Ana María Martínez

Puerto Rican soprano

Ana María Martínez
Martínez in Florencia en el Amazonas at the Florida Grand Opera in 2018
Born	Ana María Martínez Colón 1971 (age 52–53) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupation	Operatic soprano
Years active	1992–present
Organization	Houston Grand Opera
Website	anamariamartinez.com

Ana María Martínez (born 1971) is a Puerto Rican soprano.

Early life

Martínez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico; she is the daughter of Puerto Rican opera singer Evangelína Colón^[1]^[2] and Cuban psychoanalyst Ángel Martínez. Martínez' grandparents originated in Spain and France, and migrated to the Caribbean islands. Martínez grew up with a strict Catholic upbringing.^[3] She briefly attended the Boston Conservatory as a musical theater major, but dropped out and later received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the Juilliard School.^[4]

Career

After winning first prize in the 1994 Eleanor McCollum Competition, Martínez joined the Houston Grand Opera's studio in the 1994/95 season, during which she performed Micaëla in Carmen and the title role in Sāvitri.^[5]

In November 2005 Martínez debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in Carmen as Micaëla.^[6] In 2006 she was featured in Salzburg Festival's production of Così fan tutte as Fiordiligi.^[7]

In summer 2009, she performed the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In the 21 August performance she fell into the orchestra pit immediately before the end of Act 1 after her feet became entangled in part of the scenic feature. She was then hospitalized as a precaution and for the rest of the performance her role was taken over by Natasha Jouhl, who performed the role of First Nymph in the run.^[8]^[9]

In February 2016 she was Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera.^[10]

She returned to Così fan tutte as Fiordiligi at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in February 2018.^[11] In April, she took up the title role in Florencia en el Amazonas at Florida Grand Opera.^[12] In July she performed in Falstaff at the Royal Opera, London as Alice Ford.^[13] She portrayed Élisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos opening on 22 September at the Los Angeles Opera.^[14]

In January 2019 she brought performances of Florencia to Houston Grand Opera.^[15] In February she was appointed Houston Grand Opera's first-ever artistic advisor.^[16] In May she portrayed Soleá in El gato montés at Los Angeles Opera.^[17]

In 2020, she was announced to join Shepherd School of Music as a professor in the Department of Voice effective as from 1 July 2021.^[18]

Special performances

On 11 March 2016, Martínez sang Bach/Gounod's "Ave Maria" and "Pie Jesu" from Fauré's Requiem during the funeral services of Nancy Reagan.^[19]^[20]

She provided the singing voice for Monica Bellucci's character, Alessandra 'La Fiamma', in the third season of Mozart in the Jungle.^[21]

Personal life

Martínez met tenor Chad Shelton in 2000; they married and had one son. They divorced about seven years later.^[2] She has been living in Houston since December 2002.^[22]

Awards

Martínez has won prizes including the Pepita Embil Award, Operalia, and first prize at the Eleanor McCollum Awards.^[23] She won a Latin Grammy in 2001 for Classical Album for Isaac Albéniz's Merlin with Carlos Álvarez, Plácido Domingo, Jane Henschel and conductor José de Eusebio with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid.^[24] She is honored in the 15th annual Opera News Awards.^[25]

Discography

Glass: La Belle et la Bête, Nonesuch, 1995
Sheng: The Song of Majnun – A Persian Romeo and Juliet, Delos, 1997
Albéniz: Merlin, Decca, 2000
Glass: Symphony No. 5, Nonesuch, 2000
Bacalov: Misa Tango, Deutsche Grammophon, 2000
American Dream: Andrea Bocelli's Statue of Liberty Concert, (TV/DVD) WNET/THIRTEEN, 2000
Glass: Philip on Film, (Box Set) Nonesuch, 2001
Rodrigo: 100 Años – La Obra Vocal, I y II, EMI, 2002
Rodrigo: 100 Años – La Obra Vocal, IV y V, EMI, 2002
Introducing the World of American Jewish Music for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, Naxos, 2003
Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Naomi and Ruth, Naxos, 2003
Spanish Night from the Berlin Waldbühne, (DVD) with Plácido Domingo and Sarah Chang, Naxos, 2003
Albéniz: Henry Clifford, Decca, 2003
Catan: Florencia en el Amazonas, Albany, 2003
Levy: Masada (Canto de Los Marranos) for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, Naxos, 2004
Weisgall: T'Kiatot: Rituals for Rosh Hashana, Naxos, 2004
Soprano Songs and Arias: Ana María Martínez, Naxos, 2005
American Classics – Beveridge/Marriner for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, Naxos, 2005
Mercurio: Many Voices, Sony, 2006
Mozart: Così fan tutte, (DVD) Decca, 2007
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci, Decca, 2007
Amor, Vida de mi Vida, (DVD) with Plácido Domingo, Euroarts, 2009
Dvorak: Rusalka, Glyndebourne, 2010
Concerto: One Night in Central Park with Andrea Bocelli (TV/DVD/CD) WNET / THIRTEEN, 2011
Manon Lescaut with Andrea Bocelli, Plácido Domingo conducting, Decca 2014

References

^ "Evangelina Colón". Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
^ ^a ^b von Rhein, John (January 16, 2013). "'La Boheme' star Ana Maria Martinez is no diva offstage". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
^ Feature Opera Lady Ana María Martínez Archived March 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, hispaniconline.com
^ Barnes, Scott (October 2014). "The Passions of Ana María". Opera News. 79 (4). Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ "Ana María Martínez - Artist detail". Houston Grand Opera. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24.
^ https://www.metopera.org/discover/artists/soprano/ana-maria-martinez/
^ Tommasini, Anthony (5 August 2006). "A Light Mozart Opera Refitted With a Hard Edge". The New York Times.
^ Nikkhah, Roya (2009-08-23). "Drama at Glyndebourne as soprano falls off the stage". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
^ Michaels, Sean (2009-08-24). "Opera singer takes a tumble at Glyndebourne festival". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
^ Woolfe, Zachary (21 February 2016). "Review: 'Madama Butterfly' Showcases Ana María Martínez". The New York Times.
^ von Rhein, John (18 February 2018). "Lyric revival of Mozart's romantic comedy 'Cosi Fan Tutte' touches the heart". Chicago Tribune.
^ Fleshler, David (29 April 2018). "FGO triumphs with an old-fashioned operatic beauty in "Florencia"". South Florida Classical Review.
^ Christiansen, Rupert (8 July 2018). "Falstaff review, Royal Opera House – despite an excellent cast, this production fails to scintillate". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
^ Swed, Mark (23 September 2018). "Review: Plácido Domingo is ageless as ever in 'Don Carlo,' opening the L.A. Opera season". Los Angeles Times.
^ Brown, Steven (19 January 2019). "Houston Grand Opera's "Florencia" is a musical and visual delight". Texas Classical Review.
^ "Houston Grand Opera Announces Concert Of Arias 2019 Winners and Appoints Ana Maria Martinez As Artistic Advisor". BroadwayWorld. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
^ Rampell, Ed (8 May 2019). "'El Gato Montés': A gypsy, bandit, and torero walk into a bullring". People's World.
^ McCaig, Amy (2020-06-15). "Ana María Martínez to join Rice Shepherd School as professor of voice". Rice University.
^ "Lynn Wyatt arranges for Houston soprano to sing at Nancy Reagan funeral" by Shelby Hodge, CultureMap Houston, 14 March 2016
^ "Ana María Martínez singing Pie Jesu-Requiem during Nancy Reagan's Funeral Service" Youtube, 11 March 2016
^ "An Aria for the Long Island Lolita on Mozart in the Jungle by Michael Cooper, The New York Times, 7 December 2016
^ Womack, Catherine (15 September 2017). "Q&A: Carmen, the Wonder Woman of opera? A soprano on playing the poster girl for freedom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
^ "Featured Artists in Mozart's Così fan tutte" at National Public Radio
^ "Latin Grammys (Finally!) Announced" Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, eonline.com
^ Guinther, Louise T. (April 2020). "The Fifteenth Annual OPERA NEWS Awards: Ana María Martínez". Vol. 84, no. 10.