from a business man called Santiago Garcia. But some newspapers talk about Vicent as if he were the owner of the company.