Marina de Gabaráin
Marina de Gabaráin | |
---|---|
Born | 1917 San Sebastián (Donostia), Spain |
Died | 13 June 1972 (aged 54–55) Paris, France |
Occupation | Operatic mezzo-soprano |
Marina de Gabaráin (1917[a] – 13 June 1972) was a Spanish mezzo-soprano. Her international career began at Glyndebourne in 1952, where she appeared in Rossini's La Cenerentola as Angelina (Cinderella), which became her signature role.
Life
Born in
She achieved international recognition when she appeared in the title role of Angelina in Rossini's
At the
After her marriage (1959) to the Italian industrialist Giancarlo Villa, and the birth of their daughter Beatriz in 1961, her career took second place in her life[1] – although she did achieve a major success in Pretoria during 1964, with performances as Azucena, Carmen, and Amneris in Verdi's Aida. She also maintained a fruitful musical partnership with the guitarist Julian Bream, with whom she regularly performed in Spanish voice-guitar recitals.[6] In 1968 she showed the first signs of the serious illness which was to cause her definitive retirement, and her death in 1972 while undergoing treatment in Paris.[1]
Vocal style
Although famed for its agility, her dark mezzo-soprano was heavier than that style usually associated with the Rossini repertoire in which she achieved her earlier successes. Her range (Middle C to High D) was wide and true, her lower register rich in colour – although for some critics her voice tended to become hard and occasionally strained in its upper registers, and others felt that her talents were better-suited to the stage than to the recording studio.[7] Nevertheless, her small legacy of commercial recordings (supplemented by many off-air performances) assures her a significant place amongst the finest 20th-century operatic mezzo-sopranos.[1]
Recordings
Gabaráin's recordings include:
Year | Composer – Opera (role) |
Cast, Orchestra, Chorus and Conductor |
Label |
---|---|---|---|
1953 | La Cenerentola (Angelina) |
Ian Wallace (Don Magnifico), Juan Oncina (Ramiro), Chorus and Orchestra of Glyndebourne Festival, Vittorio Gui |
CD: Warner Classics 0288462 (2011)[8] |
1957 | de Falla – Siete canciones populares españolas | Hallé Orchestra, John Barbirolli |
CD: Warner Classics 9029538608 (2020) |
1959 | Carissimi – Historia Divitis | Orchestra Dell'Angelicum Di Milano, Umberto Cattini | LP: Angelicum LPA-972 (1959) |
1959 | de Falla – El amor brujo (Gitana) |
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet | CD: Decca 4339082 (1999) |
Notes
- ^ 1917 according to Joaquín Martín de Sagarmínaga, Diccionario de cantantes líricos españoles, Acento Editorial, 1997, p. 151. Other sources give 1925.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Joaquín Martín de Sagarmínaga, Diccionario de cantantes líricos españoles, Acento Editorial, 1997, p. 151
- ^ "Carmen 1949 | Tour | Opera Scotland". www.operascotland.org.
- ^ a b c d "Opera Archive – Marina de Gabaráin". Glyndebourne.
- ^ a b Gabarain Marina de / mezzosoprano (in German) operissimo.com
- ^ "Royal Opera House Performance Database". www.rohcollections.org.uk.
- ^ Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens, Großes Sängerlexikon, Vol.IV, pp.1054–5 (Saur Verlag, Bern, 2003)
- ^ from Eric Blom, Music & Letters, Vol.30, issue ii (review of La Cenerentola, Glyndebourne)
- ^ Recordings on. Operadis-opera-discography.org.uk. Retrieved on 9 September 2020.
External links
- Marina de Gabaráin discography at Discogs