Maria Gay

Born June 13, 1879, in Barcelona; died July 29, 1943, in New York. Spanish singer (mezzo-soprano).

At the age of 16, Gay was imprisoned for singing revolutionary, antimonarchist songs. Upon her release, she studied with A. Adiny in Paris. She made her debut in 1902 at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels in the role of Carmen (Bizet’s Carmen), and she became famous for her interpretation of this role. Beginning in 1906, Gay toured various countries, including Russia. (She went first to St. Petersburg in 1908, then to Moscow in 1924.) In 1908 she became a soloist with the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1908-10) and with the Boston (1910-12) and Chicago (1913-27) operatic troupes. Her roles were Amneris and Azucena (Verdi’s A’ida and II Trovatore), Delilah (Samson and Delilah by SaintSaëns), Santuzza and Lola (Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana), and Brangäne (Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde). Gay retired from the stage in 1927, lived in New York, and directed a voice school.