Rita Montaner
| Rita Montaner | |
|---|---|
Rita Montaner
|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda |
| Also known as | Rita de Cuba |
| Born |
20 August 1900 Guanabacoa, Cuba |
| Died | 17 April 1958 (aged 57) Havana, Cuba |
| Genres | Rhumba, zarzuela |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, actress |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1920—1958 |
| Labels | Puchito |
| Associated acts | Bola de Nieve, Ernesto Lecuona, Juana Bacallao |
Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda (20 August 1900 – 17 April 1958), known as Rita Montaner, was a Cuban singer, pianist and actress. In Cuban parlance, she was a vedette (a star), and was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and New York, where she performed, filmed and recorded on numerous occasions. She was one of Cuba's most popular artists between the late 1920s and 1950s, renowned as Rita de Cuba. Though classically trained as a soprano for zarzuelas, her mark was made as a singer of Afro-Cuban salon songs including "The Peanut Vendor" and "Siboney".
Throughout her career, Montaner kept a close personal and professional relationship with two famous musicians from her hometown of Guanabacoa: pianist-singer Bola de Nieve and composer Ernesto Lecuona.
Montaner was born on 20 August 1900 in Guanabacoa, Havana, into a middle-class family. Her father, Domingo Montaner Pulgarón, was a white pharmacist and her mother, Mercedes Facenda was a mulatta; she herself was short in stature, good-looking with a fine smile, and intelligent. She learned English, Italian and French at religious school, and at 10 attended the Peyrellade Conservatory in Havana. There she studied music: solfege, theory, harmony and piano; at 16 she started voice lessons. From the start, she was a potential star: her first press notice came in 1912, her first press photograph in 1913, and in 1915 she received two bronze medals for piano. 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.
Montaner married entertainer Xavier Cugat in 1918-1920 before marrying lawyer Dr Alberto Fernández Díaz. They had two sons, Rolando and Alberto. The marriage lasted until his death in 1932, and she remarried twice. She died of cancer in 1958, aged 57.
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