Francisco Frontera de Valldemosa, Singer, and Voice Instructor

This essay examines the career, as a singer and voice teacher, of Francisco Frontera de Valldemosa (1807-1891). Although his role as a music administrator at the service of the Spanish Royal Court, music theorist, and composer has been documented in previous studies, Frontera’s career as singer and voice instructor is less known. He learned the bel canto style directly from Rossini, whom he met in Paris, and other respected Rossinian specialists including Marco Bordogni, Antonietta, Giuseppe, and Luigi Mosca, Marianna Rossi, Domenico Vaccani, all of them Italian singers working in Barcelona and Palma. In Paris, his voice was praised by many critics, but never developed a stage career. He taught singing to most of the musically inclined members of the Spanish Royal Family, especially Queen Isabella II and her daughter the Infanta Isabel “La Chata,” among others. He was also a voice professor at the Madrid Conservatorio and had many distinguished students who became famous as opera and zarzuela singers.