Maria Malibran
María de la Felicidad Malibran, born García ( born March 24, 1808 in Paris, France, † September 23, 1836 in Manchester, England), was a French opera singer (mezzo- soprano). It was hailed as La Malibran and is considered the first diva of opera history, excelled especially in stage works of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini.
Life and artistic work
María García grew up in a musical family with Spanish roots. Her father was a native of Seville tenor and singing teacher Manuel del Pópulo Vicente García, her sister also known mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot -Garcia and her brother the baritone and singing teacher Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García, who is known for his fundamental school of singing today.
María García and Pauline first learned singing with her father. At the age of five she was singing a children's role in Ferdinando Paer Agnese in Naples. She made her debut in London in 1825 at King 's Theatre as Rosina in The Barber of Seville. She jumped on very short notice for a Giuditta Pasta. At the end of the season, she went with her father and two siblings to New York to perform there with them Italian operas. The Garcias also bring American premiere as Mozart's Don Giovanni on stage, with Maria as Zerlina.
In New York, Maria met 27-year- old banker François Eugène Malibran, whom she married immediately. Only a few months after their marriage, her husband went bankrupt, and María Malibran had to support it with the fee for their performances. After a year she separated from her husband and went back to Europe. In Paris she became the idolized star. In between, she appeared again and again in England and Belgium. In 1832 she went to Italy. There they conquered the major opera houses of Rome, Naples, Milan, Venice and Bologna, but also sang in many smaller towns.
María Malibran fell in love with the Belgian violinist and composer Charles de Beriot (1802 - 1870) and lived with this for six years in " concubinage " together before she married him in 1836. 1833 went out of their marriage produced a son (later pianist Charles- Wilfrid Bériot, 1833-1914 ).
In April 1836 Maria Malibran fell on a hunt in London's Hyde Park from her horse and was injured so badly that they shall not recovered. She refused to let her treat fractures by a doctor, and went instead to continue. The pregnant artist died five months after her accident in Manchester, England.
Maria Malibran was not only an exceptional singer. She composed, played excellent piano and harp, painting, drawing, embroidered and tailored partially their own costumes She was also a master of deft pen. Your letters are ( literary ) works of art, which are characterized by a very original expression, wit and a sharp mind.
When she was buried, 50 000 fans lined the streets. Your final resting place they held in Brussels on the Notre -Dame de Laeken cemetery. Stands on the marble top of her grave site: " beauty, genius and love were the name of this woman. "
Reception
The German filmmaker Werner Schroeter turned a 1971 TV movie about her life, entitled The Death of Maria Malibran ( Christine Kaufmann). The mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli has dedicated to this great singer, her idol, a CD: Maria ( Decca 2007). A traveling exhibition with exhibits by and about La Malibran in a modern tractor accompanied her tour in eight European countries in the years 2007 and 2008.
Compositions
- Spread Thy Wings Light (song)
- Rataplan (song)