Maria Galvany facts for kids
Maria Galvany was a famous Spanish singer, known for her amazing and flashy singing style. She was a coloratura soprano, which means she could sing very high notes and perform incredibly fast, tricky musical passages. Even though she was very talented, her singing career ended quietly.
Her Life and Operas
Maria Galvany was likely born in 1878 in Granada, Spain, though some people think it might have been a few years earlier. She studied singing at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. She first performed in an opera called Lucia di Lammermoor in Cartagena around 1896.
In Spain, she sang in many popular operas like La Sonnambula, La Traviata, and Lakmé. She became very popular with the Spanish public. After this, she traveled to Italy to sing. She performed in Milan in 1901 and had great success in Parma in 1903.
In 1905, Maria toured parts of Europe, singing in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Her performance in Venice in 1908, where she played Ophelia in the opera Hamlet, was very successful. She also performed well in London in 1909, singing in operas like Dinorah and Il Barbiere di Siviglia. She also sang in Lisbon and various cities in Russia.
After her success in Europe, Maria Galvany traveled to South America. She became especially popular in Brazil and Argentina. She is believed to have performed only once in the United States, in San Francisco in 1918. However, she never sang at the famous Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
After this, less is known about her career. Some say she settled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There, she might have become a singing teacher and given occasional concerts. It was commonly thought she died in 1927 in Rio. However, some recent claims suggest she might have died earlier, in 1918, from the influenza illness.
Her Recordings
Maria Galvany made many recordings on old "acoustic" records. These were made for different companies like Gramophone and Typewriter Company (G&T) and Pathé Records. Her most popular recordings were made around 1906. On some of these, she sang with other famous singers of her time, like Fernando de Lucia and Titta Ruffo. She also recorded for the Edison Company around 1911.
Her recordings mostly featured songs from Italian operas and Spanish zarzuela music. Sadly, not many of her recordings are available today for people to listen to.
Her recordings are still talked about today. This is because of her amazing use of coloratura singing. She would sing very fast, short notes called staccato and other surprising vocal tricks. Some listeners found her style very unique and even a bit funny because it was so over-the-top! This made some people think she was just a very skilled singer, but perhaps not always the most musical.
Sometimes, she would add extra musical parts called cadenzas that were not in the original music. This was common for singers in her time, as they often changed the music to show off their skills. Also, the sound of her high notes on these old records was not always clear, which can sound a bit harsh to modern ears. Her recordings also often have very fast speeds and other sounds because of the limited time on the old 78-rpm records.
However, many people still admire Maria Galvany for how sweet her middle singing voice sounded. They also praise her excellent sense of pitch (singing the right notes) and her amazing ability to sing very difficult musical passages. Her duets with the great baritone singer Titta Ruffo are some of her best-known recordings today.
See also
In Spanish: María Galvany para niños
