Walter Meyer writes of Maria Galvany's egregious performance of the 2nd
Queen of the Night Aria:

>Does anyone know more about Mme Galvany and whether she should be taken
>seriously as an artist?

Yes indeed, Maria Galvany (1878-1949) was one of the most esteemed singers
of the Spanish school - as the length of her fulsome and appreciative
entry in the recent "Diccionario" of Spanish Singers goes to show (about
twice the length of Victoria de los Angeles' entry, for example).

She was a famous Lucia, Gilda and Bellini soprano, with an extraordinary
range and coloratura technique, singing in most of the major European
capitals and in North and South America - always with great public success.

In truth, many of her recordings (1903-1908 particularly) are most
sympathetically heard as relics from an older tradition, in which
virtuosity was an acceptable end in itself.

As Walter says, once heard her astounding Queen of the Night is unlikely
to be forgotten.  As a manic piece of vocalisation it certainly conveys
something of the nightmare character albeit little of the musical quality
of the song - but, then, I think it's fair to add that it was controversial
even in those early years of the century when it was recorded.

Christopher Webber,  Blackheath, London,  UK.
http:\\www.nashwan.demon.co.uk\zarzuela.htm
"ZARZUELA!"