Los Angeles (real name, Gómez Cima), Victoria de

Los Angeles (real name, Gómez Cima), Victoria de, famous Spanish soprano; b. Barcelona, Nov. 1, 1923. She studied at the Barcelona Cons, with Dolores Frau. In 1941 she made her operatic debut as Mimi in Barcelona, but then resumed her training. In 1945 she made her formal operatic debut as Mozart’s Countess in Barcelona. After winning first prize in the Geneva International Competition in 1947, she sang Salud in La vida breve with the BBC in London in 1948. In 1949 she made her first appearance at the Paris Opéra as Marguerite. In 1950 she sang at the Salzburg Festival for the first time. She made her debut at London’s Covent Garden as Mimi in 1950, and continued to appear there regularly with notable success until 1961. She also sang at Milan’s La Scala from 1950 to 1956. On Oct. 24, 1950, she made her first appearance in the U.S. in a Carnegie Hall recital in N.Y. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Marguerite on March 17, 1951, and remained on its roster until 1956. In 1957 she sang at the Vienna State Opera, and was again on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera from 1957 to 1961. After making her debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Elisabeth in 1961, she devoted herself principally to a concert career. However, she continued to make occasional appearances in one of her favorite operatic roles, Carmen, during the next 2 decades. Her concert career continued as she entered her 7^th decade, highlighted by a well-received recital appearance at N.Y.’s Alice Tully Hall on March 7, 1994. Among her other acclaimed operatic roles were Donna Anna, Rosina, Manon, Nedda, Desdemona, Cio-Cio-San, Violetta, and Mélisande. As a concert artist, she excelled particularly in Spanish and French songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire