[3][4] She was nicknamed La Versátil ("The Versatile") because she sang and recorded songs of various music genres, including cuplé, bolero, and tango.
[5] In 1942, María Graciela participated in a contest organized by radio station XEW to choose a new vocalist for the songs of Agustín Lara, but she lost to Lupita Alday.
In 1948, Esmeralda introduced Agustín Lara's famous schottische "Madrid" on Mexican radio, and in that same year she recorded it for the Peerless label.
[7] Lara later commissioned the singer Ana María González to introduce the schottische in Spain.
She sang in the film Coqueta (1949) and played the role of an attractive singer named Risaralda who sings the bolero "Flor de azalea" in Dos pesos dejada (1949), starring Joaquín Pardavé and Sara García.