The Metropolitan Opera in New York will host an exhibition featuring five dresses and accessories worn by Victoria de los Ángeles at the Met in performances of Faust (1951), Le nozze di Figaro (1951), Manon (1954), and Madama Butterfly (1955). The opening will take place on February 27, during a performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Meanwhile, starting on March 1, the Instituto Cervantes in New York will host the exhibition That Eternal Admiration on the life and friendship between Victoria de los Ángeles and Alicia de Larrocha, on the Centennial of these two great Catalan artists. The exhibition will kick off with a recital by soprano Mercedes Gancedo and pianist Michal Biel, followed by a cocktail reception featuring the “Victoria Cake”, a creation from the Pastisseria Canal in Barcelona in honor of the soprano.

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Victoria de los Ángeles at the Met Opera

Seven decades after her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on March 17, 1951, Victoria's angelic presence will return, embodied in her dresses, to the legendary opera house where she sang 139 times and became a favorite of both the audience and critics. The Met pays tribute to Victoria de los Ángeles as one of the most beloved Met Opera sopranos where she offered historic and uninterrupted performances over a decade (1951-1961), including 13 roles and 23 times she sang the leading role in Madama Butterfly.

Her Met debut on 1951 -at 27- as Marguerite in Faust, elicited the following extraordinary praise from composer Virgil Thomson, New York’s most caustic music critic: “Her vocalism, beautifully schooled and in every way secure, was marked by a similar concentration on excellence and an abstention from broad effects. …What can be determined now, what has already been decided by European audiences, is that she is a vocal artist out of the ordinary and far above it.”

From February 27 and onwards, and starting with a performance of Madama Butterfly, the Met joins the commemoration of the Centennial of Victoria de los Ángeles with an exhibition featuring five dresses and accessories that the soprano wore in different roles at the Met. These include her debut dress as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust (1951), the dress and bracelet she wore for the role of the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (1951), the costume and necklace from Massenet's Manon (1954), and two original Japanese kimonos and umbrellas with which she portrayed Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1955).

The dresses belong to the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation and are traveling to New York with the support of the Institut Ramon Llull, the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Spain.

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Exhibition "That Eternal Admiration" at the Instituto Cervantes in New York

Starting on March 1 and on the occasion of Women's History Month, the Instituto Cervantes in New York will host the exhibition "That Eternal Admiration" dedicated to the Centennials of Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009) and Victoria de los Ángeles (1923-2005).

The exhibition narrates the brilliant trajectory of the Catalan pianist and soprano, two exceptional artists who lived in Barcelona at the same time and left a deep mark on the musical history of Spain. Through photographs, letters, dresses, music sheets, and other never-before-exhibited objects, the exhibition is also a story of affection and respect, portraying a fruitful friendship spanning a century of life filled with shared encounters and projects.

"With these flowers go my great love and that eternal admiration for your art and your strength of will," Victoria writes to Alicia in 1989, in a note she sends along with a bouquet to a New York hotel, hence the name of the exhibition.

This same city, New York, that witnessed their growth and legendary moments, such as the recording of their album at Hunter College, will host this exhibition that recounts their lives from childhood to the present, paying homage to their art and courage.

The exhibition will open with a recital by soprano Mercedes Gancedo and pianist Michał Biel, followed by a cocktail reception featuring the “Victoria Cake” a creation from Pastisseria Canal in Barcelona in honor of the soprano.

The exhibition has been seen in Barcelona from September 2023 until January 2024. It is an initiative of Palau Robert, with the collaboration from the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, guidance from the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation (Helena Mora Gutiérrez, president, and Marc Busquets Figuerola, curator of the centennial), and the Alicia de Larrocha Association (Alicia Torra de Larrocha, curator of the centennial). The set design is by director Rafael R. Villalobos. The support is provided of the Institut Ramon Llull, the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Spain.

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Victoria de los Ángeles (born November 1, 1923, Barcelona, Spain—died January 14/15, 2005, Barcelona) was a Catalan 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 Conservatori del Liceu 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.

In1949, de los Ángeles made her debut at the Opéra de Paris with her impressive interpretation of Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust. In 1951, the same opera took her to the Metropolitan Opera House, in New York, where she continued performing consistently until 1961, making a name for herself as one of the undisputed stars of opera, among the likes of Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi. It was when she was with this company that she became so well-known all over the USA, and in New York she put on various now legendary performances, starring in Otello with Mario del Monaco, in Manon with Giuseppe di Stefano, in Martha alongside Richard Tucker, and many more besides.

De los Ángeles was an exceptionally versatile artist, and in the mid-1960s she limited her opera appearances and undertook many recital tours.