The Fabulous Victoria de los Angeles

The word "fabulous" seems vulgar when applied to the Spanish diva whose delicately shaded voice encompassed music from the middle ages to the present. This four-disc compilation emphasizes her song repertoire, to which she brought warmth, intelligence, linguistic integrity and irresistible sincerity. Her dignity makes listeners want to come to her, and she rewards them with an intimate, personal experience, especially in this small-scale repertoire by Ravel, Debussy, Duparc, Fauré, lots of Spanish composers and German masters such as Schubert and Brahms. --David Patrick Stearns