Rita Montaner - Biography
By J Poet
Rita Montaner was one of the greatest Cuban singers and pianists of the 30s and 40s. She was a star of stage, film, radio, and television and was the first person to record the classic “El Manisero” (“The Peanut Vendor”), which was written for her by composer Moisés Simons. She became internationally famous an appeared in many films in Cuba and Mexico and appeared on stage with Josephine Baker and Al Jolson. She was the biggest Cuban star of her era, named Rita de Cuba by her many fans.
Montaner was born in Havana and learned English, Italian and French in grammar school. She was a musical prodigy and was studying theory, harmony and piano at the Peyrellade Conservatory when she was ten. At 15, she won two bronze medals for piano and graduated with a cum laude degree in piano, song and harmony at 17.
At 22, Montaner was singing classical music at concerts organized by the composer Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes. In October of 1922, she was one of the singers to perform on the first radio program broadcast over the new Cuban national radio station. She was known for her vocal range and the emotion of her performances and she had a successful classical career, but as she grew older she was attracted to popular music.
In 1926, while on vacation in New York, she was hired by the Schubert brothers and paired with the band of Xavier Cugat; she appeared in the show A Night in Spain. Back in Cuba, she starred in many popular shows and introduced the standards “Mamá Inéz” and “Canto Siboney.” She was signed by Columbia Records in 1927 and made about 50 singles for them including “Mamá Inéz,” “Canto Siboney,” “El Manisero,” “Noche azul,” and “Lamento esclavo.” Some of those songs are collected on Rita de Cuba 1928-1941 (2004 Tumbao Cuban Classics UK) and Rita la Única (2004 Tumbao Cuban Classics UK.) She toured France and appeared in Josephine Baker's Revue in Paris. In 1931, Al Jolson hired her for his Broadway musical Wonder Bar.
Montaner’s shows at Teatro Iris in Mexico in 1933 with the gay pianist Ignacio Jacinto Villa, who she nicknamed Bola de Nieve (Snowball), were legendary. She moved to the Teatro Politeama and played to sold out crowds for her entire engagement. When talkies came in, Montaner made films that featured her singing and piano playing including La noche del pecado (1934), Sucedió en La Habana (1938), María la O (1947), Ritmos del Caribe o Borrasca (1950), Negro es mi color (1951), La única (1952) and Píntame angelitos blanco (1954.)
Montaner landed a part on the radio show La suprema corte del arte as La Chismosa (The Gossip) and used her character to criticize government corruption. She was fired within a month. Her next radio show, Yo no sé nada (I don't know anything) met the same fate when she made fun of president Fulgencio Batista. In 1946, she returned to radio with Mejor que me calle (Better I shut up!), a catch phrase from one of her tunes. When she was offered a bribe to tone down her criticism of corruption, she talked about it on the radio. On the day the program celebrated one year on the air, her brother was murdered and the killers were never found.
Montaner signed with the Tropicana night club in 1946 and stayed there, with Bola de Nieve, for four years. Her TV show, Rita y Willy, with Guillermo Alvarez Guedes was a hit in the early 50s. She died in Havana in 1958. Early songs by Montaner are collected on Ay Mama Ines (2000 Musla Holland.)
