The Palau Güell in Barcelona inaugurates this Friday the exhibition Cosint el cant, a show that addresses the relationship of Victoria de los Ángeles with fashion and that can be visited until January 21. In the exhibition, you can find some of the most iconic costumes that the Barcelona soprano used throughout her career, both those she wore in recitals and those she used to interpret characters such as Violetta, Manon, Mimí or Cio-Cio San, among others. The exhibition also incorporates other personal objects of the artist, such as her sewing machine, with which she made several of the pieces on display.
The exhibition, organized by the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation in collaboration with the Documentation Center and Museum of Performing Arts of the Institut del Teatre and the Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu, features a total of seventeen pieces of stage clothing of the singer. These dresses allow to expose the time, the change of fashions, the richness and veracity of 20th-century operatic theatricality, as well as the diversity of characters to whom the artist gave voice, reports ACN.
In this sense, as explained by the curator and commissioner of the Victoria de los Ángeles Year, Marc Busquets, the exhibition is structured "in three areas" that coincide with the three spaces into which the attic room of the Palau Güell is divided. The first exhibits clothes used in performances and social events that are framed within the trend of each moment. In the 1940s, Victoria de los Ángeles began to have contact with the fashion of the moment, a relationship that would last a lifetime and that would lead her to make some of her dresses, with an innate taste for volumes and colors.
The second space in the Palau Güell is dedicated to the stage costumes that the singer wore in operas such as La Traviata, La Bohème or Tannhäuser. This space highlights the quality of the tailoring and fabrics with silks, brocades, and lace. Busquets recalls that during the 1950s and 1960s, great sopranos "had their own wardrobe for each character they played" and that, in the case of De los Ángeles, she preserved them with great care.
Finally, the third area focuses on the wardrobe made by the artist herself, along with different objects such as a sewing machine, travel trunks with her initials, furniture and oriental-influenced decoration like Japanese poufs and Chinese Ming vases, as well as necklaces and other jewels that always accompanied her.
As for the most "iconic" costumes, Busquets highlights two: the one she used when she was invested doctor honoris causa in 1987, and the one from her return to the Liceu in 1992, a dress that "she only wore on that occasion."
Although the curator considers all the models worn in the different operas to be "spectacular," he opts to especially highlight the one from the work of Madama Butterfly, which features a parasol with a story behind it. "It seems she would have received it at La Scala in Milan directly from one of Puccini's lovers, who was delighted when she saw her perform," he states.
The legacy of Victoria de los Ángeles
Victoria de los Ángeles (1923-2005) was one of the most important sopranos of the 20th century. Born in Barcelona, she was universally known and recognized, being an ambassador of the country's culture through the different interpretations she offered around the world. In this sense, she performed in the best opera houses, such as La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, or the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
"The soprano's legacy is undeniable because her way of approaching music was very faithful to the composer, without personalisms, and many contemporary artists have been inspired by this style," Busquets recalled, "we want her to remain very present and the centenary is a unique occasion to bring the character closer to all citizens."
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