Victoria de los Ángeles reveals an Assoluta Range with Blasting D6s in Manon's Gavotte
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- Опубликовано: 28 июл 2017
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-From James McCourt:
No, after a recital she was ready for her favorite word and activity, , "conversation," and in every city but especially in Barcelona and Madrid (a city she greatly preferred to her own. She was Spanish, not Catalan (and Catalan women don't seem to know who they are at all),. And conversation for her meant listening as much as talking. She was an egalitarian and never a diva--although when her elder son brought home a puppy, they both decided to call her "Diva"
The (greatest) roles: The Countess Almaviva, Manon, Butterfly and Melisande.
Since this is a page dedicated to Maria Calls, I will tell two things. Maria hated New York and the Metropolitan. She said of Victoria "She is the rose in the middle of all the weeds."
Some time in the 70s, Victoria was giving a recital at the Salle Wagram in Paris, and an enormous basket of the most beautiful red roses was delivered backstage without a card attached. "But who sent these beautiful roses -- and so many!" "The sender wishes to remain anonymous, Madame." Then I cannot accept them," After a long pause, the man said," Well, Madame they are from Madame Callas." Victoria said '"Well, I am going to call her up," and she left the dressing room and went into the executive offices and did so. Thus there developed a friendship, by telephone, for both women were shy (Yes, Maria in her later years was shy.) I asked her about this but she never said a word about it until Maria died. Victoria was the first person Bruna called that morning, and heard the telephone fall to the floor, and no sound but weeping on the other end. Years later, when Victoria was chosen to open the Maris Callas Atheneum in Athens, she held up her hand to stop the voluminous applause and said, "Please may we all give a standing ovation to Maria Callas?"
It was that night I attempted to "get at" this friendship of theirs -- it was then that she said "Nobody could touch her," and all she would say to me, her eyes full of tears was "I was trying to get her to keep the heart heart Up."
Sincerely yours,
James McCourt
Disclaimer - I own nothing 
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Victoria de los Angeles She was one of the great artists of the twentieth century and was recognized by all the really greats, from Tebaldi to Callas, who adored her, from Kraus to Björling, Corelli and Di Stefano or Gigli, with whom she debuted in Madrid, where she always was. favorite ... Madrid offered her the great tribute that Barcelona denied her, with Andrés Segovia and Kraus among the guests, and there I was, as in her wonderful Melisandre at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, the last opera role she performed. There are still those who remember his debut in Madrid, with Manon, and Beniamino Gigli as a partner, who gave it the full ovation of the public that night, that's how my father related it to me. Madrid will always carry Victoria in its heart and preferred her to Caballé, who, perhaps unconsciously, vetoed her at the Liceo and hurt her in his city, Barcelona
What I think are the most striking about Victoria de los Angeles is her brilliant musicality and her flawless mastery of languages. She's the singer that always comes to my mind as a standard for proper diction, enunciation and pronunciation in singing. She is stupendously fluent in any language she sings in!
This is just something else altogether. The voice, the technique, the acting, the charm, the musicality, the attention to detail - she had EVERYTHING going for her.
Can't be just me thinking this but the opera stars in particular sopranos of yesteryear sound so much better.
The voice sounds free and natural. Nothing forced or strained.
yes agreed! Can't stand pavarotti though with his forced high notes.
They were better. They made there way on talent and voice back then. Sadly, now there is such a focus on appearance. The Callas and De Los Angeles voices are out there, but would they get the support and opportunity today? Probably not. Instead we get Anna Netrebko and other mediocre voices in pretty packages. YUCK
It's absolutely wonderful! I never knew she had such top notes. I always associated her rather with beautiful middle and bottom. I couldn't find anything really high so thank you for this! And what a lovely timbre she had. I love her Mimi from La Boheme with Bjorling.
Beautifully sung. Such a lovely and expressive voice. The top notes amazing!
My all time favourite, thank you thank you for this rare D6 form her 😍! I don't know what but there is something in her voice that really touches my soul every time I listen to her. I wish more people would acknowledge what an amizing singer she was.
De los Angeles was definitely one of the most complete and versatile artists of the last century. While not possessing an immediately striking instrument, her timbre is absolutely pure gold, fully lyrical while also possessing a huge array of colors, and her musicianship is still unsurpassed in the opera world as far back as audio recordings go (there may have been her equals, but none who had better sense of style and of the shaping of a particular line).
this clip reveals she had an Assoluta instrument in her throat... why didnt she sing the Assoluta repertoire
I think hers was fundamentally the epitome of a great voice of lyric soprano. It had a very large range, a huge array of colors, and an equally well supported voice from top to bottom, but it was fundamentally lyric, and I think she wouldn't have the metal and sheer power for more dramatic roles. Anyway, she sang difficult roles, like Butterfly, with extreme ease as if they a piece of cake.
without the Db6 at the end of Quanto cielo none can call it piece of cake
I would add to your analysis that Victoria de los Angeles is always intelligible, no matter in which language, whether is Spanish, Catalan, French, German, Italian... her pronounciation is absolutely clear and on point. I find that's quite a feat, on top of her musicality & the sheer beauty of her sound.
comó dice el que me precede la voz de V.de los Angeles es puro oro yo le agrego que es como la plata con esa tersura inigualable
One of my favorite sopranos and the first soprano I ever heard.
Ah, she was also the very first soprano I ever heard in person. My parents had given me her delicious Barber of Seville (with Gui) only months before and they took me to see her in person in recital as a special treat. And what a treat! The audience virtually ate out of her hand, and we could have stayed all night--but I had school the next day.
How incredible to hear yet another side of this extraordinary artist! Her sense of style unparalleled! Thanks for posting!
As a youngster my introduction to opera started with recordings of La Boheme and Madame Butterfly, both with de los Angeles and Bjorling. Never been bettered or equaled since!
Fortunately we have had great sopranos for the role of Manon ... I do not mention any, but Victoria, she was Manon, very musical, incomparable, flirtatious and young at the same time ... without a doubt the best.
Thanks James, for you I have known today the respect that Callas had for her ...
Liquid silver- what a magical listening experience.
Top notes be damned! In this role I believe she achieved levels of insight and communication that few singers have equalled. One need go no further than Act I of this opera, esp. "Je suis encore tout etourdie" -- so much meaning!
There is a video of Victoria de los Angeles in the 80's, where she explains this Manon recording and says that, though she had the very high notes, she never intended to use them for the sake of them, that she felt she was "showing off" (as if it was something negative, her character was like that).
Then they go on talking about this aria, and she says that she recorded a first version without the very high notes, and then the conductor (or the De Grieux? I don't remember) went to see her and said: "you know, Victoria, in here in France you have to sing the high notes, otherwise, it would be very awkward, as these are part of tradition". So she did a second take, which I suppose is this one!
For years I was slightly searching to locate her top notes... now I know
why I couldn't... another viewer informed me about her idea of the
Butterfly entrance Db6 being out of music text.. I totally disagree, I
find it fantastic but EXCRUTIATINGLY difficult to sing as it demands
abrupt jump from legato middle voice singing to sustained dramatic
stratosphere (one of THE most difficult notes ever written)... as for
this one, it is not just a matter of tradition, Manon here is a woman
exhibiting her Beauty like crazy, she is supposed to sing D6.. ...but what amazes me here
is that her top notes are not like the top
notes of the other Avoiders (Flagstad, Ponselle...) They are
FANTASTIC... extremely steady, powerful and sung with full body of
voice
Lore has it that it was Henri Legay (her Des Grieux on this classic recording) who convinced her to go for the high D or whatever the bloody thing is called. The result is most convincing. Thanks to EMI this recording transitioned from LP to CD and despite "mono" only it's a feat.
:-)
not only convincing, this is D6 steady, sustained, powerful and full Body... it reveals the voice of an Assoluta if she had chosen to keep singing up there considering the fact she also had a wonderful low... I wonder why she never sang the Assoluta repertoire
+ Martín Carvajal First your write F6 then G6.. I ve known for a long time the famous G6 that Esclarmonde contains, isnt it a G6? or it contains an F6 as well?
loboestepario2424 and her French is excellent! Beautiful..!
She is really amazing!
Thanks for the post.
She fully justifies her name *Victory of the Angels*
well I didnt know she could sing the top notes like this...
If you did not, no one did. ;)
Beautiful high notes... So effortless...
BRAVA!BRAVA! Her Manon,Melisande etc.- heard at the Old met- were HEAVEN!
This was the first recording of Victoria de los Angeles I heard as a teenager several decades ago, and it remains a treasurable document, probably unsurpassed in the archive of studio recordings. Among the DVD documents, the Barcelona performance with Dessay and Villazon is quite wonderful, and despite the grim staging conveys something of the same poignancy and heartbreak that the de los Angeles recording so beautifully offers.
Dessay shows her tits and grabs her pussy or...?
Cómo se puede cantar tan bien, Dios mío? Magnífica
Wow!....I was surprised too....what year please? Sounds very early in her career..... thanks for sharing 😊
Loved reading James McCourt's comments. I'm a huge fan of, "Mawrdew Czgowchwz," McCourt's great ode to divadienst.
I never knew she had those notes... usually her voice got tight on a C6, but this is gorgeous, effervescent singing.
I didnt know either... one of the Viewers who was her personal friend informed me and here it is.. and more... and it is extremely powerful, not thin and falsetto... she ascends Full Body up there
I always loved Los Angeles's middle voice, so beautiful and feminine.
is this the real tonality of the piece? if it is EVERYBODY else flat-sings it... I think in the middle she goes up to Eb6 1:56 :D
Lohengrin O Well she might have gone a bit sharp lol.
Massenet was truly the High D king.
...but what amazes me here is that her top notes are not like the top notes of the other Avoiders (Flagstad, Ponselle...) They are FANTASTIC... extremely steady, powerful and sung with full body of voice
BRAVA! Her Manon,Melisande etc.-heard at the OLDcMet- were heaven!
Is this taken from the Pierre Monteux recording? Could the sound here have been raised just slightly in pitch from the original??
#Victoria_De_Los_Ángeles100 🌹🌹🌹
"with one Blasting D6", to be exact...
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
diamond like tones.....gorgeous
Who is James McCourt to say that Catalan women don't seem to know who they are? That's pretty disrespectful
ÚNICA.
Her intelligence and musicianship were of the very highest order. Alas her top Ds were not.
these particular D6s are fantastic... perhaps u refer to her later D6s
De distinguit el Sr. McCourt no en té res. Més aviat es un gran mal educat. Victoria certament era d' origen espanyol ,però va estimar Catalunya i es va sentir Espanyola i Catalana a la vegada.Si es cert que va cantar cançons del folklore espanyol com ningú, també va ser així amb la seva excelsa interpretació de les cançons populars catalanes. El comentari sobre les dones catalanes i la negació de la catalanitat de Victòria ,es inapropiada i mal intencionada. Faig el comentari en català per q es una llengua tan important i rica com la Anglès,francès o Italia... aquest nivell de xenofòbia ,McCourt, es un greu problema q vostè té i cregui'm,als catalans ningú ens ha de venir a explicar qui va ser Victòria de los Ángeles!
I discovered her and this opera in the '55 recording with Pierre Montreux, the end just broke my heart in a thousand pieces..
I absolutely love her as Manon, she's so feminine, her voice suits perfectly this role
Thanks !!