Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Madrid Royal Conservatory The Madrid Royal Conservatory () is a music college in Madrid, Spain. History The Royal Conservatory of Music was founded on July 15, 1830, by royal decree, and was originally located in Mostenses Square, Madrid. In 1852 it was moved to the Roy ...

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Career

Martínez returned to Seville and taught guitar to pay for her entry to the

Madrid Royal Conservatory The Madrid Royal Conservatory () is a music college in Madrid, Spain. History The Royal Conservatory of Music was founded on July 15, 1830, by royal decree, and was originally located in Mostenses Square, Madrid. In 1852 it was moved to the Roy ...

. Martínez impressed Queen

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

and received a "life pension" from her in 1848, though it was ended two years later in 1850, after which Martínez frequently struggled financially. Martínez later performed in Paris to great success.

July 1850 performances at Her Majesty's Theatre, London

In July 1850 Martínez appeared in a

divertissement ''Divertissement'' (from the French 'diversion' or 'amusement') is used, in a similar sense to the Italian 'divertimento', for a light piece of music for a small group of players, however the French term has additional meanings. During the 17th an ...

at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

in London called ''Les Delices du Serail'', set in a

seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from , via Turkish, Italian and French) is a castle, palace or government building which was considered to have particular administrative importance in various parts of the former Ottoman Empire. "The S ...

. After the curtain came up, a

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

was shown amused by the dances of

odalisque An odalisque (, ) was an enslaved chambermaid or a female attendant in a Turkish seraglio, particularly the court ladies in the household of the Ottoman sultan. In western European usage, the term came to mean the harem concubine, and refer ...

s. Martínez then appeared "attired in a suit of rich amber-coloured satin" and performed. Her debut appearance at the theatre had been twice delayed by the closure of the theatre as a result of the death of

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 – 8 July 1850) was the tenth child and seventh son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until ...

, and her vocal hoarseness. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' wrote that "the expectations of the public...were not a little wound up". In London Martínez was marketed as the 'Black Malibran', in reference to the Spanish singer

Maria Malibran Maria Felicia Malibran (; 24 March 1808 – 23 September 1836) was a Spanish singer who commonly sang both contralto and soprano parts, and was one of the best-known opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality ...

. Edward Walford, writing in ''Old and New London'' (1878) wrote Martínez "sang quaint Spanish melodies". The opera manager

Benjamin Lumley Benjamin Lumley (1811 – 17 March 1875 in London) was a British North America-born British people, British opera manager and solicitor. Born Benjamin Levy, he was the son of a Jewish merchant, Louis Levy. Beginnings at His Majesty's Theatre Lu ...

wrote in his ''History of the Opera'', that Martinez's songs were "full of original charm, her execution excellent, her voice sweet, pure, and true; but the whole performance was small almost to meagreness, and, although it might well be regarded as a piquant musical curiosity, it failed in any real power of attraction". The ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'' described her voice as "wild, quaint and graceful" with its "dominant qualities" of "picturesqueness and its strong and unanticipated contrasts" and described her vocal quality as "sweet and luscious". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' wrote that her singing was "quaint and pointed, especially when she seems to give vent to a flow of spirits".''The Times'' wrote that "much applause" followed each song, but concluded that "enough disapprobation was mingled with approval to render it pretty certain the Cuban style of vocalisation will not get a permanent foothold in this country". Martínez's race was frequently commented on in contemporary accounts.''The Illustrated London News'' wrote that "the fame of this lady had reached us and as a mark of social progress in the 'black race' was to us fraught with peculiar interest". ''The Times'' wrote that the appearance in one of the boxes of

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

of "a lady of colour has caused much conversation in the lobbies". Later 19th century accounts of her used racist language. In a chapter entitled "The Desecration of the Stage" in the periodical ''Time'', an anonymous writer wrote that "the idea of nigger minstrelsy had not yet suggested itself" before Martinez was introduced to the "English opera goer" after a "great flourish of trumpets" and lamented the contemporaneous appearance of the Mastodon Minstrels.

Paris, France

Martínez resided in France around 1858–1863. The French writer

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

corresponded with Martínez while she was in Paris earlier in 1850, marveling at "La Malibran" and recommending her to various theaters and operas. Between 1856 and 1859

Félix Nadar Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (; 5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910), known by the pseudonym Nadar () or Félix Nadar'','' was a French people, French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloon (aircraft), balloonist, and proponent of Hi ...

took a series of studio photographs of "Maria l'Antillaise", thought to be of Maria Martínez. She continued to struggle financially while performing, and transitioned from performing in operas and theaters to cafes, such as the Alcazar at 10 rue Faubourg Poissonnière.

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

wrote of her in a letter to

Apollonie Sabatier Apollonie Sabatier (born Aglaé Joséphine Savatier; 8 April 1822 – 3 January 1890) was a French entertainer, artist's model and courtesan, who became a salon hostess and bohemian muse to many of the French artists of 1850s Paris. Biography A ...

, "Did you know that the unfortunate 'infortunéeMrs. Martínez was hanging out in the lyrical cafes and that she was singing a few days ago at the Alcazar?" She did not find the success of her earlier performances, and returned to Spain in 1863.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Maria 19th-century Cuban women singers Cuban expatriates in Spain Cuban guitarists Cuban women guitarists 1850 in London Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown

Early life and family

July 1850 performances at Her Majesty's Theatre, London

Paris, France

References