Graciela Rivera year she made her operatic debut as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" by Gioachino Rossini at the New Orleans Opera. In December 1951, she became the first Puerto Rican to sing a lead role at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Lucia in the production of Lucia di Lammermoor. She earned accolades for her performance from critics around the world. In 1953, Rivera was proclaimed "Citizen of the Year" by the City of New York. In 1954 Rivera was featured as a guest singer in Name That Tune, and later that year, at an instance of Your Show of
Madeleine Boyd Dvořák, with the director Alessandro Talevi. She has worked primarily in Europe with the American opera director Thaddeus Strassberger and the South African opera director Alessandro Talevi. Notable productions include Set and Costume Design: "La Cenerentola", by Gioachino Rossini for Malmö Opera, Sweden; "Orfeo ed Euridice" by Christoph Willibald Gluck, at Theater Augsburg, November 2007; "La Gazzetta" by Gioachino Rossini, Rossini in Wildbad Festival, July 2007. Her designs for Elizabeth Maconchy's one-act operas "The Sofa" and "The Departure", for Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells, in November 2007, were received with acclaim. The Chandos label released a recording of both operas