Rita Montaner

Rita Montaner, born Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda (Guanabacoa, 20 August 1900 – Havana, 17 April 1958) was a Cuban singer, pianist, actress and star of stage, film, radio and television. In Cuban parlance, she was a "vedette" (a star), and she was well-known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and New York, where she performed, filmed and recorded on various occasions. She was probably the best-loved female star in Cuba of the period 1920–1960; they called her "Rita de Cuba". She was one of three great musicians born in the small town of Guanabacoa in the province of Havana; the others were Bola de Nieve and Ernesto Lecuona. The lives of the three friends were connected professionally; they worked together many times. [Depestre Catony, Leonardo 1990. "Cuatro musicos de una villa". Letras Cubanas, La Habana. Biographies of four musicians from Guanabacoa: Ernesto Lecuona, Rita Montaner, Bola de Nieve and Juan Arrondo.] [Fajardo, Ramon 1997. "Rita Montaner: testimonio de una epoca". La Habana.]

Rita married Dr Alberto Fernández Díaz in 1918; they had two sons: Rolando and Alberto. They were divorced in 1928.

Career

A talented young woman

In 1917, Montaner played Mendelssohn in her final examination at the Peyrellade Conservatory in Havana; she graduated in piano, song and harmony with a gold medal. Rita made her debut as a singer in 1922 at the inauguration of Radio PWX. Next year, she sang a duet from La Gioconda by Ponchielli with the soprano Lola de la Torre. Rita's voice had a huge range, from mezzo-soprano to slangy rough black Afro-Cuban numbers (see discussion at Voice classification in non-classical music).

In 1926 Rita sang on stage to Lecuona's piano in his 7th Concert of Cuban music at the Teatro Nacional. On vacation in New York she needed an appendix operation; after recovering she made her debut together with Xavier Cugat at the Apollo Theater. Later she had a great hit with a review entitled "A night in Spain". Back in Havana, she made her debut on stage in zarzuelas in 1927. Playing in "La Niña Rita, o La Habana de 1830" (music by Eliseo Grenet and Lecuona) she sang the congo-tango "Mamá Inéz". The title role here was played by Caridád Suarez, with Rita in the blackface as El Calesero (the coachman). [Blackface roles were common in Cuba as early as the mid-19th century bufo theatre. It is not correct to see this tradition as a denigration of negros; rather, it is to do with the use of caricature in light musical comedies. Al Jolson, for instance, was a campaigner for full black emancipation in the USA, at a time when this was distinctly unpopular.] The second one-act work on the same program was the premiere of Lecuona's "La tierra de Venus", where Rita sang "Canto Siboney", which is still a latin standard. Her three-octave voice was perfectly suited to creolized lyric music.

Montaner la diva

From 1927 to 1929 Rita recorded about fifty numbers for Columbia Records, including hits from the revues and zarzuelas she appeared in, such as "Ay, Mama Inés", "Siboney", "Noche azul", "Lamento esclavo", and the first recording of "El manisero" (Peanut Vendor). After her divorce, in 1928, she went to Paris for the first time, performing at the "Olympia" and "Palace" theatres. Still in Paris, she appeared in Josephine Baker's "Revue". Here, acccording to Gonzalo Roig, [Cortázar, Octavio [1963] . Interview with Gonzalo Roig: "Nadie ha podido imitarla". www.habanaelegante.com/Winter 2000/Bustos.htm] she changed, becoming more bohemian, something of a diva, and generally more competitive and combative. [Sublette, Ned 2004. "Cuba and its music: from the first drums to the mambo". Chicago. p384 et seq] [Fajardo, Ramon 1997. "Rita Montaner: testimonio de una epoca". La Habana.] [Cortázar, Octavio 1992. Bola y Rita: la memoria, la música y el amor. "La Gaceta de Cuba" July/August, p22–27]

Rita travelled to Madrid and Valencia before returning to Cuba in 1930. In 1931 she travelled to Broadway under contract to Al Jolson for his musical Wonder Bar, which was set in a Paris night-club, for which she was by now more than qualified!

In 1933 she went to Mexico City, with Bola de Nieve as her accompanist. She put him on the bill under his nickname, without consulting him. "It was the greatest favour she did in my life!" was Snowball's perhaps ambiguous comment. Bola was already of the opinion that she was becoming unbearable. "Rita's shows at the "Teatro Iris" were triumphant, but her mouth got the better of her" (Sublette p390). She mocked Agustin Lara's favourite singer Toña la Negra (María Antonia Peregrino 1910–82), who had been a fan of hers, and the press built up a vendetta between them. Lara announced that she was prohibited from singing his compositions. Montana moved to the Teatro Politeama for a revue. Singing, with Bola on piano, she had a huge success, with people standing on their chairs. Rita had laryngitis at the final concert in her honour, so Bola filled in for a triumph which launched his career.

Montaner next organized a smaller company with Pedro Vargas, whom she injudiciously paid in advance. In El Paso, Texas, Vargas denounced her as an enemy of Mexico, hoping to prevent her return to his country. "Rita tore into him, and told him he was a priests' faggot (and much else!)" Bola said later in life when interviewed about her. Rita, furious, left the company, and Bola found himself looking at a third-class ticket to Mexico City. [Fajardo, Ramon 1997. "Rita Montaner: testimonio de una epoca". La Habana. p110–115] [Cortázar, Octavio 1992. Bola y Rita: la memoria, la música y el amor. "La Gaceta de Cuba" July/August, p26–27]

The arrival of sound in films had created new opportunities for musicians, and Montaner launched on a new career as a film performer. After a musical number in a 1934 film, she made two films in 1938. Radio, too, was developing as a mass medium which was wide open to musical talent. La Montaner was to make good use of both these opportunities. But by now her temperament was getting out of control. Gonzalo Roig retailed the story of her sacking from the Lecuona show "María la O" at the "Teatro Martí". During a duet with the tenor about the rekindling of betrayed love, she began to tear his clothes off on stage! That was a step too far for the management. [Cortazar, Octavio [1963] . Interview with Gonzalo Roig: "Nadie ha podido imitarla". www.habanaelegante.com/Winter2000/Bustos.htm]

Rita la Chismosa

In 1941 Rita worked on a sketch of habits and popular criticism, interspersed with songs, which occupied a segment on the CMQ radio program "La suprema corte del arte". She worked up the personas of "La Chismosa" (Gossip) and "La Marquesa", as a vehicle for an attack on corruption and the happenings of the day. This ascerbic commentary on social and political events had its effect: CMQ pulled the segment a month later!

A year later, RHC-Azul gave her a program "Yo no sé nada" (I don't know anything!) to do the character La Chismosa again, and again the government (Fulgencio Batista's first term) applied pressure to get it taken off the air. Much later, in 1946, she had a third chance. CMQ gave her a program "Mejor que me calle" (Better I shut up!) in which her street character, "Lengualisa", had a side-kick "Mojito" (Alexandro Lugo). When the government (Ramón Grau's second term) tried to bribe her, she talked about it on the program! But, on the day of the first anniversary of the program, her brother (a policeman) was killed in a drive-by shooting. It surprised no-one that the culprits were not found. The program continued until February 1948. [Muguercía, Alberto and Ezequiel Rodríguez. 1985. "Rita Montana". La Habana. p67] [Fajardo, Ramon 1997. "Rita Montaner: testimonio de una epoca". La Habana. p280 et seq] [Sublette, Ned 2004. "Cuba and its music: from the first drums to the mambo". Chicago. p477, 513]

There was, however, a warm side to Rita, in the way she helped people who were in need. The famous Tropicana caberet opened in Marianao, Havana, at the very end of 1939. The best-known choreographer there was called "Rodney" (Rodrigo Neira). He was a former dancer who had contracted leprosy: he became disfigured, poor and socially isolated. Rita intervened to save him from the leprosarium, supported his family and gave him accomodation in her house. [Fajardo, Ramon 1997. "Rita Montaner: testimonio de una epoca". La Habana. p179] She also helped Chano Pozo before his career took off. She got him a job at the radio company RHC-Cadena Azul as a door-man and bodyguard. There he sang and played conga in his spare time; he was first hired as a musician by the Havana Casino orchestra. [Sublette, Ned 2004. "Cuba and its music: from the first drums to the mambo". Chicago. p456] [Puyol, Jordi 2001. "Chano Pozo, el tambor de Cuba". Almendra Music, Barcelona.]

Filmography

These are the films Rita appeared in as actress or singer-pianist or both. [Muguercía, Alberto and Ezequiel Rodríguez. 1985. "Rita Montana". La Habana. Dates given are the dates of the premieres.]

*1934 "La noche de pecado" (Rita Montaner y su Conjunto Tropical).
*1938 "Sucedió en La Habana"
*1938 "El romances del palmar"
*1948 "María la O"
*1948 "Los angelitos negros" (Mexican)
*1950 "Ritmos del Caribe o Borrasca"
*1950 "Pobre corazón"
*1950 "Anacleto se divorcía"
*1950 "Aventurera" (Mexican)
*1951 "Víctimas del pecado" (Mexican)
*1951 "Al son del mambo" (Mexican)
*1951 "Negro es mi color" (Mexican)
*1952 "La renegada"
*1952 "La única"
*1954 "Píntame angelitos blanco"

*1980 "Rita". Director: Oscar Valdés, 19 minutes. Short film biography of Rita Montaner.

References