// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Maria Barrientos say to her piano? You're always striking a chord with me.
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María Barrientos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | María Alejandra Barrientos Llopis 4 March 1884 Barcelona, Kingdom of Spain |
| Died | 8 August 1946 (aged 62) Ciboure, France |
| Occupation | Operatic soprano |
María Alejandra Barrientos Llopis (4 March 1884[1] - 8 August 1946) was a Spanish opera singer, a light lyric coloratura soprano.
Biography
[edit]
Barrientos was born in Barcelona on 4 March 1884.[1] She received a thorough musical education (piano and violin) at the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona, before turning to vocal studies with Francisco Bonet. She made her debut at the Teatro Novedades in Barcelona, as Ines in L'Africaine, on March 10, 1898, aged only 15, quickly followed by the role of Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots.
She was immediately invited to all the major opera houses of Europe, singing in Italy, Germany, England, France, Ukraine (Odesa) to great acclaim. It is however in South America, especially at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, that she enjoyed her greatest triumphs. She sang there during five seasons between 1911 and 1921, and performed in 13 different operas, including in particular Lucia di Lammermoor, La sonnambula and The Barber of Seville.[2] Her career was temporarily interrupted in 1907 by her marriage and the birth of a son, the union did not prove a happy one and she returned to the stage in 1909.
Barrientos made her Metropolitan Opera debut on January 31, 1916, in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor with Giovanni Martinelli as Edgardo, Pasquale Amato as Enrico, and Gaetano Bavagnoli conducting. She remained committed to that house through 1920 where her other roles included Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Amina in La sonnambula, Elvira in I puritani, Gilda in Rigoletto, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, and the title roles in Lakmé and Mireille. She notably portrayed The Queen of Shemakha in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel for the opera's United States premiere on March 6, 1918. Her Met career came to an end on May 1, 1920, with a tour performance of L'elisir d'amore opposite Enrico Caruso.
Barrientos continued appearing on stage in standard coloratura roles until 1924. She then restricted herself to recitals, and became an admired interpreter of French and Spanish songs. Barrientos was a singer with a voice of almost instrumental limpidity.
She retired to the south-west of France, where she became an enthusiastic bridge player. She died at Ciboure on 8 August 1946.
Recordings
[edit]She made a valuable set of recordings for Fonotipia Records and Columbia Records.
She recorded Falla's Siete canciones populares españolas with the composer at the piano.[3][4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Massisimo, Antonio (28 December 1984). "El centenario inadvertido de María Barrientos". La Vanguardia. p. 23.
- ↑ Valenti Ferro, Enzo, Las Voces: Teatro Colón 1908-82. Buenos Aires: Ediciones de Arte Gaglianone, 1983, pp. 44-46. ISBN 950-9004-36-7.
- ↑ "María Barrientos y las Siete canciones populares de Falla". RTVE (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ↑ « Siete canciones populares españolas », María Barrientos and Manuel de Falla (1928) on YouTube
Further reading
[edit]- Alain Pâris, Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle (2 vols), Éditions Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th Edn. 1995, 5th Edn 2004). ISBN 2-221-06660-X
- D. Hamilton (ed.),The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the World of Opera (Simon and Schuster, New York 1987). ISBN 0-671-61732-X
- Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-59567-4
