I have included all the discographical information I have about the recordings below.
Arrangement is alphabetical by singer, then chronological by recording date or my best guess at the recording date.
Unless otherwise noted, transfers are by me from records in my collection.
Enrico Caruso. Victor record number 85048. Victor matrix number C 2340-1. Recorded 27 Feb 1905.
Enrico Caruso. Victor record number 85049. Victor matrix number C 2341-1. Recorded 27 Feb 1905.
Enrico Caruso. Victor record number 87294. Victor matrix number B 22125-4. Recorded 11 Jul 1917.
Richard Crooks; LeRoy Shields, conductor. One side of Victor record number 1478. Victor matrix number PBVE 54859-2. Recorded in Hollywood 7 Jul 1930.
Charles Gilibert, with piano. IRCC 102. Victor matrix C 4364-1. Recorded 1 Apr 1907. This recording is a little unusual in that there are two songs on the same side of a twelve inch disc, and because Gilibert announces the second song. Announcements were virtually unheard of by 1907.
Igor Gorin; Bruno Reibold, conductor. Vinyl pressing of unpublished Victor matrix CS 066384-1, recorded 3 Jul 1941.
Alexander Gryzunov, with orchestra. Historic Masters HMB 37. Gramophone Company matrix 1918c. Recorded in St. Petersburg 14 Jan 1910. This constitutes 20% of Gospodin Gryzunov's recorded legacy.
Heather Harper, with piano. Sung in English.
This recording is a mystery. I acquired it spring 2018. It is labeled only as a test recording by Heather Harper. There is no information about what it was a test for, who the accompanist is, or when it was made.
Here is a picture of the label of the ten inch disc, which contains the recitative. There is also writing on the disc's jacket
The twelve inch disc, which contains the aria, has Harper's name written on it in what appears to be yellow grease pencil. (The ten inch disc seems also once to have had Harper's name written on it. However, that has mostly rubbed off and I did not photograph it.) As with the ten inch disc there is writing on the jacket.
I have no idea whose writing this is. I have never seen an example of Harper's handwriting.
Both discs are 78 rpm acetates (aka lacquers) but seem to use RIAA equalization.
Helen Jepson, soprano; with orchestra; Alexander Smallens, conductor. Victor matrix CS 0723-1. Recorded in RCA New York Studio 2, 22 Sep 1936.
Helen Jepson, soprano; with orchestra; Alexander Smallens, conductor. Victor matrix CS 0724-2. Recorded in RCA New York Studio 2, 22 Sep 1936.
Marcel Journet; Francis Lapitino, harp; Josef Pasternack, conductor. The Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings notes that takes 1-3 featured Anton and Joseph Horner, but says that for take 4 (the only one issued) the horn parts were played on cornets. The brass instruments in this recording are certainly French horns. Whether the Horner brothers are playing is left for the listener to decide. Victor 74508. Matrix C 19116-4. Recorded Camden, N.J., 25 Jan 1917. Transfer by William Shaman from a disc in his collection. My thanks to Mr. Shaman for providing this item.
Marjorie Lawrence; Piero Coppola, conductor. HMV record numbers DB 4914 and DB 4915. HMV matrix numbers 2PG 1220-1, 2PG 1221-1, 2PG 1222-1, and 2PG 1223-1. Recorded 23 Oct 1933.
Loretta Lynn and Roberta Peters. From the Mike Douglas show broadcast in my area on 19 Aug 1979.
Lucy Isabelle Marsh. Victor record number 70086. Victor matrix number C 12508-1. Recorded 11 Oct 1912.
John McCormack; Edwin Schneider, piano. Victor record number 1307. HMV matrix numbers Bb11344-2 and Bb11346-2, respectively. Recorded 2 Sep 1927.
John McCormack, with orchestra. Victor matrix number BVE 58596-1. Unpublished. Recorded 21 Feb 1930. Compare with the published version, above.
Philip Lieson Miller (1906-1996) was for many years chief of the Music Division of the New York Public Library. He studied at a number of schools, including the Manhattan School of Music and the Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School). In addition, he was, at one time or another, president of the Music Library Association (MLA) and the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC).
The recordings presented here were lot 4183 on Lawrence F. Holdridge's auction that closed January 5, 2014. They are instantaneous recordings on two double-sided aluminum Speak-O-Phone blanks. There is no writing on the discs, nor was there information about the selections recorded, the date or other circumstances of the recording, or the name of the accompanist. I speculate--and I emphasize that this is a guess--that they were recorded in the mid-1930's, when Miller was a student at the Institute of Musical Art.
I transferred them at 78.26 rpm using a 2.8 mil truncated elliptical stylus, which, of the stylii I have available, sounded best, with bass turnover of 500 Hz and 10 KHz rolloff of 5 dB. I have not processed them in any way; this is exactly what came off the preamplifier.
I present them in arbitary order, since I have no idea in what order they were recorded.
My profound thanks to Lynn Melton and Suzanne Jerosme, both of the Stadttheater Aachen, for identifying the Exaudet piece. André-Joseph Exaudet (1710-1762) wrote the minuet in 1751. Within ten years of its composition three composers used the tune in their operas. After being included in numerous collections, such as this one, it came to be regarded as a folksong.
Here are pictures of the front and back of one of the discs. The other record looks nearly identical. Here are pictures of the front and back of the envelope in which they came.
Sigrid Onegin; Fritz Hübsch, piano. Victor record number 7075. Victor matrix number CVE 48279-2. Recorded 11 Jan 1929.
Sigrid Onegin; Fritz Hübsch, piano. Victor record number 7075. Victor matrix number CVE 48280-3. Recorded 11 Jan 1929.
Loretta Lynn and Roberta Peters. From the Mike Douglas show broadcast in my area on 19 Aug 1979.
Pol Plançon, with piano. IRCC 102. Victor matrix C 2318-1. Recorded 20 Feb 1905.
Ernestine Schumann-Heink; Walter B. Rogers, conductor. Victor record number 88547. Victor matrix number C 16503-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 15 Sep 1915.
These are all of Janet Spencer's published Victor records.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 74231. Victor matrix number C 9957-2. Recorded Camden, N.J., 9 Mar 1911.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 74290. Victor matrix number C 9958-2. Recorded Camden, N.J., 9 Mar 1911.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 74253. Victor matrix number C 10001-3. Recorded Camden, N.J., 9 Mar 1911.
Janet Spencer. Victor record number 64186. Victor matrix number C 10001-3. Recorded Camden, N.J., 9 Mar 1911.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 64249. Victor matrix number B 10228-2. Recorded Camden, N.J., 25 Apr 1911.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 64200. Victor matrix number B 10229-2. Recorded Camden, N.J., 25 Apr 1911.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 74291. Victor matrix number C 10234-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 26 Apr 1911.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 64189. Victor matrix number B 10235-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 26 Apr 1911.
Eleanor Steber; Dennis Brain, horn solo; Philharmonia Orchestra; Walter Susskind, conductor. Victor 12-02690. Matrix 2EA 12299-2. Recorded 19 Sep 1947.
Richard Tauber; Henry Geehl, conductor. Odeon record number RO20535. Odeon matrixes CE 11311-3 and CE 11312-1, respectively. Recorded 13 Dec 1944.
Richard Tauber; George Melachrino, conductor. Odeon record number R20556. Odeon matrix numbers CE 11974-1 and CE 11975-2, respectively. Recorded July 1946.
Georges Thill; Pierre Chagnon and Armand Bernard, conductors, respectively. Columbia record number LF 104. Columbia matrix numbers WL 3388-1 and WL 3878-4, respectively. Probably recorded ca. 1930.
Aeolian-Vocalion record number 20001. Matrix 5959 or 5960 (no matrix number on disc). Recorded 1920-1923. Thomas sang in the world premiere of Apple Blossoms.
This recital was given 9 Nov 1979. The pianist is Mstislav Rostropovich.
The tracks are arranged to be burned onto a CD. The tracklist is an ASCII file that any word processor or text editor should be able to open.
Created: 30 Sep 2017
Changed: 11 Oct 2020, while quarantined
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