Barrientos, Maria. (1883-1946)
Signed Hand-Colored Postcard
A lovely hand-colored photograph postcard of the Spanish coloratura soprano, with a facsimile signature above and an autograph signature at the left, dated 1905. On the verso, the postcard is addressed to the Argentinian collector Ramona Imaz Otaño, with the original stamp and postmark. 3.5 x 5.5 inches (8.7 x 13.7 cm)."After a short course of singing lessons at the Barcelona Conservatory, [Barrientos] made her début at the age of 14 at the Teatro Lirico... After further studies, she sang at Covent Garden (in Il barbiere di Siviglia, 1903), at La Scala (in Meyerbeer’s Dinorah and in Barbiere, 1904–5), and at many leading theatres throughout the world. On 31 January 1916 she made her Metropolitan début in Lucia di Lammermoor and she appeared there regularly in the standard coloratura roles during the next four seasons. In later years Barrientos became an admired interpreter of French and Spanish songs, and made a valuable set of records, including Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas and Soneto a Córdoba with the composer at the piano. These complement many fascinating discs documenting her stage roles and displaying the charm of her airy soprano leggero." (Desmond Shawe-Taylor, New Grove Dictionary of Opera.) (13486)
Signed Photograph Opera