Angeles, Victoria de los

▪ 2006

Victoria Gómez Cima  Spanish soprano (b. Nov. 1, 1923, Barcelona, Spain—d. Jan. 14/15, 2005, Barcelona), was one of the most celebrated singers of her generation. Her voice was warm and rich, with a wide range, and her repertoire was extraordinarily broad. She sometimes ended recitals with Spanish and Catalan songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. De los Ángeles entered the Barcelona Conservatory in 1940 and completed her studies in three years, half the usual time. By the 1950s she was a star in the world's leading opera houses. Beginning in the 1960s, however, she devoted more and more time to recitals. Although she officially retired in 1979, she continued to make occasional appearances, and she sang in the closing ceremony of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. De los Ángeles was one of the most recorded singers of her time, with more than 20 operas and an even greater number of recital discs. Among her most prized recordings were those of her performances of the title role in Bizet's Carmen and of Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème and Cio-Cio-San in his Madama Butterfly. Other roles included Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, and Salud in Manuel de Falla's La vida breve, as well as the title character in Jules Massenet's Manon. She was known for her recording of Joseph Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne, and the recording of her performance with soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf of “Duetto buffo di due gatti,” Rossini's “cat duet,” became a best seller. De los Ángeles's many honours included six Grands Prix du Disque.

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▪ Spanish opera singer

original name  Victoria Gómez Cima  

born November 1, 1923, Barcelona, Spain

died January 14/15, 2005, Barcelona

 Spanish soprano known for her interpretations of Spanish songs and operatic parts and for the timbre of her voice.

      Of a musical family, de los Ángeles sang and played the guitar before studying piano and voice at the Conservatorio del Liceo in Barcelona. There she performed in concert and in 1945 made her opera debut as the Countess in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. In 1947, after winning first prize in an international competition in Geneva, she gave concert and opera performances throughout Europe. In 1950 she had highly successful debuts at Covent Garden, London, as Mimi in Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème; at La Scala, Milan, in the title role of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos; and at Carnegie Hall, New York City, in recital. Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera the following year was as Marguerite in Charles Gounod's Faust. De los Ángeles was an exceptionally versatile artist, and in the mid-1960s she limited her opera appearances and undertook many recital tours.

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