Nothing could be more appropriate in celebrating Victoria de los Angeles’s 75th birthday than this extensive conspectus of her recordings of Spanish song over 40 years. It’s hardly possible in a brief review to do justice to such an astonishing achievement on the part of the Spanish soprano; indeed had she sung nothing else her place in recorded history would be assured.

It is generally accepted that Victoria de Los Angeles possessed one of the most beautiful soprano voices of the 20th Century. Her musicality was supported by a vocal timbre suffused with the bright warmth of an Iberian summer. Her appearances in the concert hall and opera house, and her first recordings, drew the highest accolades from the musical establishment, critics and public. Her personality, excellent technique and dedicated approach would have secured her place as a great singer in any age.

After October 6th collection of Andalusian music, here is another homage by Victoria de los Ángeles to her musical roots. Born in Barcelona, the soprano has a deep connection with Catalan vocal music, whose richness of which she gives a splendid overview, from traditional songs accompanied at the guitar by Renata Tarragó to modern cycles by Mompou, Toldrà and Rodrigo arranged and conducted by Antoni Ros-Marbà, a great figure of music in Catalonia.

It is generally accepted that Victoria de Los Angeles possessed one of the most beautiful soprano voices of the 20th Century. Her musicality was supported by a vocal timbre suffused with the bright warmth of an Iberian summer. Her appearances in the concert hall and opera house, and her first recordings, drew the highest accolades from the musical establishment, critics and public. Her personality, excellent technique and dedicated approach would have secured her place as a great singer in any age.

Victoria de los Angeles was one of the finest lyric sopranos in the decades after World War II. She was born Victoria Gómez Cima. She learned to sing and play piano and guitar while still in school. She entered the Conservatorio de Liceo in Barcelona to study piano and singing, completing the six-year program in three, and graduating with full honors at the age of 18. Her membership in the Conservatory's Ars Musicae gave her wide exposure to the art song repertory and Baroque and Renaissance music.