Victoria de los Ángeles
The Catalan soprano Victoria De Los Ángeles was born in Barcelona on 1 November 1923, and died there on 15 January 2005, aged 81.
She studied singing and piano at Barcelona's Conservatorio de Liceo, making her début at the Palay de la Musica Catalana in 1944. She went on to win the Geneva International Singing Competition in 1947, bringing her to the attention of the BBC, who invited her to sing Salud in Falla's La Vida Breve. During the following four years, she made débuts in Paris, Milan, London and New York.
Her repertoire was wide, principally from Mozart to Wagner. She recorded for EMI for almost thirty years, with a creamy voice and a natural, unaffected simplicity which were adored by audiences around the world, whether she was singing opera or Spanish song.