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Maria Malibran: A Biography of the Singer
Maria Garcia Malibran was the "superstar" of nineteenth-century opera—a singer whose colorful career and new vocal style epitomized the age of bel canto. Her roles in works by Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti performed in the leading opera houses of six countries, a flexible three-octave vocal range, and an impulsively effective acting style made her the object of fierce adulation. Malibran's short and frenetic life—she died suddenly while on tour at age twenty-eight—and her wildly successful career are documented with reviews of her performances and extracts from her prolific correspondence. Her letters give an intimate view of her vivacious personality, her friendships, and her liaisons. Among her correspondents were Vincenzo Bellini, Giuditta Pasta, and Lafayette, who as a friend attempted to create a French divorce law to allow Maria to marry Charles de Bériot, father of her illegitimate son. In addition, we are given a vivid picture of other members of the Garcia family, a remarkable troupe of singers headed by Manuel Garcia, who created the lead role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville . He also led the family troupe in the first American performances of Italian opera and gave Maria an arrogant and dictatorial tutelage that shaped her superb vocal skills.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1980
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September 24, 2018
Excerpt:
One evening she had promised Mme. Merlin to sing at a party, when Robert approached her about a benefit scheduled for that night at which she was expected to appear. An argument ensued and management won. "Very well," acquiesced the disgruntled singer. "I will sing at the theater because I have to, but I will sing at Mme. Merlin's because I want to." She kept her word. After singing Tancredi she arrived at the party, sang several songs for the guests, and partied until dawn. Returning home she slept until noon, rode horseback all afternoon, and appeared at the theater again that evening.
Few people outside of the opera world know of Maria Malibran today. But for a few years on either side of 1830, she was a bigger attraction in Europe and the population centers of the United States than any pop or rock artist you could name today. You'd have to go back to the heyday of the Beatles or of Elvis to find a similar phenomenon.
I realize how implausible that sounds, because it's hard to imagine a time when opera music WAS popular music. But so it was, and so it is revealed to be in Howard Bushnell's biography.
Maria -- I hesitate to use her last name much, and you'll see why -- was a remarkable individual. Strong, athletic, independent -- yes, there were men in her life, but they were more dependent upon her than the other way around -- generous, given to frenzied bursts of energy, as depicted in the excerpt above. She would sometimes sing the lead roles in two operas on the same night, and then sing at an all-night party. At least once, she sang lead roles in two operas on the same night in two different theaters.
Born in Spain to a musical family and with the musical name of Marcia Garcia, she was a teenager when she and her family brought Italian opera to New York City. Still a teenager, still in New York, she married a wealthy man named Eugene Malibran so she could get away from her father and retire from singing. But Eugene's wealth proved to be illusory, and she returned to singing to fend off bankruptcy. She was earning $600 a night, which doesn't sound like all that much today but was a record at the time.
She soon returned to Europe to get away from her husband and soon was a sensation from England to France to Italy. She fell in love with a violinist named Charles de Beriot. No less than General Lafayette, by then in his 70s, interceded to try to get the divorce laws of France changed so that her marriage to Malibran could be dissolved and she could legally marry de Beriot. He never succeeded (though Charles and Maria lived as a married couple), and it was after Lafayette's death in 1834 that the French courts agreed to annul the marriage. A 10-month waiting period was required before Maria and Charles could legally marry, meaning she was Maria de Beriot for less than the last year of her life.
The critics agreed that she was unequaled as both a singer and an actress. She though she was also a good dancer, but the critics disagreed with that.
She did everything with the same all-out zest as she showed on the stage. She rode horses at breakneck speeds, always choosing the most spirited horse. Once though, on a long, dangerous journey necessary to avoid cholera quarantines and arrive in Milan, Italy, in time for performances, she dressed the wounds of a muleteer thrown from his animal. He refused to get back on the mule, so she let him ride her horse and she rode the mule. It's one of many examples in the book of her quiet generosity.
It was a ride on a spirited horse that killed her. She was thrown from the horse, but her foot stuck in the stirrups and she was dragged along behind the galloping horse before the stirrups finally broke loose. She was carried away unconscious but revived at home, washed herself off and appeared in a concert that night. She continued to appear in concerts, in spite of intense headaches, delirium and vomiting, but she confided to her younger sister that she knew she had a blood clot in her head and was dying. She died on Sept. 23, 1836, at the age of 28.
Bushnell's biography of Maria seems to be written for opera lovers, with many references and much lingo that will leave the rest of us feeling a little lost. It also suffers from excessive use of excerpts from letters and reviews.
I wish someone would write a new, less clunky, biography. Maria Malibran deserves to be remembered, and not just among a subset of people.
One evening she had promised Mme. Merlin to sing at a party, when Robert approached her about a benefit scheduled for that night at which she was expected to appear. An argument ensued and management won. "Very well," acquiesced the disgruntled singer. "I will sing at the theater because I have to, but I will sing at Mme. Merlin's because I want to." She kept her word. After singing Tancredi she arrived at the party, sang several songs for the guests, and partied until dawn. Returning home she slept until noon, rode horseback all afternoon, and appeared at the theater again that evening.
Few people outside of the opera world know of Maria Malibran today. But for a few years on either side of 1830, she was a bigger attraction in Europe and the population centers of the United States than any pop or rock artist you could name today. You'd have to go back to the heyday of the Beatles or of Elvis to find a similar phenomenon.
I realize how implausible that sounds, because it's hard to imagine a time when opera music WAS popular music. But so it was, and so it is revealed to be in Howard Bushnell's biography.
Maria -- I hesitate to use her last name much, and you'll see why -- was a remarkable individual. Strong, athletic, independent -- yes, there were men in her life, but they were more dependent upon her than the other way around -- generous, given to frenzied bursts of energy, as depicted in the excerpt above. She would sometimes sing the lead roles in two operas on the same night, and then sing at an all-night party. At least once, she sang lead roles in two operas on the same night in two different theaters.
Born in Spain to a musical family and with the musical name of Marcia Garcia, she was a teenager when she and her family brought Italian opera to New York City. Still a teenager, still in New York, she married a wealthy man named Eugene Malibran so she could get away from her father and retire from singing. But Eugene's wealth proved to be illusory, and she returned to singing to fend off bankruptcy. She was earning $600 a night, which doesn't sound like all that much today but was a record at the time.
She soon returned to Europe to get away from her husband and soon was a sensation from England to France to Italy. She fell in love with a violinist named Charles de Beriot. No less than General Lafayette, by then in his 70s, interceded to try to get the divorce laws of France changed so that her marriage to Malibran could be dissolved and she could legally marry de Beriot. He never succeeded (though Charles and Maria lived as a married couple), and it was after Lafayette's death in 1834 that the French courts agreed to annul the marriage. A 10-month waiting period was required before Maria and Charles could legally marry, meaning she was Maria de Beriot for less than the last year of her life.
The critics agreed that she was unequaled as both a singer and an actress. She though she was also a good dancer, but the critics disagreed with that.
She did everything with the same all-out zest as she showed on the stage. She rode horses at breakneck speeds, always choosing the most spirited horse. Once though, on a long, dangerous journey necessary to avoid cholera quarantines and arrive in Milan, Italy, in time for performances, she dressed the wounds of a muleteer thrown from his animal. He refused to get back on the mule, so she let him ride her horse and she rode the mule. It's one of many examples in the book of her quiet generosity.
It was a ride on a spirited horse that killed her. She was thrown from the horse, but her foot stuck in the stirrups and she was dragged along behind the galloping horse before the stirrups finally broke loose. She was carried away unconscious but revived at home, washed herself off and appeared in a concert that night. She continued to appear in concerts, in spite of intense headaches, delirium and vomiting, but she confided to her younger sister that she knew she had a blood clot in her head and was dying. She died on Sept. 23, 1836, at the age of 28.
Bushnell's biography of Maria seems to be written for opera lovers, with many references and much lingo that will leave the rest of us feeling a little lost. It also suffers from excessive use of excerpts from letters and reviews.
I wish someone would write a new, less clunky, biography. Maria Malibran deserves to be remembered, and not just among a subset of people.
Displaying 1 of 1 review