Lyric soprano Ana Maria Martinez traces her roots to Puerto Rico and is notably the only Latina soprano at her career level. A Juilliard graduate, Operalia winner, and national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Ms. Martinez toured the world with Plácido Domingo, and collaborated with him on the Latin Grammy award-winning recording of Albéniz’ Merlin
.
Ms. Martinez has appeared on the stages of the Vienna, Seattle, Bonn, Stuttgart, San Francisco, Houston Grand, and Santa Fe opera houses, among others. She makes her Metropolitan Opera debut this month and is booked through the 2006-2007 season, with return engagements at Covent Garden and Houston Grand, and debuts at Paris Opera and the Salzburg Festival.
CS spoke with Ana Maria Martinez while she was in Santa Fe, N.M. this past summer singing Rosina in Rossini’s Barber of Seville.
Where were you born?
I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and I grew up in a musical family. My mother was an opera singer, but now she is the executive director of Puerto Rico’s Musical Arts Corp., which oversees the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Casals Festival and a great many other programs on the island. She has an excellent background in both singing and administration. My father is a psychoanalyst—so I have really well-read parents. They have always encouraged me to pursue my passion and, above all, to get a good education.
When did you begin to study music?
I started to display a musical ear quite early. By the age of 5, I was picking out tunes on the piano, and when my mother sang Micaela in Carmen, I figured out both the left and the right hand to the “Habanera.” Later, I was told that I had even played it in the right key.
At that point my mother got me a piano teacher, but unfortunately, I much preferred playing by ear and did not like to practice. For quite some time my family encouraged me to have some discipline at the piano, but I just wouldn’t do it. So, I have paid the price, and it was not until I started studying at Juilliard that I learned to read music fluently. There, with the help of patient ear-training and theory teachers, I finally got a good background, but I wish I had done it earlier.
What did you do immediately after high school?
I spent a year at the Boston Conservatory, where I studied musical theatre. I was primarily a drama major and I loved it, but I began to think that my primary focus should be voice and classical music. My teacher, Mary Saunders, the head of the Voice Department, thought I should pursue opera rather than Broadway. The only reason I had been trying to avoid opera was that I did not want to do exactly what my mother did. It was then that I realized that you have to discover music through your own eyes and ears. I knew then that I would have to reacquaint myself with it.
The following year I began to study at the Juilliard School of Music, where I majored in classical voice and earned both bachelors’ and masters’ degrees in music.
Which voice teacher has had the most influence over your career?
In order to get into Juilliard, someone on the voice faculty has to agree to teach you. The only one who wanted to work with me was the late Rose Bampton. Although she was already quite elderly when I got to meet her, she was still a wonderful artist and teacher. She was such a classy lady! I’m very thankful to her and sad that she’s no longer with us.
Singing for her was a turning point for me, because she made it possible for me to attend that excellent school. She gave me a great deal, but so did several other teachers that I studied with. Each had something special to offer. Currently, I study with Norma Newton, who is also a fantastic voice teacher.
How do you know when you have the right teacher?
As a professional singer, you can feel whether a teacher’s method is good for you or not. When you’re in your teens and early twenties, it’s much harder to know what will work well for you, because you can do anything with your voice. Although all teachers tell you to trust them, not every method is right for every singer.
You know you have a teacher who is good for you when your singing is consistent and everything feels right while you sing. If your technique is strong, you will be able to sing well even on days when you don’t feel well.
As you get older, you realize that you cannot sing on youth forever. You have to sing on technique, and you should learn how to do that while you are young. That’s the tricky part! You need a teacher with excellent ears who can tell when you’re just “winging” it and when you are beginning to develop a real technique.
If a teacher tells you to manipulate your sound, that’s wrong. If the teacher will not go along with what you have naturally, or if he tells you to darken your sound, that’s a red flag.
After you have worked with a teacher for some time, you should feel that he is challenging you but not pushing you too hard. As my mother says: “You need to let the voice tell you where it wants to go and what it wants to do. Don’t try to tell the voice where it needs to go.” It’s very wise. Your voice is a powerful instrument, but it is still very delicate.
I have also studied with my mom on occasion, and she has coached me on some things. She has a fantastic technique and has taught voice professionally—but now, with her administrative duties, she does not have time to do that.
My mother told me to sing the young repertory as long as I can. I want to be like Mirella Freni. She paced herself carefully, waiting until the voice was ready to bloom into a different Fach. She has beauty of sound, artistry, musicality and, now, longevity!
Another singer I greatly admire is Plácido Domingo. He is blessed with an incredible constitution. He can travel all over the world, arrive for a performance and sing like a god.
He, too, has always chosen his repertory carefully. He tells me that it is good if you occasionally choose a role that challenges you to go just a little bit beyond your comfort zone. That might allow your voice to grow a little bit, but it is very important that, directly after doing it, you return to singing what you are used to. It’s a little like … pulling in the reins of a horse again after letting him wander for a while.
I think this way of working gives a singer longevity.
How does language affect your vocal technique?
When I first tried singing in English I was not too comfortable with it. The other languages, Italian, Spanish, etc., were a little more forward in the mask—but when you realize that you have to exclaim your text, you get the English to come out as well as the other languages. Each language feels a little different. For someone who speaks only Italian, English will be difficult because it’s not very similar. It’s a question of what is close to the languages the singer speaks.
It really is much better if you speak the language in which you are singing. You are much more comfortable when your whole body is used to making the sounds of that language. It takes a lot of study!
How did you bridge the gap between school and a professional career?
I went to Houston Grand Opera’s studio for a year and it was a very useful experience for me.
What competitions have you won?
I was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions finalist in 1993. It was a great honor, but I wasn’t one of the eight or 10 singers who won. The next year I won first prize at the Eleanor McCollum contest in Houston. Operalia, however, is the competition that really launched my career. I won the prize named after Plácido Domingo’s late mother, Pepita Embil, in 1995. Both Plácido and Marta Domingo are very involved in nurturing the careers of the young singers who do well in the competition, not just the winners, but all the finalists. They care very much for them. They recommend them. They stay in touch, check on their repertoire and they hire them. Both are fantastic human beings.
What is your advice on auditioning?
Make sure all your arias are thoroughly polished. One time, when I was in a fierce competition, I thought I had done well, but I did not get an award. Later, Jonathan Pell, who was one of the judges, told me that my first aria was impeccable but the second one lacked nuance. I cherish him because he made it possible for me to phone him and get feedback. He said he wanted to tell me why I was not chosen so that I could keep that in mind when I auditioned for opera companies. Young artists need to remember that when a general manager asks for a second or third aria, it needs to be as carefully perfected as the first one. If it isn’t, the general manager will have doubts about casting them.
Matthew Epstein used to hold mock auditions for the group in Houston. He told the women to wear suits with skirts that covered the knee. He insisted that they wear their hair off their faces and that their jewelry be tastefully inconspicuous. Men were also encouraged to dress conservatively. Both genders were reminded that since their shoes were sometimes at the listeners’ eye level, they needed to be polished and in keeping with the rest of their attire.
How do you deal with singing when you have a cold?
It’s not a big problem if the infection is simply in the mask, but if it is in the process of going any lower, I would not sing more than two arias for an audition. Performing with a bad cold is not ideal, although some people can do it. I’ve tried it and have been much sicker afterwards.
What is your advice for young singers who do recitals?
I love to sing recitals because I enjoy the intimacy with the audience that they provide. There is a special rapport between you, the pianist, and the audience. It is very important for the singer to feel at home with the program. In my case, I sing the Spanish and French songs, DeFalla, [Joaquin] Turina, Faure, Debussy, etc. On the West Coast many people will relate to Spanish songs. German lieder might be more familiar to the East Coast audience. Above all, the selections must be meaningful to the singer, but it’s also important to tune into the local community.
Do you manage to have a private life?
Absolutely! I’m married to tenor Chad Shelton and we have a home in Houston. If he’s singing and I’m free, I go to him and he does the same if he’s free. We have not said “no” to any offers in order to be together, and up to now it has been working out so that we are seldom apart for more than three weeks. This year there are two occasions where we are apart for close to a month, but we both know that’s part of our careers. Luckily, this past summer we had a lot of quality time together. We find that it’s actually easier to manage time together with two singing careers than it would be if one partner had a steady job in a city, because as singers we have spaces between engagements.
Do you have any pets?
Yes, we have a lovely toy poodle named Benita.
What are your most important dates this season?
I make my Metropolitan Opera debut on Nov. 19, which also happens to be the date of the discovery of Puerto Rico by Christopher Columbus. I will again sing Violetta at Covent Garden, and I will do Nedda, a role that I have recorded but not performed on stage, in Amsterdam. I will make my Paris debut as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra at the Bastille and in this, the Mozart year, I will sing Fiordiligi at the Salzburg Festival.
Do you have any new recordings coming out?
Yes, I recorded a solo album for Naxos, which is scheduled for release in 2006.
Editor’s Note: Naxos announced after the completion of this interview that Ms. Martinez’ new CD, Soprano Arias, will be released on November 15. Ms. Martinez joins the Prague Philharmonia and conductor Steven Mercurio in “O mio babbino caro,” “Vilja-Lied,” “Il Baïlèro,” and more.
