Enrique
GRANADOS (1867–1916)
Colección de Tonadillas (1910):
[8:18]
1. El mirar de la maja, No. 5
[3:06]
2. La maja dolorosa, No. 11 [3:38]
3. El majo discreto, No. 3 [1:34]
Joaquín
VALVERDE (1846–1910)
4. Clavelitos [1:53]
Jesús GURIDI
(1886–1961)
Canciones Castellanas (1943):
5. No. 4: No quiero tus avellanas
[3:41]
6. No. 5: Cómo quieres que
adivine [2:24]
Joaquín
NIN (1879–1949)
7. El vito (possibly between
1920-1939) [1:58]
8. Paño Murciano (possibly
between 1920-1939) [1:53]
Joaquín
TURINA (1882–1949)
Triptico (1928?):
9. Farruca [3:21]
Ernesto FUSTÉ
(1884–1972)
10. Háblame de amores (no
date found) [2:57]
Amadeo VIVES (1871–1932)
11. El retrato de Isabela (no
date found) [2:12]
12. El amor y los ojos (no date
found) [2:13]
Manuel de FALLA
(1876–1946)
Siete canciones populares Españolas
(1914): [12:35]
13. I El paño moruno [1:12]
14. II Seguidilla murciana [1:20]
15. III Asturiana [2:33]
16. IV Jota [2:50]
17. V Nana [1:39]
18. VI Canción [1:10]
19. VII Polo [1:51]
Traditional Songs of Spain
(arranged by Graciano Tarragó):
20. El Rossinyol (The Nightingale)
(Catalonia) [2:18]
21. El Testament d’Amelia (Amelia’s
Will) (Catalonia) [3:30]
22. Adiós meu homiño!
(Goodbye, my dearest) (Galicia) [1:50]
23. Miña nay por me casare
(The Dowry) (Galicia) [1:12]
24. Tengo que subir, subir (I
must go to the mountain) (Asturias)
[2:57]
25. Ahí tienes mi corazón
(Here is my heart) (Castilian Fandango)
[1:47]
26. La ví llorando (I
saw her crying) (Old Castile-Santander)
[1:32]
27. Ya se van los Pastores (The
shepherds are singing) (Old Castile-Soria)
[1:54]
28. Campanas de Belén
(Bells of Bethlehem) (Andalusia) [1:06]
29. Jaeneras (Songs of Jaen)
(Andalusia) [2:22]
30. A dormer ahora mesmo (Cradle
Song) (Murcia) [2:54]
31. Granadinas (Songs of Granada)
(Andalusia) [2:44]
32. Hincarse de rodillas (Prayer)
(Andalusia) [3:18]
33. Canción de trilla
(Song sung at haymaking) (Majorca) [1:40]
34. Parado de Vallemosa (Bolero)
(Majorca) [1:40]
35. Nik Baditut (My possessions)
(Basque Province) [2:03]
36. Andregaya (The betrothed)
(Basque Province) [0:50]
Victoria de los Angeles
(1923-2005) was a so-called "living
legend" and as such nearly impossible
to write about. Her career was amazing
and immensely long. In 1939, approaching
her 16th birthday, she auditioned
for the then principal teacher of the
Barcelona Conservatorio, Dolores Frau,
and was enrolled on a six-year course,
which she completed in three. In February
1940, she was entered for and won the
Radio Barcelona Competition. Her operatic
debut came on 13 January 1945 at the
Grand Teatre del Liceo, in Barcelona,
as the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze
di Figaro. She never looked back
and went on to have a fabulously distinguished
career, performing in all the greatest
opera houses, with a widely varied repertoire
that included Mozart, Rossini, Verdi,
Puccini, Strauss and even Wagner, as
well as various popular and classic
Spanish composers. Her last live performances
were, in 1992, at the opening of the
Barcelona Olympic Games where she sang
one aria, and at Wigmore Hall, in London,
the following year. She also recorded
numerous recital and complete opera
discs between 1948 and 1978.
Those who have heard
Victoria de los Angeles sing live say
her voice was not just beautiful but
also had a lovely, warm and dark tone
with an incredible range that distinguished
her as one of the great sopranos of
the post-war period, alongside such
names as Renata Tebaldi (1922-2004)
and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (1915-2006).
Her vocal and dramatic range was unusual,
as she could convincingly sing operas
as diverse as Carmen, The Barber
of Seville, Die Meistersinger, La Traviata
and Madama Butterfly. She
was not only notable for her operatic
roles but also for her concerts and
recitals. Apart from the great opera
arias, she always added Spanish music
to her appearances, often accompanying
herself on the guitar, especially during
the encores.
This CD, a compilation
of recordings she made between 1949
and 1953, is dedicated solely to Spanish
Songs, as indicated by its title. Some
songs are from well known popular and
classic Spanish composers, such as Granados
and Falla; others, the vast majority
of the album, are traditional songs
from the different regions of Spain.
From the historical
point of view, this is a very interesting
compilation, however, to my mind, it
shows only one side of an artist who
was extremely versatile and therefore
it is not fully representative of her
art. He voice sounds pure, beautiful
and clear throughout. The digital transfer
is of very good quality and it is obvious
that great care went into producing
it, to try to give the listener a realistic,
colourful picture of the true sound
of de los Angeles’ voice, at the peak
of her powers. This is better achieved
in the opening Tonadillas by
Enrique Granados and then in Manuel
de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares
Españolas, to me, the best
and most enjoyable part of the compilation.
The accompaniment provided by Gerald
Moore (1899-1987) is excellent throughout,
giving us lively interpretations, suitably
enhancing and supporting the singing.
The second part of
this recital and what constitutes the
bulk of the CD, is entirely dedicated
to various traditional Spanish songs,
collected from the different regions
of the country and arranged by Graciano
Tarragó (1892-1973), the father
of Renata Tarragó (1927-2005),
who provides the musical accompaniment
on the guitar. I have to say that I
am not a great fan of traditional Spanish
music and that is possibly the reason
why I did not enjoy this part very much.
Victoria de los Angeles’ voice is beautiful
throughout and, as in the other compositions,
one can notice its warmth, beauty of
tone and wide range. This is particularly
impressive in its highest register where
she avoids stridency; always singing
the notes rather than just belting them
out, approaching a screaming sound,
which is sometimes the downside of many
good soprano voices. I found however
that she lacked vivacity and expressiveness
in these songs though this could also
be due to the fact that the originals
were old recordings. Of the seventeen
traditional songs on offer here, her
voice is heard to best effect in El
Rossinyol (The Nightingale from
Catalonia), Granadinas (Songs
from Granada in Andalusia), Canción
de trilla (Song sang at haymaking
from Majorca) and Andregaya (The
Betrothed from the Basque Province),
perhaps because they were closer to
her heart or simply because she just
happened to sing them better. Renata
Tarragó’s guitar sounds wonderful
throughout; her performance is virtuosic
at times, demonstrating what a great
guitarist she was. The warm sound of
the instrument mixes harmoniously with
her lovely voice, leaving one with a
pleasing, optimistic feeling at the
end of the CD.
The disc comes with
a booklet with a detailed biography
by Alan Bilgora. His article is long
but very informative and interesting
to read. There is a minor point though,
which could be misleading. At the bottom
of page 4, the author mentions that
de Los Angeles "… studied guitar with
Teresa Garcia and Graciano Tarragó,
the mother of Renata, who later accompanied
Victoria in recital." I am not sure
who was Renata’s mother but Graciano
Tarragó was most definitely her
father. This however does not diminish
the excellent information about Victoria
de los Angeles’ life and work. The booklet
also contains a synopsis in English
of the traditional Spanish songs and
refers the reader to a website where
the full translation of the lyrics can
be found.
As I have mentioned
earlier, the digital transfer was done
with great care in order to reproduce
the voice and the sound of the music
is as close to the real thing as possible.
However, I always find that no matter
how hard the sound engineers try, they
can never give the quality of a digital
recording to a digital transfer. The
voice always sounds slightly muffled
and a little distorted in its highest
register and the instruments a little
distant, almost as if the musicians
were in a different room to the singer.
I know Victoria de
los Angeles’ voice, as well as the voices
of all the great singers of the time,
only from their recordings. These never
reproduce the true sound of a singer
performing live in concert or in an
opera and it often prejudices my appreciation
of the voices of great singers of the
past, of which hers is one. I often
feel that singing has simply got better
through the years; opera singers are
nowadays fitter and approach their work
in a more professional manner, both
on their daily practise and their preparation
for a new role or a recital. So, at
the risk of being accused of sacrilege,
I find myself thinking if such legendary
singers as de los Angeles, Tebaldi,
Caruso or even Callas, were really as
good as the papers reported at the time
or if audiences were less demanding
than they are today. In any case she
possessed a lovely, warm voice, clear
and pure and it still sounded good when
she sang at the opening of the Barcelona
Olympics though the ten years younger
Montserrat Caballé was more impressive.
Nevertheless, this
compilation of Spanish Songs, taken
from original recordings, in the early
years of her career, is a good historical
document of the more popular side of
one of the greatest sopranos of the
post-war period. Certainly a CD to have,
if you are a lover of Spanish popular
and traditional music or an undying
fan of Victoria de los Angeles.
Margarida Mota-Bull
See
also review by Goran Forsling
Victoria de los Angeles (soprano) 
[79.22]
