Victoria de los Angeles
Her smiling face, her generosity and her simplicity have won the hearts of all those who have seen this great singer from afar or close up; a singer who could never be mistaken for a diva. No caprices, no bouts of rage, no outrageous demands: she simply sang. It was the Geneva International Music Competition, which she won with such great success in 1947, that propelled the young Spanish singer to the front of the world stage. Right away, she was enlisted to sing La Vida Breve by Manuel de Falla in London, and then Paris invited her to play Marguerite in Gounod's Faust at the Opéra, before becoming Mimi (La Bohème by Puccini), under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham at Covent Garden. Salzburg, New York, Milan, Vienna and Buenos Aires followed. A coloratura soprano first and foremost, she sang roles from Rossini with agility. As the years went by, she expanded her voice and her repertoire, becoming a much sought-after lyric soprano. Thanks to her particular gift for languages, she has been Agathe in Weber's Freischütz, Desdemona in Verdi's Othello, Eva in Die Meistersinger by Wagner, or a touching Mélisande. She is a wily and spiteful Rosina (Barber of Seville), a simple and moving Mimi.
Victoria de los Angeles's voice (a stage name she chose for herself in order to get away from her less-glamorous family name, Lopez-Garcia) was natural, easy, sunny, with a suppleness that allowed her to overcome difficulties without apparent effort. She was the foremost post-war Spanish singers, before the emergence of her colleagues Teresa Berganza and Montserrat Caballé. But throughout her career she has remained in touch with her deep Catalan roots. At recitals, she would often sing Xavier Montsalvatge or Federico Mompou, who accompanied her in 1971 for a broadcast on Télévision Française. She also sang German Lieder with Gerald Moore, and to be sure, the zarzuela of Madrid, of which she made numerous recordings. The record commemorates the precious moment in the great English pianist's farewell concert, in which Victoria de los Angeles sang Cats' Duet (incorrectly attributed to Rossini) with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
Surely her Carmen counts amongst those of her roles which will always remain famous: she made a celebrated recording in Paris with the French National Orchestra, directed by Sir Thomas Beecham. More seductive than femme fatale, singing the French impeccably with a trace of a Spanish accent which sits well with the work, she is surrounded by a dream billing: Ernest Blanc, Nicolaï Gedda and Ernest Blanc make this a real point of reference for the style of French singing. With the same Beecham, she recorded a very beautiful Bohème by Puccini, with the great Swedish tenor Jussi Björling.
This angelic voice remained intact until a very advanced age, which allowed Victoria de los Angeles to continue singing until late in life. She left the stage in 1979; but she continued to give recitals until the age of 75, in 1998, in which she would foreground a repertoire which she could still sing very well, and almost every time she would give an encore of Carmen, as if to offer a wink at the heroine who had assured her lasting fame.
© FH / Qobuz
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Duets
Victoria de los Angeles, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Clásica - Editado por Ediciones Victoria de los Ángeles el 1 ene. 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Modest Prima Donna
Clásica - Editado por Regis Records el 1 ene. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Puccini: La bohème
Victoria de los Angeles, Jussi Björling, RCA Victor Orchestra, Thomas Beecham
Clásica - Editado por Warner Classics el 1 ene. 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
Jacques Jansen, Victoria de los Angeles, Orchestre National de France
Clásica - Editado por Past Classics el 1 ene. 1957
Stereophile: Record To Die For16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Traditional Spanish Song
Pop - Editado por THEWEBENGINE el 28 feb. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of Many Lands
Clásica - Editado por Ediciones Victoria de los Ángeles el 1 ene. 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manon (Intégrale)
Integrales de ópera - Editado por Myto Historical el 1 ene. 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Bohème
Jussi Björling, Victoria de los Angeles, The RCA Victor Orchestra
Ópera - Editado por Past Classics el 1 ene. 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victoria de los Angeles "The Modest Prima Donna"
Fragmentos de ópera - Editado por Musical Concepts el 7 nov. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Massenet : Manon - Bonus : Debussy & Berlioz (1955)
Clásica - Editado por Naxos el 11 dic. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victoria de los Ángeles al Palau de la Música Catalana. Concert inaugural de Catalunya Música
Victoria de los Angeles, Manuel García Morante
Música concertante - Editado por Columna Música el 10 may. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An Evening With Victoria De Los Angeles and Geoffrey Parsons
Victoria de los Angeles, Geoffrey Parsons
Clásica - Editado por Collins Classics el 1 ene. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque & Religious Arias
Victoria de los Angeles, Yehudi Menuhin, Gerald Moore
Clásica - Editado por Ediciones Victoria de los Ángeles el 20 jul. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucero Mío. Cançons de Bressol i Cançons Populars
Clásica - Editado por Columna Música el 17 dic. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pau & Victoria: Historical Recordings
Victoria de los Angeles, Pablo Casals
Música vocal (profana y sacra) - Editado por Columna Música el 30 oct. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suor Angelica (Intégrale)
Clásica - Editado por Naxos el 1 ene. 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Récitals de 1950
Clásica - Editado por INA Mémoire vive el 8 nov. 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Victoria de los Angeles
Clásica - Editado por Preiser Records el 14 sep. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il Trittico
Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera House, Rome, Titto Gobbi, Victoria de los Angeles
Ópera - Editado por Past Classics el 24 ago. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Voice Of The Century / Victoria De Los Angeles
World music - Editado por Quimbaya Entretenimiento SAS el 8 jun. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo