The young Mario grew up with an intense love for music, especially opera and art songs.
He also showed an early interest for composition, writing his first piece of music at the age of nine.
As a teenager, he moved with his parents to Córdoba, Veracruz, where he completed his basic education.Talavera then moved to Mexico City and joined the opera company, where he honed his vocal skills and achieved his dream of singing before large audiences opera works as Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, that gave him the musical direction he had long coveted, although his main contribution was as a popular music songwriter rather than as an opera singer.During the decade of the 1920s, Talavera was part of several ensembles of traditional Mexican music, toured with the Orquesta TÃpica Presidencial, and organized and led various groups.
Some of his most popular tunes include Amar en silencio, Arrullo, Bendita seas, China, El Nopal, Flor de Mayo, Jesusita la Vaquera and Muchachita mÃa.