fbpx
Wikipedia

Victoria de los Ángeles

January 26, 2023

Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 1923 – 15 January 2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s.

Portrait by Allan Warren
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is García.

Early life

She was born Victoria de los Ángeles López García[1] in the porter's lodge of the University of Barcelona, to Bernardo Lopez Gómez (or Gamez), a university caretaker, and Victoria García. She studied voice under Dolores Frau, and guitar with Graciano Tarragó, at the Barcelona Conservatory, graduating in 1941 after just three years, at the age of 18.

Career in music

In 1941, while still a student, she made her operatic debut as Mimì in La bohème at the Liceu, afterwards resuming her musical studies. In 1945, she returned to the Liceu to make her professional debut as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro.

After winning first prize in the Geneva International Music Competition in 1947, she sang Salud in Falla's La vida breve with the BBC in London in 1948. She was accompanied on many of her early recordings by both Graciano Tarragó [es] and his daughter, the guitarist Renata Tarragó.

In her early years in particular, she also sang a lot of florid music (music antiche). While she later made fewer appearances in opera, she continued to give recitals focusing on mostly French, German Lieder and Spanish art songs or songs with Nahuatl texts by Mexican composer Salvador Moreno Manzano into the 1990s.[2]

In 1949, she made her first appearance in the Paris Opéra as Marguerite. The following year, she made her debut in Salzburg and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Mimì, and in the United States with a recital at Carnegie Hall. In March 1951, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York as Marguérite, and she went on to sing with the company for ten years. In 1952, she became an instant favourite in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colón as the title role in Madama Butterfly. She returned to Buenos Aires many times until 1979. She sang at La Scala in Milan from 1950 to 1956 and, in 1957, she sang at the Vienna State Opera.[citation needed]

After making her debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser in 1961, she devoted herself principally to a concert career. However, for the next twenty years, she continued to make occasional appearances in one of her favourite operatic roles, Bizet's Carmen. She was among the first Spanish-born operatic singers to record the complete opera, having done so in 1958 in a recording conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, using the recitatives added by Ernest Guiraud after Bizet's death. Though Carmen lay comfortably in her range, she nevertheless also sang major soprano roles, the best known of which were Donna Anna, Manon, Nedda, Desdemona, Cio-Cio-San, Mimi, Violetta and Mélisande.

James Hinton, Jr. praised the curious means she used to achieve her characterisation of Rosina in the 1954 Met's The Barber of Seville:

...she — almost literally – does nothing at all that is in the conventional sense 'effective'. She is rapidly becoming one of those great rarities... a personality who makes everyone believe in her characterizations. Even in that there is a flaw, for she really offers no characterization. The personality is always the same... Yet the audience believes... that this is the way whichever character she happens to be dressed as must have been..."[3]

De los Ángeles performed regularly in song recitals with pianists Gerald Moore and Geoffrey Parsons, occasionally appearing with other eminent singers, such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Her recitals of Spanish songs with the pianist Alicia de Larrocha, a fellow Barcelona native who was her close friend, were also legendary. She sang at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, aged 68.[4]

She made many widely acclaimed recordings, including those of La vida breve, La bohème, Pagliacci, and Madama Butterfly. The last three paired her with the outstanding tenor Jussi Björling. She was particularly appreciative of Björling's unique talent. In de los Ángeles' biography by Peter Roberts, de los Ángeles noted that "in despite of technical developments, none of the Jussi Björling recordings give you the true sound of his voice. It was a far, far more beautiful voice than you can hear on the recordings he left".[5]

The government of France named her a Chevalier the Légion d'honneur in 1994.

Personal life and death

She married Enrique Magriña in 1948. He and one of their two sons predeceased her.

She was hospitalized for a bronchial infection on December 31, 2004, and died of respiratory failure on 15 January 2005, aged 81. She was buried in the Montjuïc Cemetery, Barcelona.

In her native Catalonia she usually appeared, in the post-Franco era, under the Catalan form of her name, Victòria dels Àngels.

Recognition

Her obituary in The Times (UK) noted that she must be counted “among the finest singers of the second half of the 20th century".[6] James Hinton, Jr. praised her "meltingly lovely middle voice".[3] Elizabeth Forbes, writing in UK's The Independent, also noted that "It is impossible to imagine a more purely beautiful voice than that of Victoria de los Ángeles at the height of her career in the 1950s and early 1960s".[2] She was ranked number 3, after Maria Callas and Dame Joan Sutherland, in the BBC Music Magazine's List of The Top Twenty Sopranos of All Time (2007).[7]

The municipal music school of Sant Cugat del Vallès is named for her (Escola Municipal de Música Victòria dels Àngels) and is located on a plaza bearing her name (Plaça Victòria dels Àngels). Several other municipalities in Catalonia and many other in all of Spain have streets named after her.

In 2007 a private foundation was established in order to preserve her legacy and promote her figure, named Fundació Victoria de los Ángeles.[8]

Partial discography

References

Notes

  1. ^ Her birth name has sometimes been misreported as Victoria de los Angeles Gómez Cima
  2. ^ a b Forbes, Elizabeth (17 January 2005). . The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b James Hinton, Jr., Opera (London), June 1954, p. 353
  4. ^ Victoria de los Ángeles, la gran estilista de la ópera", El Mundo, 16 January 2005
  5. ^ Roberts, pp. 163–64
  6. ^ "Victoria de los Angeles, Enchanting Spanish soprano who must be counted among the finest singers of the past 50 years", The Times (London), 17 January 2005
  7. ^ Kettle, Martin (14 March 2007). "Are these the 20 best sopranos of the recorded era?". The Guardian.
  8. ^ "Mission". Fundació Victoria de los Ángeles. Retrieved 2022-10-11.

Sources

  • Bisogni, Vincenzo Ramón, Victoria de los Ángeles. Nella Musica per Vivere (e Sopravvivere), Zecchini Editore, 2008
  • Roberts, Peter, Victoria de los Ángeles, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982.

External links

  • Music School Victòria dels Àngels
  • City University of New York, Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation
  • January 1950 Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, at Hans Swarowsky's page 2005-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
  • Opera~Opera tribute 2005 2017-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
  • Victoria de los Angeles - Il Barbiere on YouTube Victoria de los Ángeles sings Gioachino Rossini's "Una voce poco fa"
  • Discography (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)
  • Recordings and discography (Discogs)
Other obituaries
  • "Victoria de los Angeles", The Daily Telegraph (London), 17 January 2005

January 26, 2023
victoria, Ángeles, lópez, garcía, november, 1923, january, 2005, catalan, spanish, operatic, lyric, soprano, recitalist, whose, career, began, after, second, world, reached, height, years, from, 1950s, 1960s, portrait, allan, warren, this, spanish, name, first. Victoria de los Angeles Lopez Garcia 1 November 1923 15 January 2005 was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s Portrait by Allan Warren In this Spanish name the first or paternal surname is Lopez and the second or maternal family name is Garcia Contents 1 Early life 2 Career in music 3 Personal life and death 4 Recognition 5 Partial discography 6 References 7 External linksEarly life EditShe was born Victoria de los Angeles Lopez Garcia 1 in the porter s lodge of the University of Barcelona to Bernardo Lopez Gomez or Gamez a university caretaker and Victoria Garcia She studied voice under Dolores Frau and guitar with Graciano Tarrago at the Barcelona Conservatory graduating in 1941 after just three years at the age of 18 Career in music EditIn 1941 while still a student she made her operatic debut as Mimi in La boheme at the Liceu afterwards resuming her musical studies In 1945 she returned to the Liceu to make her professional debut as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro After winning first prize in the Geneva International Music Competition in 1947 she sang Salud in Falla s La vida breve with the BBC in London in 1948 She was accompanied on many of her early recordings by both Graciano Tarrago es and his daughter the guitarist Renata Tarrago In her early years in particular she also sang a lot of florid music music antiche While she later made fewer appearances in opera she continued to give recitals focusing on mostly French German Lieder and Spanish art songs or songs with Nahuatl texts by Mexican composer Salvador Moreno Manzano into the 1990s 2 In 1949 she made her first appearance in the Paris Opera as Marguerite The following year she made her debut in Salzburg and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Mimi and in the United States with a recital at Carnegie Hall In March 1951 she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York as Marguerite and she went on to sing with the company for ten years In 1952 she became an instant favourite in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colon as the title role in Madama Butterfly She returned to Buenos Aires many times until 1979 She sang at La Scala in Milan from 1950 to 1956 and in 1957 she sang at the Vienna State Opera citation needed After making her debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Elisabeth in Tannhauser in 1961 she devoted herself principally to a concert career However for the next twenty years she continued to make occasional appearances in one of her favourite operatic roles Bizet s Carmen She was among the first Spanish born operatic singers to record the complete opera having done so in 1958 in a recording conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham using the recitatives added by Ernest Guiraud after Bizet s death Though Carmen lay comfortably in her range she nevertheless also sang major soprano roles the best known of which were Donna Anna Manon Nedda Desdemona Cio Cio San Mimi Violetta and Melisande James Hinton Jr praised the curious means she used to achieve her characterisation of Rosina in the 1954 Met s The Barber of Seville she almost literally does nothing at all that is in the conventional sense effective She is rapidly becoming one of those great rarities a personality who makes everyone believe in her characterizations Even in that there is a flaw for she really offers no characterization The personality is always the same Yet the audience believes that this is the way whichever character she happens to be dressed as must have been 3 De los Angeles performed regularly in song recitals with pianists Gerald Moore and Geoffrey Parsons occasionally appearing with other eminent singers such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer Dieskau Her recitals of Spanish songs with the pianist Alicia de Larrocha a fellow Barcelona native who was her close friend were also legendary She sang at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 aged 68 4 She made many widely acclaimed recordings including those of La vida breve La boheme Pagliacci and Madama Butterfly The last three paired her with the outstanding tenor Jussi Bjorling She was particularly appreciative of Bjorling s unique talent In de los Angeles biography by Peter Roberts de los Angeles noted that in despite of technical developments none of the Jussi Bjorling recordings give you the true sound of his voice It was a far far more beautiful voice than you can hear on the recordings he left 5 The government of France named her a Chevalier the Legion d honneur in 1994 Personal life and death EditShe married Enrique Magrina in 1948 He and one of their two sons predeceased her She was hospitalized for a bronchial infection on December 31 2004 and died of respiratory failure on 15 January 2005 aged 81 She was buried in the Montjuic Cemetery Barcelona In her native Catalonia she usually appeared in the post Franco era under the Catalan form of her name Victoria dels Angels Recognition EditHer obituary in The Times UK noted that she must be counted among the finest singers of the second half of the 20th century 6 James Hinton Jr praised her meltingly lovely middle voice 3 Elizabeth Forbes writing in UK s The Independent also noted that It is impossible to imagine a more purely beautiful voice than that of Victoria de los Angeles at the height of her career in the 1950s and early 1960s 2 She was ranked number 3 after Maria Callas and Dame Joan Sutherland in the BBC Music Magazine s List of The Top Twenty Sopranos of All Time 2007 7 The municipal music school of Sant Cugat del Valles is named for her Escola Municipal de Musica Victoria dels Angels and is located on a plaza bearing her name Placa Victoria dels Angels Several other municipalities in Catalonia and many other in all of Spain have streets named after her In 2007 a private foundation was established in order to preserve her legacy and promote her figure named Fundacio Victoria de los Angeles 8 Partial discography Edit1952 Il Barbiere di Siviglia Tullio Serafin cond Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Gino Bechi Figaro Nicola Monti Il Conte Almaviva EMI 1953 Pagliacci Renato Cellini cond RCA Victor Orchestra Jussi Bjorling Canio Leonard Warren Tonio Robert Merrill Silvio RCA Victor 1953 La Vida Breve complete Manuel de Falla EMI HMV ALP1150 1151 RCA Victor Red Seal LM 6017 1953 with Emilio Paya baritone Rosario Gomez mezzo soprano Pablo Civil tenor Ernesto Halffter conductor with the Orquestra Simfonica de l Opera de Barcelona 1953 Faust Andre Cluytens cond L Opera de Paris orchestra Nicolai Gedda Faust Boris Christoff Mephistopheles EMI 1954 Madama Butterfly Gianandrea Gavazzeni cond Teatro dell Opera de Roma Orchestra Tito Gobbi Sharpless Giuseppe di Stefano Pinkerton EMI Records 1955 Les nuits d ete Hector Berlioz Charles Munch cond Boston Symphony Orchestra RCA Victor EMI 1955 Manon Pierre Monteux cond Chorus and Orchestra of the Theatre National de l Opera Comique EMI 1956 La boheme Thomas Beecham cond RCA Victor Orchestra Jussi Bjorling Rodolfo Robert Merrill Marcello Giorgio Tozzi Colline Lucine Amara Musetta RCA Victor EMI 1958 Faust Andre Cluytens cond L Opera de Paris orchestra Nicolai Gedda Faust Boris Christoff Mephistopheles EMI 1959 Carmen Thomas Beecham cond Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France Nicolai Gedda Don Jose Janine Micheau Micaela Ernest Blanc Escamillo EMI 1959 La traviata Tullio Serafin cond Teatro dell Opera de Roma Orchestra Carlo del Monte Alfredo Mario Sereni Germont EMI 1959 Madama Butterfly Gabriele Santini cond Teatro dell Opera de Roma Orchestra Jussi Bjorling Pinkerton Mario Sereni Sharpless EMI 1962 Cavalleria rusticana Gabriele Santini cond Teatro dell Opera de Roma Orchestra Franco Corelli Turiddu Mario Sereni Alfio EMI 1962 Il Barbiere di Siviglia Vittorio Gui cond Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Sesto Bruscantini Figaro Luigi Alva Il Conte Almaviva EMI 1964 Les Contes d Hoffmann Andre Cluytens cond Paris Conservatoire Orchestra Nicolai Gedda Hoffmann Jean Christophe Benoit Nicklausse Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Giulietta Gianna d Angelo Olimpia Jacques Loreau Andres Cochenille Frantz Pittichinaccio EMI 1965 La Vida Breve complete Manuel de Falla EMI CD M 7 69590 2 Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos cond Orquesta Nacional de Espana Orfeon Donostiarra Ines Rivadeneira la abuela Carlo Cossutta Paco Ana Maria Higueras Carmela 1965 Dido and Aeneas John Barbirolli cond English Chamber Orchestra Peter Glossop Aeneas Heather Harper Belinda EMI 1966 L enfance du Christ Andre Cluytens cond Paris Conservatoire Orchestra Nicolai Gedda Ernest Blanc Roger Soyer Xavier Depraz EMI 1969 Werther Georges Pretre cond Orchestre de Paris Nicolai Gedda Werther Mady Mesple Sophie EMI 1977 Orlando Furioso Claudio Scimone cond I Solisti Veneti Marilyn Horne Orlando Lucia Valentini Terrani Alcina Erato 1990 Chants d Auvergne Joseph Canteloube EMI Studio DRM CD M 7 63176 2 Jean Pierre Jacquillat cond Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux 1992 Traditional Catalan Songs with Geoffrey Parsons pianist Collins Classics 1993 The Fabulous Victoria de los Angeles 4 CD boxed set with recordings from 1960 through 1993 EMI 2008 Victoria de los Angeles The Voice of an Angel Overview of career on 7 CDS 165 tracks on mp3 EMI References EditNotes Her birth name has sometimes been misreported as Victoria de los Angeles Gomez Cima a b Forbes Elizabeth 17 January 2005 Victoria de los Angeles Soprano with a rich but limpid toned voice and great interpretive gifts The Independent London Archived from the original on 7 October 2012 a b James Hinton Jr Opera London June 1954 p 353 Victoria de los Angeles la gran estilista de la opera El Mundo 16 January 2005 Roberts pp 163 64 Victoria de los Angeles Enchanting Spanish soprano who must be counted among the finest singers of the past 50 years The Times London 17 January 2005 Kettle Martin 14 March 2007 Are these the 20 best sopranos of the recorded era The Guardian Mission Fundacio Victoria de los Angeles Retrieved 2022 10 11 Sources Bisogni Vincenzo Ramon Victoria de los Angeles Nella Musica per Vivere e Sopravvivere Zecchini Editore 2008 Roberts Peter Victoria de los Angeles Weidenfeld amp Nicolson 1982 External links EditMusic School Victoria dels Angels City University of New York Barry S Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation January 1950 Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg at Hans Swarowsky s page Archived 2005 04 09 at the Wayback Machine Opera Opera tribute 2005 Archived 2017 02 18 at the Wayback Machine Victoria de los Angeles Il Barbiere on YouTube Victoria de los Angeles sings Gioachino Rossini s Una voce poco fa Discography Capon s Lists of Opera Recordings Recordings and discography Discogs Other obituaries Victoria de los Angeles The Daily Telegraph London 17 January 2005 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Victoria de los Angeles amp oldid 1126233178, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.