parterre box

18 comments

• 1
  Quanto Painy Fakor says:

  November 1, 2009 at 12:06 PM

  
  
• 2
  javier says:

  November 1, 2009 at 12:07 PM

  Happy birthday Victoria. They call me Javier de Los Angeles, you know?
• 3
  CruzSF says:

  November 1, 2009 at 12:37 PM

  This is the kind of history lesson I like. Brava!
• 4
  Jay says:

  November 1, 2009 at 1:12 PM

  A true lady of Spain and a great artist.
  I remember going backstage after a concert in South Pasdena, Florida (St. Petersburg suburb) in the early 1950s. She had been promised payment immediately after the concert ended, but there was no $. She didn’t yell or scream or throw a fit. But she did very determinedly insisted that the contract be honored. I felt like an eavesdropper, got my autograph and skeddaled.

  Her performances with Alica della Rocha and were wonderful, even if she her voice was a fascimile of what it once been. De los Angeles accompanied herself on the guitar. and her stage presence and charm helped her garner several ovations.

  But is the 1959 recording of Butterfly with Bjoerling that brings back especially treasurable memories. (Her earlier recording of the role was not available in the early 196s, at least not in central Florida, where I grew up.)
• 5
  Camille says:

  November 1, 2009 at 2:00 PM

  In April 2002, @ the time NY Review of Books re-issued James McCourt mythical “Mawrdew Czgowchwz” I had the delightful experience of meeting the author @ the Irish Historical Society. When I spoke to him.upon offering my copy for autograph, he absolutely insisted that the book was much more dedicated to, and inspired by La Gran de los Angeles, rather than Maria Callas.
  At the back of my copy remains a sort of cryptic note to that effect, which I’ve since forgotten, and can no more decipher than read Gaelic.
  Wayne Koestenbaum may invoke the obvious in his reference in his introduction re “M. C.”, but Mr. McCourt made it emphatically clear it was all about Vicki D.

  A myth from my childhood on, I only had occasion to hear her once, in the late 70’s in Miami, when much of the vocal sheen was gone, but the acute interpretive skills still intact, and every inch a Grande Dona de Espana!

  These days she is truly singing with the angels.

  Con dulces recuerdos———–
  .
  Felices Cumpleanos, Estimada Senora!!!
• 6
  squirrel says:

  November 1, 2009 at 4:04 PM

  QPF we all know you are the YouTube Queen, but what has this got to do with anything?
• 7
  Often admonished says:

  November 1, 2009 at 4:15 PM

  There are some outstanding recordings: the first Butterfly, any of the Debussy, Faure or Hahn demonstrate a truly unique voice and musicianship that hasn’t really been rivaled in subsequent generations of the Spanish school.

  Tapes of her Desdemona are incredible but even more extraordinary are the live Elizabeth and Elsa which are textbook lessons in lyrical Wagner singing.
• 8
  manou says:

  November 1, 2009 at 4:47 PM

  @6 – squirrel : for once this is apposite as it is apparently Happy Birthday Russian style. This being said, QPF does have a serious YouTube habit – Betty Ford Center beckons…
• 9
  squirrel says:

  November 1, 2009 at 4:50 PM

  Oh, yes, I see your point, but I think that’s just a rationalization on QPF’s part. Don’t enable him!
• 10
  Quanto Painy Fakor says:

  November 1, 2009 at 7:23 PM

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
• 11
  Alto says:

  November 1, 2009 at 7:45 PM

  Heavenly singing from her who, in Barcelona, is known as Victória dels Angels.
• 12
  Krunoslav says:

  November 1, 2009 at 10:57 PM

  Now, how soon will the Vicar chime in praising Una Hale at Mme. de los Angeles’ expense???
• 13
  Countess Guess-wit says:

  November 2, 2009 at 12:45 AM

  I liked opera from when I was a kid, but, when I heard the de los Angeles/Bjoerling Boheme for the first time sometime in my 20s (my dad had the LP I think), the earth shifted, the gods had a good laugh, and I became a helpless addict.

  You might say de los A was my “first,” and, even now, when I hear her on the radio or something unexpectedly, somehow the sweetness of her voice still just stops me in my tracks.
• 14
  orlatromba says:

  November 2, 2009 at 12:59 AM

  I adore my “Vicky”… I was lucky enough to see her in recital in 1994 and it was a life-transforming experience. She sang Schubert’s Ave Maria with her arms stetched and her hands joined in prayer in a way that, frankly, I found a little grotesque until I realized that she believed in this prayer 100% and she managed to make it quite convincing! Her sincerity won you over regardless of your religious belief (or disbelief, in my case…). Thank you, sweet Vicky, for countless hours of musical enjoyment! Happy birthday!
• 15
  Quanto Painy Fakor says:

  November 2, 2009 at 3:06 AM

  httpv://www.ina.fr/art-et-culture/musique/video/RAF07044380/regine-crespin-a-l-opera-de-marseille.fr.html
• 16
  ellerveira says:

  November 2, 2009 at 3:27 AM

  Remember hearing her in Minneapolis in May, 1951, doing Faust with Siepi and di Stefano. Near perfection.
• 17
  MontyNostry says:

  November 2, 2009 at 4:13 AM

  QPF [#15] — Aaah, Regine. Don’t you love the way she is sitting there in her dressing room with her fur draped round her shoulders and all her jewellery on. Now that’s a diva … And the way she looks into camera when she wants to make her point about how wonderful Marseille is.
• 18
  richard says:

  November 2, 2009 at 8:27 AM

  Here’s VdlA’s first Act Mimi. She’s not terribly photogenic but she captures every nuance of Mimi’s lovely accounting of her life.

  Happy Birthday Vicki!