Maria Malibran was born on March 24, 1808, in Paris, into a famous Spanish musical family. In 1811 the family settled in Naples. Malibran first appeared on stage with her parents at the age of six. In 1815 the family moved to Paris, then to London.
Maria studied at the monastic College in Hammersmith, England. She graduated in 1824, being proficient in five languages.
The second time she made her debut at the Royal London Theatre in the role of Rosina in the "Barber of Seville" (1825).
In 1827 she sang in The Devil's Bridge by John Braham and Love in a Village by Thomas Arne in New York. Feeling herself stagnating professionally in the United States, she decided to return to Paris in November 1827.
On January 14, 1828, Maria made a sensational operatic debut in Paris in the title role of Rossini's Semiramide as part of a benefit performance for the bass Filippo Galli.
From this moment on Maria was a star—as well as a household word—in Paris and, eventually, all of Europe. Apart from Rossini roles, she went on to be a sensation in operas of Vincenzo Bellini (Norma, La Sonnambula, I Capuleti e i Montecchi) and Gaetano Donizetti (L'elisir d'amore, Maria Stuarda). In London she also sang, in English, Beethoven's Fidelio, and in 1836 premiered Michael Balfe's The Maid of Artois.
On July 5, 1836, Maria fell from her horse and suffered injuries from which she never recovered. She refused to see a physician and continued to perform. In September 1836 Malibran was in Manchester participating in a music festival at the collegiate church and Theatre Royal on Fountain Street. She collapsed on stage while performing encores at the theatre, but insisted on performing in the church the following morning and died on September 23, 1836, after a week of agony, attended by her private physician. Her body was temporarily buried in the church after a public funeral before being moved to a mausoleum in Laeken Cemetery, near Brussels in Belgium.
Maria Malibran was a distinguished mezzo-soprano of exceptional vocal range, power, and agility.
The Library of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels possesses an important collection of scores, documents and objects from the diva, assembled in the Maria Malibran fund.
Several films depict the life of Maria Malibran.
In 1982, soprano Joan Sutherland did a recital tour called "Malibran" in order to revive Malibran's memory, singing pages from the singer's favourites in Venice.
On March 23, 1826, Maria Malibran married Francois Eugene Malibran, who was 28 years her senior, later they divorced. In 1836, she married Charles Auguste de Bériot, they had a son.
Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García was a Spanish opera singer, composer, impresario and singing teacher.
Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García was a leading nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue, and composer of Spanish descent.
Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot was a French pianist, teacher and composer.
Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García was a Spanish singer, music educator and vocal pedagogue.
Charles Auguste de Bériot was a Belgian violinist and composer.
Francois Eugene Malibran was a banker.
