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Victoria de los Angeles made her debut in 1941 arriving at Covent Garden in 1950 and the New York ‘Met’ in 1951 singing every season there until 1961. She appeared at Bayreuth 1961-62 and also sang at La Scala and the Paris Opera. Los Angeles had a charming stage presence with an exceptionally beautiful light lyric voice; she perhaps found her true metier on the concert platform with Gerald Moore at the piano. His skills certainly brought out the best in her, particularly in the German ‘ Lied’ (CD 2 trs 18-20). However, that is to jump ahead. Disc 1 opens with her charming rendering of the arietta from Gianni Schicchi from the renowned recording with Gobbi as the eponymous rogue. Her voice is ideally suited for the role of the young Llauretta as it was for Mimi (tr 3) from the equally famous New York Boheme conducted by Beecham, and which for many was, and is, the benchmark recording, albeit in mono. Personally I find Freni, for both Karajan (Decca) and Schippers (featured on her disc in this series) to be superior for the greater variety of tonal colours within the voice. For this is the rub with los Angeles, no matter the artistry, there can be a sameness in the voice, and given an added tweetyness in some of these mono recordings, that can soon tire the ear. Yet in other instances she brings adequate colour to complement her fine vocal nuance and characterisation, often when least expected as in ‘Una voce poco fa’ (tr 9) or ‘Elsa’s Dream’ (tr 11). Where I find she really excels is in Marguerite’s ‘Jewel Song’ from Faust (tr 15). A pity that the extended scene including ‘The King of Thule’ is not included.

As an HMV-contracted artist, de los Angeles also featured on several recordings of ‘verismo’ operas that were in no way suitable for her vocal strengths. I would certainly have preferred a sample of her Maria Boccanegra, which suited her well, to the likes of the ‘Cav and Pag’ extracts included here. Disc 2 includes a very wide range styles and languages, and which owes much to her concert experience. Also included is music of her native Spain. The Montsalvatge and Luna pieces (tr 5-10) are also on the Caballé discs in this series. In tr 8 the wisp of tone is so pure and effective, whilst in the brief ‘Canto negra’ (tr 9) there is a vast variety of colour in her vivacious rendering. The 1966 recording of ‘El amor brujo’, with Giulini conducting, is another highlight (tr 11-12) with the use of unexpected chest tone and very sensuous singing. Her two ground-breaking discs of ‘Chants d’Auvergne’ are represented (tr13-16). Whilst los Angeles’ tone is not as sumptuous as Te Kanawa (Decca) there is better characterisation of what is being sung.

The recording dates range from 1950 to 1973 with some of the earlier mono recordings catching an edge to the voice. The brief booklet includes reference to the singer’s roles, recording dates, orchestras, conductors etc. in English, French and German. In summary a bit of a ‘curates egg’, but there is enough here to satisfy fans and interest others with perhaps less awareness of this singer and her considerable artistry.

Robert J Farr

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