The recording from Barcelona 1987 on
the same label had very little to recommend
it [see below]. The recording was badly
balanced and the singing gave little
pleasure. This disc with excerpts from
four recitals in Tokyo 1988 and 1990
is a better suggestion for those who
want a late recording with Victoria
de los Angeles. To begin with the recording
balance is much better and the recording
is very bright and not as bass heavy
as in Barcelona. The singing is also
generally on a different level, even
though there are ups and downs. There
is some unsteadiness and she produces
some hooting sounds, her portamenti
contributes to a feeling of out-of-tune
singing in places and sometimes the
intonation is wayward, which afflicts
the Hahn songs – a pity since she was
always so good with this composer.
Several songs and groups
of songs are quite successful, however.
The booklet gives no information on
which songs were recorded when, so it
is difficult to judge if she was in
various shape on various days. The Schumann
songs are in the main good with a very
slow but concentrated Intermezzo
standing out. Der Nussbaum is
also among the best. Die Forelle
was one of the better songs in Barcelona
and it is also very good here. I have
heard better readings of Ave Maria
but it is still a good listen and Erlkönig
is well characterized, but maybe
her voice isn’t dramatic enough.
The Ravel cycle is
marred by too much portamento, but the
last song, Tout gai! is more
than acceptable. She doesn’t seem in
best shape in the Catalan songs either,
apart from the spirited Margariteda.
Just as in Barcelona she is at her
best in the encores, where Nin’s El
paño murciano is well sung
and she is as charming as in the good
old days in Granados’ El majo timido.
Warmth, elegance and constantly magical
shaping of the musical phrases are characteristics
that have always been associated with
Victoria de los Angeles, and they are
part and parcel of these performances,
which however are less than ideally
vocalized.
The Japanese audiences
are models of exemplary behaviour. One
doesn’t hear a cough, or any other sign
of people being there – until at the
end of each group of songs where there
are disciplined but enthusiastic applause.
The booklet has biographies and full
sung texts but no translations into
English. For anyone wanting a disc from
the last period of Victoria de los Angeles
long career this is a safer proposition
than the Barcelona recital.
Göran Forsling
Victoria
de los Ángeles - Concert inaugural
de Catalunya Música
1. Applause [0:42]
Franz SCHUBERT
(1797–1828)
2. An Sylvia, D891 [2:38]
3. Wiegenlied, D498 [2:33]
4. An die Musik, D547 [2:48]
5. Die Forelle, D550 [2:10]
6. Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen,
D343 [3:17]
7. Seligkeit, D433 [1:53]
Johannes BRAHMS
(1833–1897)
8. Dein blaues Auge halt so still,
Op. 59 No. 8 [1:55]
9. Wie Melodien zieht es mir,
Op. 105 No. 1 [2:32]
10. Vergebliches Ständchen,
Op. 84 No. 4 [1:32]
Frédéric
CHOPIN (1810–1849)
11. Pierscien, Op. 74 No. 14
[1:48]
12. Zyczenie, Op. 74 No. 1 [1:45]
Felix MENDELSSOHN
(1809–1847)
13. Auf Flügeln des Gesanges,
Op. 34 No. 2 [2:54]
Gabriel FAURÉ
(1845–1924)
14. Clair de lune, Op. 46 No.
2 [2:54]
15. Chanson d’amour, Op. 27 No.
1[2:11]
16. Tristesse, Op. 6 No. 2 [2:46]
17. Mandoline, Op. 58 No. 1 [1:36]
Cançons Traditionals Catalanes
(arr: Manuel García Morante (b.
1937):
18. El Noi de la Mare [1:59]
19. La Mare de Déu [2:12]
20. Els fadrins de Sant Boi [1:12]
21. El rossinyol [1:42]
22. Margarideta [1:18]
23. Caterina d’Alió [2:34]
24. La dama d’Aragó [2:05]
25. El testament d’Amèlia
[3:11]
26. La filadora [1:24]
Enrique GRANADOS
(1867–1916)
27. Maja de Goya [3:10]
Georges BIZET
(1838–1875)
28. Seguidilla from Carmen [1:56]
Tradicional Catalana (arr: Manuel Garcia
Morante):
29. El cant dels ocells [2:20]
Victoria de los Angeles (soprano), Manuel
Garcia Morante (piano)
rec. live, Palan de la Música
Catalana, Barcelona, 10 May 1987
COLUMNA MÚSICA 1CM0175 [77:17]
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When Victoria de los
Angeles entered the stage in Barcelona
to give the inaugural concert for the
radio station Catalunyia Música
in May 1987, she had behind her a career
of more than 45 years, having made her
operatic debut at the age of 18 in 1941.
And she continued for several years
more. I heard her at Wigmore Hall in
April 1990, giving an all-French recital
and in 1992 she sang at the Olympic
Games in Barcelona – a recording of
Montsalvatge’s Madrigal, based
on the folk song El cant dels ocells,
from that occasion was included in the
GROC disc The Maiden and the Nightingale,
released about a year ago (review).
Her singing is lovely on that recording
as it was at that Wigmore Hall recital.
I seem to remember that she gave two
recitals the same week and the one I
didn’t attend was recorded and issued
by Collins Classics. It would be interesting
to see that disc reissued (Naxos, please
note!).
Considering the present
disc from Barcelona 1987 I am afraid
that even die-hard los Angeles fans
need a substantial helping of indulgence
to overlook the shortcomings. First
of all there is a very lop-sided recording
balance with the piano very close and
the singer seemingly several yards away.
To hear the pianissimo singing you need
to turn up the volume several notches
and then the piano hits you right in
solar plexus. The singing in itself
is also very compromised. Voice production
is uneven, the tone often shallow and
unsteady and intonation tends to be
suspect. She employs portamento generously
(portamento is the technique to join
adjacent notes by sliding from one note
to the next), which also gives the impression
of her singing out of tune.
The reverse side of
the coin is that her girlish timbre
is easily recognizable, that there is
no loosening of vibrato and that her
handling of the texts and her phrasing
are as delicate as they were during
her heydays. This is, however, not enough
to compensate for the deficiencies.
Some songs are better than others and
in general it is the livelier songs
that fare best. Die Forelle is
as light and bouncy as it should be
but unfortunately the poor fish is all
but drenched by the piano. Schubert’s
Wiegenlied has moments of great
beauty while Brahms’ beautiful Wie
Melodien zieht as mir is a near-catastrophe.
Mendelssohn’s Auf Flügeln des
Gesanges was included in the A
World of Song recital, issued more
than twenty years before this concert
and even by then there were moments
of unsteadiness, but not as pronounced
as here. The phrasing is just as exquisite
but the actual sounds are much more
approximate.
Some of the Catalan
songs are quite acceptable, especially
Margarideta, which is lively
and humoristic, but it is only in the
first two encores that she is anywhere
near success. Maja de Goya is
excellent and the Seguidilla
from Carmen, one of her regular
extras, is also good.
The audience is enthusiastic
and of course a live occasion is something
quite different from a recording where
the microphone mercilessly catches every
little defect but nothing of the atmosphere.
Moreover the ovations are also a tribute
to the singer as a person, much loved
by the people of her native city and
just to show the warm reception before
she had even opened her mouth the full
applause at her first entrance is included
and separately banded, lasting 42 seconds.
After that every single number is followed
by long applause and ovations which,
I believe, could be nice the first time
but for repeated hearing they should
have been edited out.
The lyrics can be found
on the record company’s website but
the booklet has biographies on both
Victoria de los Angeles and her pianist
Manuel Garcia Morante who, due to the
recording balance, becomes the leading
character. He plays well but the recording
is too bass heavy.
I don’t think it was
a good idea to release this disc, which
adds little to the overall picture of
one of the loveliest sopranos from the
last century. The inclusion of two Chopin
songs is of course good – they should
be heard more often – and the readings
are among the better but that is not
enough to make the disc worth the outlay.
Göran Forsling
