María Barrientos
Who is María Barrientos?
María Alejandra Barrientos López, a soprano known artistically as María Barrientos, was born in Barcelona on March 10, 1883, and died in Ciboure, France, on August 8, 1946. She was one of the most outstanding coloratura sopranos of her time, with a voice of almost instrumental clarity.
She received a thorough musical education, studying piano and violin at the Barcelona Conservatory, and studied singing under maestro Francisco Bonet. She made her debut at a Barcelona theater as Inés in “L’Africaine” in 1898, when she was just fifteen, and soon after took on the role of Marguerite de Valois in “Les Huguenots.”
Career
Her talent quickly earned her invitations from the leading European opera houses, where she sang to great acclaim in Italy, Germany, England and France. It was in South America, however, particularly at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, that she achieved her greatest triumphs. Her career was temporarily interrupted in 1907 by marriage and the birth of a son, though she returned to the stage a few years later.
She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York on January 31, 1916, in the title role of “Lucia di Lammermoor.” There she also performed other roles typical of the coloratura repertoire, such as Gilda, Rosina, and Amina in “La sonnambula” and Elvira in “I puritani,” remaining active on opera stages until 1924. She retired for good on January 24 of that year in Monte Carlo, after which she devoted herself to recitals of French and Spanish songs.
Later years
After leaving opera, María Barrientos settled in Buenos Aires, where she ran a singing school, before later moving to Paris. She died in Ciboure on August 8, 1946, remembered as one of the most admired coloratura voices of her generation.