The Portrait of Victoria.
John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 12/26/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Those who adore this fine Spanish singer will need little urging to acquire this well-filled CD, especially when they discover that it contains many previously unpublished or elsewhere unavailable items. In the latter category is the song "The Portrait of Isabella". For this song alone, I bought the CD. Having heard this lovely singer both in London and then during her several tours of Australia, I well remembered that she frequently used it as a favourite encore. So radiant was her singing, I used to imagine the song described a Goya portrait of a beautiful woman. All the more surprising, now that it is possible to read the words (all the texts are supplied with this CD), is to discover that it is in fact a bitter, sardonic song, exposing falsehood and misrepresentation. The singer contrasts the beautiful features depicted in the portrait, one by one, with Isabella's actual black teeth, squinting eyes. etc. All of which makes a point about this CD. The ability to act with the voice, to characterise, to tell both pleasant and unpleasant stories, was not this singer's strong suit in the early years of her career. Contemporary reviewers often described the singing as "too ladylike, too civilised". If you accept these limitations, you will not be disappointed in this collection of Victoria de los Angeles early recordings. She is in beautiful, radiant, limpid and fresh voice throughout. All but the last four items have piano accompaniments, all but one provided by Gerald Moore. Biographical notes are provided, giving especially full details of the singer's career during the years 1942-1953 when these recordings were made. Full texts and translations are provided, together with several photos including one taken at her debut in Barcelona in 1944."
An exemplary document for every Lieder and Melodies Singer!!
Manuel Reguillo-Cruz | 05/15/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It's easy to see why Victoria de los Angeles won a prominent place among recitalists and was filled with superlatives when referring to her timbre, musicianship and warm personality.She made her initial bow to London on 4 March 1950. Gerald Moore has written about that event: "Mark Raphael, who knows as much about singing as anybody, must have expressed the feelings of all who heard her that night when he said that he wanted to fall on his knees and thank God for letting him hear such a voice" ('Am I too loud?', London 1962.)Because London is the House of EMI, she was immediately offered a contract to record mainly Spanish songs. She was not allowed by David Bicknell (her main producer) to sing German Lieder, except the ones that are in these transfers. Being a Spaniard EMI executives were afraid that she would not honor, say, Schubert, Schumann or Brahms, least of all Hugo Wolf. They even consulted the reigning queen of Lieder, Elena Gerhardt, who very graciously stood on Victoria's side. According to Gerhardt, the Spanish soprano's interpretations were free, spontaneous, and warm, with a very different approach, and yet valid, to that of the German singers.Thanks to the previous is that we have these delightful recordings which come from the same epoch of her London debut recital; in all of them, Gerald Moore is the accompanist (prince of accompanists he surely was), with his fine legato playing and his unashamed way of accompanying her.Victoria attacks Haendel'aria (sung in german) with ferocious coloratura and disarming warmth. Then we listen to her Schumann; she sets the mood for each one of the three songs, with an extra depth of her contralto-like low register in Ich grolle nicht.Then comes Brahms'Von ewiger Liebe, with her own particular magic at the change of key and the words 'spricht das Magdelein'. With generous fervor she comes to the climax of the song, giving to it all the energy and power at her command. Her Respighi comes from another world, Stornellatrice is sung by Victoria with a poignancy that set a standard which very unlikely will be equalled. It really brings tears to the eyes. And then, we hear her Spanish songs: Granados, Falla. Guridi, Turina, Vives, Nin... all of which have been praised by just about every musical critic of the day and after as being gay, spiritous, merry, elegant, witty, coquestish... I very much agree with these adjectives, especially when compared with singers of the calibre of Supervia, Caballé, Lorengar and Berganza. Victoria stands above them all, her timbre marks her off her rivals. The disc ends with two very rare recordings of Victoria at 20-year-old: two Hungarian folksongs, and I must say that she seems gypsy.We all love Victoria (I hope) not only for her golden stream of sound, but also for the smile with which she always sang. Thanks to EMI and Testament for this reisuue."
