Voting Station

Martina Arroyo

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Vocalist

The Resume

    (February 2, 1937- )
    Born in Manhattan, New York
    Principal soprano for the Zurich Opera (1963-65) and Metropolitan Opera (1965-78)
    Performed at the Met 199 times
    Best-known for portraying the heroines of operas by Verdi and Puccini

Why she might be annoying:

    She did not take her opera training seriously until her teacher threatened to end their voice lessons. (In fairness, when she started, none of the major opera houses had hired a black singer, so she was not expecting to make a living from singing.)
    She claimed she got her big break at the Met – substituting for an ailing Birgit Nilsson in ‘Aida’ (1965) – because manager Rudolf Bing hoped the disappointed crowds would be less likely to throw things at a complete unknown than one of the Met regulars.
    During a production of ‘Madama Butterfly,’ she referred to herself as ‘Madama Butterball.’

Why she might not be annoying:

    While waiting for her breakthrough in opera, she worked as a social worker at the East End Welfare Center.
    She won the Metropolitan Opera’s ‘Audition of the Air’ competition (1958), winning $1,000 and a scholarship to study at the Met’s Kathryn Long School.
    She was appointed to the National Council of the Arts (1976-82).
    She was co-author of the National Endowment of the Arts’ task force report on music education in the US.
    She was known for her lack of diva attitude.
    When a doorman at the Met mistakenly greeted her as ‘Miss Price,’ she merely replied, ‘No, honey, I’m the other one.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 105 Votes: 51.43% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 328 Votes: 46.04% Annoying