I have fallen in love with Martina Arroyo's Voice!

[Lance]

For a woman with a voice like THAT, I can't believe she doesn't have a much larger discography. I thought somewhere along the way I missed a commercially recorded Verdi Aida, but, apparently one was never made. Strange, because she made such a big hit at the MET substituting on short notice for Birgit Nilsson. There are some live 1968 and 1972 recordings of her Aida [Gala, Myto, Opera d'Oro, etc.] Arroyo had a pure and thrilling voice with an incredible range. Stunning top notes. And among sopranos, a perfect vibrato. Any thoughts on Arroyo?

[Len_Z]

I think Arroyo is the most tragically underrecorded and underappreciated soprano of the 60's-70's. Absolutely love her 'La forza del destino' with Bergonzi, 'Un ballo in maschera', 'I Vespri' and the live Aidas. What I find really puzzling is the absence of her solo CDs from a major label. How could they NOT recorded a selection of her Verdi? (There was an LP of arias on Acanta, but, mysteriously, it has never been released on CD, AFAIK).

On the other hand, I was very much surprised by her Liederabend on Haenssler. Only goes to prove she was a much more multifaceted singer than the era allowed her to be.

https://www.amazon.com/Martina-Arroyo-L ... ina+Arroyo

[John F]

She was certainly a fine Verdi and verismo soprano, and was heard fairly often at the Met. Unfortunately there were real stars in those days and that repertoire, and they got to make the commercial recordings. Arroyo is also quite a personality - I heard her once refer to herself in a certain Puccini opera as Madame Butterball.

She did get to record Verdi's "Vespri Siciliani," though Montserrat Caballé was singing in the concurrent Met performances under Levine. I once knew the reason why but have forgotten it.

[maestrob]

I found her voice a bit small for her fach, but she was a consummate artist and both Eugene Ormandy's and Leonard Bernstein's choice of soprano for the Verdi Requiem and Bernstein's for Beethoven IX. Unfortunately, while she was active at the highest levels, she was competing with Leontyne Price, who, as I recall, cornered the market, recording all the big Verdi roles (her Aida with Solti/Tucker is outstanding) and was a far more exciting singer. Arroyo continues to teach young singers in the NY area. Her excellent musicianship led her to record Karlheinz Stockhausen and Handel (Judas Maccabeus). Definitely an A-lister if not a star, then.

[Lance]

Her website does not bring forth some of her recordings. Must be it is not kept up-to-date. But there is also a marvelous Centaur CD [2060] recorded in 1988 at Louisiana State University of 21 spirituals with pianist Henri Venanzi at the piano. Under recorded and under appreciated is putting it mildly. As John F noted, no question her biggest competition at the time was Leontyne Price. All-in-all, the Arroyo voice was a magnificent instrument. The recording is distantly microphoned but it's all there, nonetheless. Hence, we have volume controls!

[lennygoran]

All-in-all, the Arroyo voice was a magnificent instrument.

Lance we only heard her once at the Met--she was a Santuzza and we found her to be very good. Regards, Len