100 Singers - MARTINA ARROYO

Martina Arroyo, Soprano (*1937)

Giuseppe Verdi LA FORZA DEL DESTINO
Pace, pace mio Dio
Conducted by Lamberto Gardelli
Recorded 1969

My personal opinion: It was one of those embarrassing moments you'll never forget. It was in the 1980s. I sat in the audience, and on stage the italian tenor Lando Bartolini sang the beginning of the great love duet "Bimba, Bimba, non piangere" from MADAMA BUTTERFLY. As Martina Arroyo continued with "Quest' obi pomposa" and a few moments later with "Butterfly rinegata, rinegata e felice", it became quite clear, the duet would be a catastrophe, and Bartolini's face spoke volumes. A murmur went through the audience: Never before had I heard a high praised soprano in such a bad condition. It was really a poor start to become acquainted with the voice of Martina Arroyo. Thank heaven, this first impression was relativized later. But one question remained unanswered: Why was this soprano not used more often for recordings? At least, once her AIDA was highly praised. With this role, she stepped in for an indisposed Birgit Nilsson at the Met in 1965; it was her breakthrough. But when Ms. Arroyo was in her zenith, the role of the ethiopian princess was given on records to Caballé, Freni and to the lightweight Katia Ricciarelli - all soprano's with the wrong voice color or with an insufficient technique to sing this demanding part. Aida is a lirico spinto role for a "Soprano drammatico". Martina Arroyo proved with her splendid sung Leonora in the 1969 Gardelli-recording of LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, she had the qualities of a lyric dramatic soprano (Her "Pace, pace" is one of the best ever on records).
In September 1972, Arroyo sang AIDA at La Scala with Domingo, Cossotto, Cappuccilli and Roni. The same cast recorded the opera one year later under Muti; but Arroyo was replaced with Caballé (a wrong choice, but big names are more lucrative). Arroyo's "Ritorna vincitor" is dramatic expressive and sung with "limpid beauty" (Harriett Johnson). To hear "O patria mia" equally yearning, we have to go back to Zinka Milanov and Leontyne Price. In his book "A Knight at the Opera", Rudolf Bing wrote: "One day, when Ms. Arroyo came on stage, she was welcomed as Ms. Price. "I am the other one, my friend!", she said." Although she had self-confidence, she was renowned only as the "second black primadonna after Price!" The fate of a singer, who achieved much, but not all. She came to the Met already in 1959 as the "Celestial voice" in Verdi's DON CARLO, but rose to prominence not until 1963 as AIDA at the Zurich Opera House. Her success at the Met was a long time in the coming. Ms. Arroyo sang in Milan, London, Paris, Buenos Aires, Berlin, San Francisco and Chicago - to name just a few. Early in her career, a reviewer wrote: "She is a gifted soprano who appears to have remarkable potential". After her Met breakthrough in 1965, the house became her principle home until 1978. During these 13 years, she sang there Verdi and Puccini heroines and Mozart's Donna Anna (her recording as Donna Elvira under Böhm is NOT a highlight in her discography), Maddalena in ANDREA CHENIER, Santuzza and LA GIOCONDA. In October 1983, she sang for the Canadian Opera Company her first TURANDOT, a challenge she managed well (if we can trust in an obscure live recording). Shortly after, her voice declined and her career slowed down, when Martina Arroyo was in her mid-forties. It was around the time, when I saw her, certainly some years too late. We have to hear her early recordings (for example LES HUGUENOTS with Sutherland and the great rendition of FORZA Del DESTINO with Bergonzi), to understand why she once was highly admired. In 1981 the late in her career recording of CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA became the weak point in her discography: "Her Santuzza sounds like "Summertime" on Sicily", wrote "Opera on Records".
Martina Arroyo was a typical singer in the second row. Good enough for the greatest opera houses in the world, but she never reached the status and artistic ability of Leontyne Price. Arroyo was right, when she said, that she was only "The other one".

That was my personal opinion. What´s yours? Please let us know!

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Music

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• Arroyo

[jacobtfn]

What a wonderful rendition of this aria, really love it. Thank you for this present.

[ian1856]

@tenorvoicefan Amen! Eine wunderbare Kuenstlerin! Und auch eine sehr netter Mensch.

[90lysander]

Gorgeous singing in this clip!

[art724]

Agreed. I saw Martina many times at the Met and in Chenier with Domingo at the New Jersey Opera. Wonderful singer but not Price whose most vivid memory is as Leonora with Tucker and Merrill in La Forza, also at the Met.

[tenorvoicefan]

Sicher, zweite Reihe. Aber nicht zweitklassig. Ihr Pace gehört zum allerfeinsten. Ihre Aida hat ungeheuren Ausdruck, und bei mir gehört sie zur ersten Reihe, was die Aida angeht.

Ich finde sie wunderbar. Sie erinnert mich manchmal an die junge Callas, in einigen Passagen. Danke für das wunderbare Video, ich habs sehr genossen.