Born María de los Ángeles Gulín Domínguez in Ribadavia, Spain, she moved with her family at the age of eight to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she studied singing with her father, who became a local music director who organized concerts in parks. She made her operatic debut there in 1963, as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, as last minute replacement. She then returned to Europe where she sang mostly in Spain and Italy in roles such as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Gilda in Rigoletto and Violetta in La traviata.
