Record Reviews
Nicholas E. Limansky
Maria Galvany (1878-1949) In Opera and Song
Note: A version of this review was published by Opera Quarterly, Summer, 2004 issue.


Preiser CD (PR89578) released in Europe, May 26, 2003, United States, December 2003

Rossini: "Una voce poco fa" (Barber of Seville) (3:12)
Bellini: "Son geloso del zeffiro" (La Sonnambula) (3:38) w/Aristodemo Giorgini
Bellini: Mad Scene (I Puritani) (3:14)
Donizetti: "Chiedli all'aurora" (L'elisir d'Amore) (3:34) w/ Aristodemo Giorgini
Donizetti: "Tornani a dir" (Don Pasquale) (3:51) w/ Aristodemo Giorgini
Gounod: Waltz Song (Mireille) (2:52)
Gounod: Waltz Song (Romeo et Juliette) (3:10)
Thomas: Mad Scene (Hamlet) (4:04)
Arditi: L'Incantatrice Waltz (3:34)
Proch: Theme & Variations (3:18)
Chapi: Carcelleras (Hijas de Zebedeo) (3:27)
Bellini: "Prendi, l'anel ti dono" (La Sonnambula) (3:39) w/ Fernando de Lucia
Bellini: "Oh ciel, che tento" (La Sonnambula) (3:18) w/ Andres Perello De Segurola
Bellini: "Ah non giunge" (La Sonnambula) (3:11)
Donizetti: Mad Scene (Lucia di Lammermoor) (8:04)
Donizetti: "O luce di quest anima" (Linda di Chamounix (2:59)
Meyerbeer: Shadow Song (Dinorah) (4:21)
Delibes: Bell Song (Lakmé) (3:44)
Verdi: "Sempre libera" (La Traviata) (4:00) w/ Remo Andreini
Dufau: Maggio-Valzer (3:48)


Maria Galvany, probably the most controversial of vocal virtuosos, has reached CD format.  The Austrian firm, Preiser, took the chance and has released what turns out to be an excellent representation of this soprano's special gifts while minimizing her shortcomings.  It not only offers a generous sampling of her staggering pyrotechnical abilities but also helps balance certain notions about her musicianship or lack thereof.

Maria Galvany was born in Granada, Spain in 1878.  (Some sources claim 1876 or 1874) Unfortunately, very few confirmed dates concerning this singer are available.  She studied at the Conservatory of Madrid under Puig and then Verger and made her operatic debut at Cartagena in 1896 (or 1897) as Lucia di Lammermoor.  She soon became a favorite with the Spanish public singing such operas as La Traviata, Lucia, Lakmé, Les Huguenots, Hamlet and La Sonnambula.  Although she sang in Milan (1901) it was not at La Scala, but rather the Teatro Del Verme.  In 1903 she sang in Parma, in Sonnambula and in 1905 she toured Belgium, Holland and France.  During 1908 she was extremely successful as Ophelia in Thomas' Hamlet in Venice and in 1909 traveled to London as part of a touring company, singing La Sonnombula, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Dinorah.  Throughout that decade Maria Galvany proved to be very popular with provincial Italian and Spanish audiences.  She was also greatly admired in Russia, particularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as in Brazil, Portugal and Argentina.

Galvany performed in the United States only once, in San Francisco (1918) singing in vaudeville rather than opera.  After this, information is scarce.  Completely forgotten by the time of her death, her passing was not even noted in the press at the time.  As a matter of fact, the circumstances of her death remain somewhat of a mystery.  According to most reports, she settled in Rio de Janeiro, taught voice, and occasionally gave concerts.  Up until 1990, it had been assumed that she died in Rio on November 2, 1949 in the San Luis retirement home.  (This information also appears in Preiser's notes.) It seems, however, that that may not have been the case.  In the English magazine, The Record Collector, Dr. Jaques Alain Leon of Brazil stated that the death information usually accepted about this soprano was false:

"The person who actually died there in Botafolgo, in Rio, was another soprano, Fanny MARIA Rollas GALVANI... who was born on 25th March, 1859.  She was a dramatic soprano and never recorded.  She met the French tenor Rene Talba well into her eighties.  He told me this story himself and he was sure that Galvany, the coloratura, was killed by influenza in 1918 as there is no trace of her after that."


Maria Galvany was born seven years after the famous Luisa Tetrazzini and four years before the equally famous Amelita Galli-Curci.  She never attained their renown but there were factors that contributed to this situation.  First of all she never performed on American operatic stages and only a few times in England.  Secondly, she rarely performed in first-rate houses and under first rate conductors.  Today, almost 100 years later, her fame rests solely on the recordings she has left posterity.

There were other things working against this singer.  From reports of the time we get the impression that she was an acceptable actress but little else and she did not have that special "presence" that great artists possess.  Indeed, from the few pictures one can find of this singer, one perceives a rather short, dark, small-framed woman of unassuming features.  Her pictures offer no hint of temperament and, perhaps not surprisingly, many of her discs support this.

Contributing to her limitations internationally was the natural timbre of her upper register - a sound that generally did not appeal to English or American audiences.  It is a particular vocal placement (pinched back to the soft palate, rather than closer to the hard palate and frontal) that even today does not reproduce well on recordings.  Galvany, however, was typical of the type of coloratura soprano that was being produced in vocal studios of Latin countries at the time - Maria Barrientos, Elvira De Hidalgo, Mercedes Capsir and Graziella Pareto all possessed similar placements.

This compact placement is not to be confused however, with the white, tight-jawed problems of the Italians Toti Dal Monte, Margarita Carosio, and Margherita Guglielmetti.  I suspect that Maria Galvany's high register actually was full of overtones never adequately captured on recordings.  This can be proven (to some extent) by comparing commercial and live recordings of other like-timbred singers closer to our day such as Roberta Peters, Renata Scotto, and Ruth Welting.  Each of these singers has similar placement when they get into the upper extreme - as if they were trapping the sound far back in the throat.  Hearing such singers in an opera house proves that their high notes have many overtones that float with warmth and height throughout the house's acoustics.  On recordings, however, these same high notes become compromised and often sound wiry, thin or shrill.

Although all this seems to be a lot to do about nothing, it is important to understand this before one tries to listen to or analyze Maria Galvany's recordings.  This factor, combined with the rapidity of her execution and the quality of the recording process at the time, often lends an unfortunate, comical edge to her more virtuostic selections.

John Steane succinctly judged Maria Galvany as "...a Spanish soprano who most notably on records could sound like a whistling kettle on a high E flat." Although he admitted that she "...had a pleasant middle voice, and her facility in rapid staccato was extraordinary."


Michael Scott also found little merit in Galvany's recordings: "On these we hear a hard little voice of no particular quality, the tone fluttery but secure, the range extending easily to the high F, and with quite an extraordinary facility in staccato which she takes the opportunity to show off whenever she can, no matter how inappropriate; it is surprising to find a cadenza at the end of the Bell Song, outrageous in the Queen of the Night's aria, the staccati chattering away like machine gun fire.  Her records are amusing party pieces."


Another factor that played an important part in her remaining a provincial artist was the fact that, at least on her solo recordings, she seemed to grasp every opportunity to show off her agility rather than use any artistic discretion in her work.  All this only served to emphasize the circus tent aspects of her particular gifts.  There is also an occasional carelessness on her recordings that is not attractive and her self-indulgent manner of singing can become tiresome.  With Galvany (as is true of many true virtuosi such as Miliza Korjus and Luciana Serra) it is best to sample her art in small doses.

But the fact remains that Galvany was a virtuoso technician pure and simple.  She had an inherent love for, and understanding of, complicated florid work much like the finest instrumental virtuosi.  Her knowledge of ornaments, variational patterns and cadential formulae was staggering.  But she was a technician rather than an interpreter and so her art was best served by concert showpieces where she was free to "play at will" rather than within the inhibiting structure of operatic arias.  Galvany's technical battery was astonishing; like a human violin she darted through intricate coloratura and staccati with a rapidity and accuracy that has not been equaled in the history of recorded sound.  No technical challenge was beyond her and a transcription of some of her fioriture is a shocking experience.  If one listens through the background noise of her discs to the meat of her instrument, it was well-produced with an attractive, warm middle register contrasted by a focused, ringing top to F in alt.  I disagree with Michael Scott.  I find Galvany's timbre easy to distinguish from other singers of that era.  True to form, it is apparent that in some arias Galvany felt they did not sufficiently display her virtuosity.  To remedy this she simply tacked on a cadenza.  (Of the 15 solo selections on the Preiser disc, at least 6 feature voice/flute contests.) It might interest today's listeners to realize that even in her hey day Galvany's concentration on the virtuostic aspects of her singing was anachronistic.  She did not fit in with the forward-looking artists of her day - such as Melba who spent much of her career promoting the lyrical merits of the new, modern music of Puccini and others.

Galvany did have her admirers, however.  The Chilean soprano, Sofia Del Campo (1884-1969) obviously admired Galvany enough to "lift" a portion of the latter's flute cadenza at the conclusion of Lakmé's Bell Song using it for her own recording.  Del Campo also attempted to emulate Galvany's rapid staccato technique - but often with sloppy, nasty results.

Despite all these "negatives," I feel that most modern listeners misunderstand Maria Galvany's particular art and critics often lose sight of the primary motivation behind her singing.  It cannot be emphasized enough that she was a virtuoso - nothing more, nothing less and, to her credit, she never pretended to be anything else.  Because of this, there is a fitting sense of daring and the spectacular to be found on her discs.  She was the type of technician (in vocal terms) that one can find mirrored on the recordings of such idiosyncratic instrumental artists as Alfred Cortot, Vladimir de Pachmann, and Simon Barere (piano), and Zino Francescati and Michael Rabin (violin).  Like them, Galvany reveled in the most outrageous intricacies of fioriture and obviously enjoyed presenting them to the listener with a nonchalance of execution that is quite unique in the annals of singing.  The ending of the "Incantatrice" waltz by Arditi, for instance, is a remarkable piece of singing no matter what vocal standards are being held up as example.  Perhaps most impressive is that fact that even though the music is teeming with coloratura and various vocal tricks including rapid staccati figurations, roulades, trills, wide leaps, octave glissandi, and perfect attacks on repeated high E flats, Galvany's vocal attack is always immediate and clean.  She never seems to tire and her stamina is absolutely prodigious.  Blessed with obviously overdeveloped diaphragm muscles she was able to toss off staccati passages with complete clarity but three or four times faster than anyone else.  Complimenting this was a remarkable sense of pitch.

Her most famous recording remains the Queen of the Night's Vengeance Aria from Act II of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte - though for all the wrong reasons.  In this recording she dashes through high staccati with a rapidity that beggars description.  As if the aria were not brilliant enough, she adds a cadenza with flute at the conclusion and caps it with a strong, brilliant high D.  Because of the staggering rapidity with which she throws off the aria one almost overlooks the fact that she does not make one of the high Fs asked for by Mozart.  It is this recording that is most "prized" as the ultimate party recording.

Not all serious musicians consider Galvany a joke.  In a fascinating interview with William Braun for Opera News, the renowned conductor, Nicholas Harnoncourt, made some startling remarks concerning Galvany's famous recording of the Queen of the Night's second aria.  During the interview Braun comments:

"Galvany makes huge, sudden accelerations each time the coloratura comes in, then adds a relentless cadenza with flute before the last phrase.  Harnoncourt not only knows the recording, he loves it.  'I would jump four meters in the air to hear her.  Forget the cadenza at the end - it was the style at the time.  But what she does with the coloratura is absolutely unique.  The meaning of the coloratura when she starts that!  And the whole tempo is already fast for this aria, which is very convincing.  I think this maybe is exactly what Mozart meant, because the coloratura becomes a new dimension of aggression."


Galvany recorded for four companies.  Her first discs were in 1903 for G&T and Pathe.  She returned to G&T in 1906, and from that time until 1909 made her most famous recordings.  Around 1911 she made cylinders for Edison and Amberola.  I have yet to find a detailed discography of this soprano but I suspect that her recorded output was upwards of about 70 discs.  Although always popular in their fashion, most of her recordings have not been released (about 40 selections were released by various LP labels throughout the decades).  For many years it was the Club 99 American LP release (99-56) that kept Galvany's singing before listeners.  Fortunately, most of that album's selections are duplicated by Preiser.  What is missing is the scintillating Fado Portuguez by Neuparth - "Ouvi dizar" - a remarkable tour de force, the infamous Queen of the Night aria, (there are actually two versions - one recorded in 1907 with orchestra and one with piano recorded in 1906) and Galvany's take on the Tetrazzini warhorse, "Io non sono piu l'Annetta" from Ricci's Crispino e la Comare.  Shortly after the appearance of the Club 99 LP, the label OASI released their own Galvany LP (574) which fortunately did not have any important duplicates but rather concentrated on the Pathe and early (1903) G&Ts.  One important selection from that group makes its appearance on the Preiser CD - the Dufau "Maggio" Waltz, an nimble frolic that rivals Arditi's display waltz.

Unfortunately, few of her discs were made with first rate colleagues.  Sessions with Fernando de Lucia, Francesco Marconi and Titta Ruffo, however, found Galvany to be a thoughtful and considerate partner with a recording decorum that suggests that all she needed was some guidance.  Whether this was at one time offered to the singer but was declined is not known but even so she was not totally without musical instinct, or discipline: her work during duet sessions earned her the title Maria Gentile.  A few of her duet discs with Titta Ruffo still command respect.  Their version of the famous comic duet, "Dunque io son" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, was for many decades considered the finest of the early recordings.  Their version of the Act II duet "Dite a la giovane" from La Traviata is also highly regarded as one of the finer early renditions.

Had she been able to work with conductors who could have guided her artistic growth, it is possible that Maria Galvany's legacy would have been quite different.  Left to her own devices, however, she did what she did best - even if in doing so she often showed a wanton disregard for stylistic proprieties.  It is almost as if she thought (wrongly) that the more showy her singing was the more impressive she would be.

There is, however, an undeniable probity to some of her discs; a non-apologetic honesty about her virtuosity that I find refreshing.  Her florid capabilities were so staggeringly advanced that today's listeners are often made uncomfortable by her freakish ability to sing so rapidly and cleanly.  This ability was joined to a sense of joy and freedom in the upper fourth of her range that is rarely heard during any era of vocalism.  According to reports Galvany's voice must have held up well since she could still sing a good high F in public in 1909 when she was 31 years old and after some thirteen years of professional singing.

Unfortunately, it is also true that there are some disks on this CD which make it difficult to approach her with any seriousness at all.  Most often this has to do with the extremely fast tempi chosen to frame the arias.

Some of her recordings are marred by odd mistakes - often orchestral rather than vocal.  Also, Galvany's penchant for swooping up to her highest tones - as at the end of the Hamlet and Lakmé selections occasionally makes such flourishes sound wildly undisciplined.  In these instances high E flats or Es emerge more piercing on recording than they must have sounded in an opera house.  On the other hand, moments like the end of "Spargi d'amaro pianto" from Lucia di Lammermoor, with its clean attack on a final high E flat, are quite brilliant.  One notices at times that Galvany often over shoots her pitch in the area of high E flat and E.  The problems are consistent enough to suggest that she may have had problems judging pitch when within that area.  Rarely is such sharpness offensive - indeed in some instances it adds a frisson of excitement to the finish of her pieces.

A few arias are surprisingly unimpressive.  Rosina's "Una voce poco fa" the first selection on the disc is one of these.  The humor never emerges in any solid form.  The aria is peppered with many high Ds and rapid roulades, but the whole thing is too determined and coarse.  The frothy waltz song from Romeo et Juliete is another casualty - it has no hint of the Gallic charm it should and although one might suspect that the Bell Song would be a perfect vehicle for Galvany's talents, it is not one of her better efforts.  There are careless errors, no sense of character, and a struck chime preceding the bell refrain is comically sharp.  To further exhibit her prowess Galvany interpolates a cadenza with flute.  By itself it is a brilliant florid effect and a marvel of rapid execution that one can appreciate for her miraculous sense of pitch.  In the context of this aria, however, it is stylistically deplorable, having nothing to do with Delibes.  It is also surprising that the Proch Variations - though light weight to begin with - are largely unsuccessful - though in this case it is simply that Galvany sings the piece too fast.  The listener just doesn't have enough time to mentally register everything that she is doing.

Things improve with the Mad Scene from I Puritani.  Here Galvany sings with more sensitivity and some lovely tone.  Actually this is one of her more successful records even though it is riddled with cuts - only a fraction of the cabaletta is included.  She ends the aria with a brief staccato flourish and an immediate leap to a brilliant penultimate high E flat.  Another disk that is quite good is the "Carcelleras" from Chapi's zarzuela recorded in 1907.  This was a piece that was a favorite with sopranos at the time and Galvany shows the solidity and warmth of her lower register to great effect.  It also displays the smooth transition Galvany could call upon between the middle and lower register.

The duets are especially instructive.  They prove that with a first-rate partner Galvany could be just as artistic as the best of them.  The Sonnambula duet with De Lucia and piano accompaniment is truly a lovely bit of work from both artists - the blend between the two voices is excellent and it is obvious that Galvany is following de Lucia's every move.

Undoubtedly the discs that will most interest today's listeners are her pyrotechnical displays but even within that specialized group there are some special renditions.  This includes the 1908 "Ah non giunge" from Sonnambula which is given a dashing, bravura performance.  (In her 1903 version for Pathe she concluded the aria with a sustained penultimate high F.  Here, she contents herself with offering typical ornaments up to high E flat but a brilliant final flourish.) Lucia's famous mad scene is typical of recordings of the time except that purists will be horrified by her use of two, separate, cadenzas with flute.  Occasional register shifts are evident but these are contrasted by a surprising sincerity of performance from Galvany.  (At times in this piece, as in others, Galvany resorts to the "bamboleggiante" or "doll-like" vocal effect that Michael Aspinall discusses in his notes for EMI's 3 CD disc set of Tetrazzini's London recordings.  This was an effect meant to convey youth or madness and it is better merged into Galvany's vocal technique than many other's that used it.)

In pieces such as Dinorah's Shadow Song "O luce di quest anima" from Linda di Chamonix, and the Waltz Song from Mireille, the intricate fioriture is tossed off with almost laughable rapidity.

I can still remember the first time I heard her rendition of Mireille's Waltz over thirty years ago.  I confess that I remember giggling - and although I would like to think it was because I was so dizzy from the inhuman rapidity of Galvany's execution, I am not so sure.  Once one gets past the humorous aspects of all this, however, one realizes that this woman was a phenomenal virtuoso.  Galvany manages to dart through the aria under three minutes even with an additional voice/flute cadenza!  It makes most listeners think the recording is being played twice the normal speed or that the transfers are fast.  One interesting bit of trivia concerning this recording: if one listens carefully to the end of the aria, you can hear the remarkable "ping" of Galvany's penultimate high D ringing through the membrane of the recording horn.

Another successful recording is the Mad Scene from Hamlet.  The quality of her performance suggests that Ophelia may have been her favorite role since during the Ballade section she carefully creates an appropriate mood of sorrow and nostalgia.  Her rendering of the lines: (in Italian) "Sul cor della sposa tien lo sposo il cor.  L'alma e gelosa d'un si dolce amor" (On his lady's bosom the knight rests his heart.  My soul is jealous of such a love.)
is surprisingly potent and affecting.  Her warmly hued lower register contributes much into the success of this section which is then brilliantly contrasted by the following pyrotechnics.  There is also a feeling of desperation in the second half of the aria that is appropriate - including the long run up to high E which is easily rippled across.  Galvany swoops to an additional sustained top E during the final cadence bringing the aria to quite a brilliant finish.  One interesting thing during this record (as well as a few others) is that at times one can distinctly hear Galvany clearing her throat.

And then there is the Incantatrice Waltz.  What can one say about such a piece - surely there is nothing in the repertoire to match such a display.  If I could take only one Galvany recording to a desert island it would be this since aside from the fact that it is great fun, it also serves as a demonstration of what the human voice can accomplish in rare instances.

Thanks to Preiser's care and hard work Maria Galvany's unusual technique emerges clear and brilliant.  They should be commended for their care in the preparation of this album.  They offer good, realistic notes (very difficult when it comes to this artist) and a dignity of presentation that is appropriate - no matter what one might think of her art.  The transfers are excellent - the quality clean and clear with the voice well forward.  I had been used to the old LP issues of this artist's work and the CD release was revelatory especially concerning Galvany's middle register.

But to be honest, this disc is not for everyone and each listener will have to make their own judgments.  Personally, I have always found it ironic that in a world where instrumental virtuosi are treated with awe and respect, that same specialization in vocalism is ridiculed.

If, however, you love the human voice, are interested in virtuosi or fascinated by vocal phenomenas, Maria Galvany's unembarrassed eccentricity is for you.  I for one, would hate to be without at least a few of her records.  I would rather applaud (or at least have vigorous and intelligent debates about) Maria Galvany's recordings and audacious pyrotechnics than be bored to death by cautious, carefully sanitized singing.

Footnotes:

  1. Volume 35, (issues #8,9, 10 of 1990) The Record Collector (page 250)
  2. John Steane, The Grand Tradition (Charles Scribner's Sons, NY 1974, (page 48, 84)
  3. Michael Scott, The Record of Singing (Charles Scribner's Sons, NY 1977, (page 163)
  4. William Braun, Opera News , October 2003, (page 43)
  5. Mad Scene from Hamlet translation: Maria Callas Live in Concert, EMI 7243 5 72030