Riccardo Martin (November 18, 1874 – August 11, 1952) was an American

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

. Born Hugh Whitfield Martin in

Hopkinsville, Kentucky Hopkinsville is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 31,180. History Early years The area of p ...

, Martin began his career at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

studying

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

under

Edward MacDowell Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites '' Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and ''Ne ...

. It was while studying at Columbia that Martin's vocal talents were discovered. In 1901 he was granted an endowment by industrialist

Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...

to study to further his vocal studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with

Giovanni Sbriglia Giovanni Sbriglia (June 23, 1832 – February 20, 1916), was an Italian tenor and prominent teacher of singing. A native of Naples, Sbriglia attended the city's music conservatory under Emanuele De Roxas before making his debut, aged 21, at the ...

Jean de Reszke Jean de Reszke (born Jan Mieczysław Reszke; 14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish dramatic tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a wealthy Polish family with classical and operatic musical traditions. His mother gave him his first singing ...

and Léon Escalaïs. Martin later completed his studies with Vincenzo Lombardi in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Beniamino Carelli Beniamino Carelli (9 May 1833 – 14 February 1921) was an Italian singing teacher and composer. Carelli was born and died in Naples, where he spent many years teaching at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella. One of the most sought afte ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. He debuted as Faust in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

in 1904. Two years later he made his American debut in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, singing with the visiting San Carlo Opera. Martin bowed at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

on November 20, 1907, in ''

Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was lib ...

''; the performance also marked the American debut of Fyodor Chaliapin. Martin remained with the Metropolitan through the 1914–15 season, appearing in numerous leading tenor roles; he was among the first American-born leading men the company employed. He returned for the 1917–18 season. During his tenure at the Met, he created the lead tenor roles in three American operas:

Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a Prussian-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Aa ...

's '' Cyrano'',

Horatio Parker Horatio William Parker (September 15, 1863 – December 18, 1919) was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the undergradua ...

's '' Mona'', and

Frederick Shepherd Converse Frederick Shepherd Converse (January 5, 1871 – June 8, 1940), was an American composer of classical music, whose works include four operas and five symphonies. Life and career Converse was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Edmund Winche ...

's '' The Pipe of Desire''. After leaving the company he appeared with numerous companies throughout America and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and spent three seasons with the

Chicago Civic Opera The Civic Opera Company (1922–1931) was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theatre from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financia ...

. Martin died in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1952. Martin is known to have married at least three times according to newspaper accounts and vital records. He first married in 1899, to Elfrida Hildegarde Klamroth, a fellow opera singer more widely known by the stage name Ruano Bogislav. They had one child, Beth Martin, commonly and professionally known as Bijie Martin. The couple divorced before 1920, largely due to career differences. Martin's 1923 marriage to aspiring actress Jane Grey also ended in divorce. His last known marriage was in 1932, to Allis Beaumont, who has recently become famous as Allis Beaumont Reid in the documentary "Must Read After My Death" (2007).

References

*David Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition''. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963. 1874 births 1952 deaths American operatic tenors People from Hopkinsville, Kentucky Singers from Kentucky 20th-century American male opera singers Columbia University alumni {{US-opera-singer-stub