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.
Fernand Ansseau, tenor; Piero Coppola, conductor. HMV matrix number BS 4259-1. Victor record number 1471. Recorded Paris, 26 Sep 1929.
Fernand Ansseau, tenor; Piero Coppola, conductor. HMV matrix number BS 4260-1. Victor record number 1471. Recorded Paris, 26 Sep 1929.
Alessandro Bonci; with piano. Fonotipia record number 39127. Fonotipia matrix number xPh 178. According to Michael Henstock's definitive work on Fonotipia, this was recorded in Milan ca. late February 1905.
Alessandro Bonci; with piano. Fonotipia record number 39129. Fonotipia matrix number xPh 180. According to Michael Henstock's definitive work on Fonotipia, this was recorded in Milan ca. late February 1905. This has what record dealers euphemistically describe as a rough start.
Note: Playing speeds of vocal 78 rpm discs is always a matter for some conjecture. See the discussion on this web site for more information. I realize that Mozart wrote the "Bildnisarie" in E-flat major and that the transfer of the Bonci recording, above, is in D-flat major. Both it and "Spiagge amate" were recorded at the same session. The speed that gets "Spiagge amate" in the score key of F major (77.9 rpm) puts "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön" in D-flat major. So I am as sure as I can be that Bonci actually sang the Mozart transposed down a major second.
Enrico Caruso; with piano. Victor record number 85048. Victor matrix number C 2340-1. Recorded 27 Feb 1905.
Enrico Caruso; with piano. Victor record number 85049. Victor matrix number C 2341-1. Recorded 27 Feb 1905.
Enrico Caruso; with orchestra. HMV record number DB 138. Victor matrix number C 14200-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 15 Dec 1913.
Enrico Caruso; with orchestra. HMV record number DB 138. Victor matrix number C 15570-3. Recorded Camden, N.J., 7 Jan 1915.
Enrico Caruso; with orchestra. 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 from Raymond Glaspole in the spring of 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. Raymond Glaspole has identified the cursive writing on the label and jacket as his.
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. The cursive writing on this jacket is also Raymond Glaspole's.
Aside from the writing Glaspole confirmed to be his, I have no idea whose writing this is. Glaspole says the other writing, on both the jackets and the discs, was present when he got them. I have never seen an example of Harper's handwriting. I know nothing of the discs' provenance before Raymond Glaspole's ownership.
Both discs are 78 rpm acetates (aka lacquers) but seem to use RIAA equalization.
Louise Homer; Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 88132. Victor matrix number C 6038-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 17 Mar 1908.
Hermann Jadlowker; with orchestra. Gramophone Company record number 2-042007. Victor matrix number C 11679-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 7 Mar 1912.
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.
Lilli Lehmann; Fritz Lindemann, piano. Historic Masters HMB 59. Odeon matrix number XB 1304. Recorded in Berlin, 29 Jun 1906. This was Lehmann's first recording.
Lilli Lehmann; with orchestra. Historic Masters HMB 59 and HMB 50. Odeon matrix numbers XB 3049, XXB 3050, and XXB 3051. Recorded in Berlin, probably 22 Jun 1907.
Frida Leider; with orchestra; John Barbirolli, conductor. According to Stephen Pettit's book on Dennis Brain, Aubrey Brain is principal horn on this recording. Victor record number 7118. HMV matrix numbers Cc 12956-1 and Cc 12957-1. Recorded London, Studio C, Small Queen's Hall, 8 May 1929.
Frida Leider; with orchestra; John Barbirolli, conductor. EMI record number AGSB 26. HMV matrix number CR 2010-1. Recorded London, Queen's Hall, 11 May 1928.
Frida Leider; with orchestra; John Barbirolli, conductor. EMI record number AGSB 26. HMV matrix number CR 2012-2A. Recorded London, Queen's Hall, 11 May 1928.
Loretta Lynn and Roberta Peters. From the Mike Douglas show broadcast in my area on 19 Aug 1979.
Lucy Isabelle Marsh. Victor record number 70037. Victor matrix number C 10102-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 27 Mar 1911.
Lucy Isabelle Marsh; Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 70086. Victor matrix number C 12508-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 11 Oct 1912.
John McCormack, with orchestra. Victor matrix number C 19138-1. Victor record number 74242. Recorded in New York 31 Mar 1911. Compare with the 31 Mar 1936 EMI version, below.
Follow the score, also in C major, as is the recording.
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.
John McCormack; Lawrance Collingwood, conductor. EMI matrix number 2EA 2750-1A. EMI record number IRX 1009. Recorded in London, Abbey Road, Studio No. 2, 31 Mar 1936. Compare with the 31 Mar 1911 Victor version, above.
Follow the score, also in C major, as is the recording.
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.
Jarmila Novotna; Berlin State Opera Orchestra; Erich Orthmann, conductor. HMV record number AN 682. EMI matrix numbers 2D 381-1 and 2D 382-1. Recorded Berlin, 30 Apr 1931. Sung in Czech (or, as the label puts it, "Czechish").
Note: On June 9-10, 1942, the Nazis wiped the village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, off the face of the earth in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. (Heydrich was the architect of the final solution.) It was one of the more atrocious of the many Nazi atrocities.
Novotna and Masaryk recorded this set in memory of those the Nazis murdered in Lidice, and I offer it here in that spirit.
Precos k nam neprisiel? (Why don't you come?); Zeleni hajove (Green woodlands); Sly panenky silnici (Maidens walking down the road)
Ach synku, synku (My son, my son); Zdalo se mi, ma panenko (I had a dream, my darling)
Kto ma pocernu galanku (He whose beloved is dark); Horo, horo, vysoka jsi! (Oh, mountain, how high thou art!)
Laska boze laska (Love, dear God, love); Tece voca tece (Flowing waters); Andulko, me dite (My little Anna)
Ach neni, tu neni (Gone is my love); Pod tym nasim okieneckom (Underneath our window)
Dobru noc (Good night); Koupim ja kone vrany (I'll buy myself a black horse); Umrem, umrem (When we die)
Jarmila Novotna; Jan Masaryk, piano. Sung in Czech. Song titles in Czech and English as given on labels. Victor record numbers 11-8318, 11-8319, and 11-8320, and issued as Victor set M 936. Victor matrix numbers CS 073861-1 (recorded 6 May 1942), CS 073862-2 (recorded 7 May 1942), CS 073863-1 (recorded 6 May 1942), CS 073864-2 (recorded 29 Jun 1942), CS 073865-1 (recorded 29 Jun 1942), CS 073866-1 (recorded 29 Jun 1942). Probably recorded in New York.
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.
Pol Plançon, with orchestra. IRCC 81. Victor matrix C 6111-2. Recorded Camden, N.J., 14 Apr 1908.
Pol Plançon, with orchestra. IRCC 81. Victor matrix C 6113-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 14 Apr 1908. This was Plançon's last recording.
Aksel Schiøtz; Kongelige Kapel (Denmark) (i.e., Royal Orchestra); Egisto Tango, conductor. EMI record number DB 5265. EMI matrix number 2CS 5052-3. Recorded in Scandinavia (almost certainly Copenhagen) 25 Feb 1942.
Aksel Schiøtz; Kongelige Kapel (Denmark) (i.e., Royal Orchestra); Egisto Tango, conductor. EMI record number DB 5265. EMI matrix number 2CS 5053-1. Recorded in Scandinavia (almost certainly Copenhagen) 25 Feb 1942.
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. The Mahler Foundation web site has a biography of Spencer.
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., 8 Mar 1911.
Janet Spencer with the Victor Orchestra. Victor record number 74253. Victor matrix number C 10001-3. Recorded Camden, N.J., 8 Mar 1911.
Janet Spencer. Victor record number 64186. Victor matrix number C 10227-1. Recorded Camden, N.J., 25 Apr 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., 26 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; with orchestra. Odeon record number R 20550. Odeon matrix number CXE 11617-2. Recorded 1946.
Richard Tauber; with orchestra. Odeon record number R 20550. Odeon matrix number CXE 11701-1. Recorded 1946.
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: 31 Jan 2024
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