|
|
January 1st
Carl Schuricht conducts Die Fledermaus overture
Franz André conducts Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers and Suppé’s Poet and Peasant overtures
December 23rd
Marguerite d’Alvarez sings Silent Night, Habanera from Carmen and Ai nostri monti from Il Trovatore (with Giulio Crimi)
George Baker sings Toreador Song from Carmen and Il balen from Il Trovatore
December 18th
Mark Hambourg, Marjorie Hayward, Frank Bridge and Warwick Evans play Scherzo from Saint-Saëns’s Piano Quartet
December 3rd
The London Wind Quintette (Murchie, Goossens, Draper, James and A.E. Brain) play works by Pierné and Scarlatti
October 25th
Carmen - Columbia acoustic recording c1920 (abridged) with Fanny Anitua, Luigi Bolis, Ines Maria Ferraris and Cesare Formichi
Carmen - highlights on LP, conducted by Walter Goehr, with Cora Canne Meyer and Leo Larsen
Carmen - highlights on LP, conducted by Erasmo Ghiglia, with Franca Sacchi and Eddie Ruhl
Carmen - orchestral and choral excerpts (with associated sides) by Felix Weingartner, Percy Pitt, Alick Maclean, Landon Ronald, Carlo Sabajno, Saba Matacena, John Mackenzie-Rogan, Frieder Weissmann and Albert Coates
Carmen - excerpts from 1911 Pathé recording
Carmen - excerpts (and associated sides) by Henri Albers, Albert Vaguet, Gaston de Poumayrac, Maurice Renaud, Marie Delna, Alice Raveau, Emilio de Gogorza, Sigrid Onegin, Angelo Bendinelli, Nini Frascani, Thomas Chalmers, Elsa Stralia and Frank Mullings (with Hamilton Harty conducting), Harold Williams, Noel Eadie, Nancy Evans, Webster Booth, Dennis Noble, Carrie Tubb, Violet Elliott, Ernest Pike, Harold Wilde, Stewart Gardner, Peter Dawson, Edna Thornton, Eleanor Jones-Hudson, Roy Henderson, Constance Willis, Frank Titterton, Maria Olszewska and Dmitri Smirnov
Jan - June 2011 transfers still available
July - Dec 2010 transfers still available
Jan - June 2010 transfers still available
July - Dec 2009 transfers still available
Jan - June 2009 transfers still available
2008 transfers still available
LP transfers still on site
|
|
January 1st 2012 - Check out my blog, for slightly more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
To welcome in the New Year, I’ve transferred Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus overture in an early recording by Carl Schuricht, and as an extra, a pair of overtures by Suppé and Offenbach, conducted by Franz André.
|
|
J. Strauss II - Die Fledermaus - Overture
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Carl Schuricht
(credited on label as “New State Symphony Orchestra, with no conductor named)
J. Strauss II - Die Fledermaus - Overture
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Decca K.638
Matrices 30159, 30160 (from Telefunken originals)
Recorded 9th September 1929, Berlin
Play at 78rpm
|
|
Offenbach - Orpheus in der Unterwelt - Overture
Suppé - Dichter und Bauer - Overture
L’Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale, Belge, Franz André
Offenbach - Orphée - André
Suppé - Poet and Peasant - André
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Telefunken UX4507 (7” 45rpm)
Matrices 45-9/38418-1-R, 45-9/36989-X-R
Recorded 6 and 5 October 1952, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
|
|
December 23rd 2011 - Check out my blog, for slightly more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
Aeolian Vocalion records are the source for a quintet of vocal recordings in time for Christmas. They also serve as a little coda to the pile of Carmen recordings that I posted here in October. The English-born contralto, Marguerite d’Alvarez, sings Silent Night, and then the Habanera from Carmen, and, with tenor Giulio Crimi, “Ai nostri monti” from Verdi’s Il Trovatore. This is followed by two more recordings from the same works - baritone George Baker, in a lesser known corner of his discography, made a number of operatic sides for Aeolian Vocalion.
|
|
Gruber - Silent Night, Holy Night
Orchestra
Marguerite d’Alvarez, contralto
Gruber - Silent Night - d’Alvarez
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Aeolian Vocalion C-01054 (12” single-side)
Matrix AM 7619
Recorded June 1921
Play at 78.4rpm
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera
Orchestra
Marguerite d’Alvarez, contralto
Verdi - Il Trovatore - Ai nostri monti
Orchestra
Marguerite d’Alvarez, contralto
Giulio Crimi, tenor
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - d’Alvarez
Verdi - Il Trovatore - Ai nostri monti - d’Alvarez, Crimi
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Aeolian Vocalion A-0200 (12” double-side)
Matrices AM 5151, AM 7359
Recorded 1920?, April 1921
Play at 78.5rpm and 77.9rpm respectively
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador Song
Orchestra
George Baker, baritone
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador Song - Baker
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Aeolian Vocalion C-01004 (12” single-side)
Matrix 01576
Recorded c1920
Play at 81.8rpm for score pitch
The record label says “in Italian”, but Baker is singing in English.
|
|
Verdi - Il Trovatore - The tempest of the Heart (Il Balen)
Orchestra
George Baker, baritone
Verdi - Il Trovatore - Il balen - Baker
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Aeolian Vocalion C-01005 (12” single-side)
Matrix 01593
Recorded c1920
Play at 81.8rpm to play in A flat major (a tone below score pitch)
|
|
December 18th 2011 - Check out my blog, for slightly more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
Another brief chamber music update, this time one of the four chamber sides recorded in 1917 by Mark Hambourg. This features Marjorie Hayward on violin, Frank Bridge on viola and Warwick Evans on cello, in a heavily abridged version of the Scherzo from Saint-Saëns’s Piano Quartet in B flat major.
|
|
Saint-Saëns - Piano Quartet in B flat major Op.41 - Scherzo
Marjorie Hayward, violin
Frank Bridge, cello
C. Warwick-Evans, cello
Mark Hambourg, piano
Saint-Saëns - Scherzo from Piano Quartet in B flat - Hambourg et al
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Voice 08054
Matrix HO 2726ef
Recorded 7th July 1917
Play at 78rpm
The recording contains the following sections of the score:
bb1-60; bb94-113, bb33-60, bb231-318 (end)
|
|
December 3rd 2011 - Check out my blog, for slightly more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
The single record in this update is contains two treats from the wind ensemble repertoire. The London Wind Quintette are heard on an early 1920s Edison Bell Velvet Face 12” record. The quintette features flautist Robert Murchie, Leon Goossens on oboe, Haydn Draper on clarinet, bassoonist Wilfred James and horn player Alfred Edwin Brain Jr. The discography given in Carole Rosen’s “The Goossens - A Musical Century” names Frederick Salkeld as the horn player, with a recording date of 1923. However, the record labels clearly state A.E. Brain. Brain left the UK in August 1922, playing in the NYPO, LAPO and was heard on numerous film soundtracks. His date of emigration and the matrix numbers on the record suggest a 1922 recording date.
|
|
Pierné - Pastorale
Scarlatti - Andante and Allegro (from Suite)
London Wind Quintette:
Robert Murchie, flute
Leon Goossens, oboe
Haydn Draper, clarinet
Wilfred James, bassoon
Alfred Edwin Brain Jr, horn
Pierné - Pastorale - London Wind Quintette
Scarlatti - Andante and Allegro - London Wind Quintette
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Edison Bell Velvet Face 515
Matrices X1147H-2, X1148H-1
Recorded 1922
Play at about 83.6rpm
The Scarlatti pieces are arrangements of the Sonata in D minor K9/L413 transposed to E minor, and Sonata in G minor K450/L38 in its original key.
The Pierné Pastorale is No.1 from Album pour mes petits amis Op.14, in its original key of A minor. Bars 35-80 are repeated, presumably so that record was filled out to a reasonable duration.
|
|
October 25th 2011 - Check out my blog, for slightly more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
It has taken a long time to prepare this update, which focuses on Bizet’s Carmen. The centrepiece is the abridged 1920 Columbia set on 10” records. This is complemented by two LPs of excerpts from the 1950s, and then a wide selection of 78s of orchestral and vocal excerpts, whether in more or less their original forms, or as “gems.” The sung languages range from French, via Italian, English and German to Russian. Where Carmen excerpts occupy only one side of a record, the other side is, as usual, given here too. In some cases additional recordings by the same performer are included.
|
|
Complete or substantial excerpts:
|
|
Bizet - Carmen (abridged)
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
sung in Italian
1. Prelude
2. Chorus of Cigarette Girls - Suono la campana
3. Habanera - E l'amore
4. Duet - Ah, mi parla di lei
5. Duet - Mio vegga ancor
6. Seguidilla - Presso il bastion di Siviglia
7. Duet - Carmen quest' ufficiale
8. Bohemian Song - All' udir
9. Bohemian Song - Or ben Pastia desia
10. Toreador Song - Part 1 (Con voi ber)
11. Toreador Song - Part 2
12. Quintette - Part 1 - Noi s'lia in vista un bell' affar
13. Quintette - Part 2 - Certo la cosa
14. Duet - Alfin sei qui
15. Duet - Al quartier
16. Flower Song - Il fior
17. Duet - No, tu non m'ami
18. Duet and Finale (Part 1) - No, piu non ti voglio
19. Finale, Act 2 (Part 2) - Dubbio non c'e
20. Trio - Part 1 - Io ci veda
21. Trio - Part 2 - Invan par evitar
22. Ensemble - E nostr' affar il doganier
23. Aria - Io dico
24. Recit & Duet Part 1 - Ma non m'inganno
25. Duet Part 2 - Per amante ell' avveva
26. Finale Act 3, Part 1 - Ola! Jose
27. Finale Act 3, Part 2 - Ah! bada a te
28. Finale Act 3, Part 3 - Ah! paventa
29. Duet - Se tu m'ami
30. Duet - Sei tu?
31. Finale Act 4, Part 1 - Piu non m'ama il tuo cor?
32. Finale Act 4, Part 2 - No davver
Fanny Anitua, mezzo-soprano - Carmen
Luigi Bolis, tenor - Don José
Ines Maria Ferraris, soprano - Micaëla
Cesare Formichi, baritone - Escamillo
Lina Garavaglia, soprano - Mercédès
Rosa Garavaglia, soprano - Frasquita
Enrico Spada, bass - Zuniga
Luigi Baldassare, bass - Il Dancairo/Moralès
Carlo Paltrinieri, tenor - Il Remendado
La Scala Chorus
Mediafire link for Bizet - Carmen - acoustic Columbia - Acts 1 & 2
Mediafire link for Bizet - Carmen - acoustic Columbia - Acts 3 & 4
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Columbia D 5582-97
Matrices 42436, 42381, 42384, 42427, 42398, 42416, 42431, 42412, 42411, 42382, 42383, 42395, 42396, 42413, 42414, 42415, 42420, 42429, 42430, 42406, 42388, 42424, 42426, 42392, 42397, 42389, 42434, 42421, 42385, 42432, 42435, 42433
Recorded 1920
Play at 82.6rpm (1, 19, 31-2), 78rpm (2-5, 7, 10-14, 16-18, 21, 24), 81.6rpm (6, 8, 9, 15, 22-3, 28, 30), 79.6rpm (20, 25-6), 83.4rpm (27), 80.9rpm (29)
Sides in order of matrix number:
2, 10, 11, 3, 29, 21, 26, 24, 12, 13, 25, 5, 20, 9, 8, 14, 15, 16, 6, 17, 28, 22, 23, 4, 18, 19, 7, 30, 32, 27, 31, 1
This recording, though of course publicised as the complete opera, is heavily cut, with substantial omissions at the start of Acts 1 and 4, among others. It’s still an interesting performance, though Luigi Bolis (Don José) tends to pronounce Carmen so that it sounds like Carmeng!
The first record in my copy of this set is broken, and I’ve done my best to repair it for this transfer.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Concert performance
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale, Firenze, Erasmo Ghiglia
1. Act 1. Habanera: L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
2. Parlez-moi de ma mère
3. Seguidilla: Près des remparts de Séville
4. Act 2. Chanson bohème (abridged, solo)
5. Toreador Song: Votre toast
6. Flower Song: Le fleur que tu m'avais jetée
7. Act 3. Card Scene
8. C'est des contrabandiers... Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante
9. Duet Escamillo/ Don José
10. Act 4. Si tu m'aimes, Carmen... C'est toi! C'est moi!
Franca Sacchi, mezzo-soprano - Carmen
Eddie Ruhl, tenor - Don José
Alberta Hopkins, soprano - Micaela
Antonio Boyer, baritone - Escamillo
Mediafire link for Bizet - Carmen - concert performance - Ghiglia
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Saga XID 5264
Matrices XID 5264A, 5264B
Recorded 1950s
Play at about 32.7rpm (-2%)
The record label notes "First issued 1965", but this is likely to have been recorded in the 1950s. Ghiglia is credited as Ghili, and Ruhl as Rhul on the record sleeve. The soloists sing in French, but the chorus sings in Italian throughout.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Opera in four Acts - a concise version
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Goehr
(Performers credited on label as:
Orchestra and Chorus of The Opera Classica Society of New York. William Stellar, conductor)
1. Prelude Act 1 (without Coda)
2. Habanera (abridged)
3. Parle-moi de ma mère (abridged)
4. Seguidilla (tenor is a bar behind in final section)
5. Act 2. Chanson bohème
6. Toreador Song (omits L'amour interchange at end)
7. Flower Song
8. Act 3. Smugglers' march
9. Card Song and Trio
10. Micaela's aria
11. Act 3. Finale
12. Intermezzo Act 4
13. Act 4. Finale (abridged)
Cora Canne Meyer, Carmen
Leo Larsen, Don José
Corry van Bekkum, Micaëla
Gerard Holthaus, Escamillo
Rick van Veen, Frasquita
Betty de Jong, Mercédès
Mediafire link for Bizet - Carmen - concise version - Goehr
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
The Classics Club Rembrandt X64
(Originally issued by The Musical Masterpiece Society)
Matrices X64A1P, X64B1P
Recorded 1953-4
Reviewed in July 1954
Play at about 33.6rpm
This Classics Club reissue is slightly later than the original MMS issue.
|
|
Orchestral:
|
|
Wagner - Die Walküre - Magic Fire Scene
Bizet - Carmen - Overture and Intermezzo Act IV
Grand Symphony Orchestra, Felix Weingartner
Wagner - Die Walküre - Magic Fire - Weingartner
Bizet - Carmen - Overture, Intermezzo IV - Weingartner
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia L 1097 (pale blue label)
Matrices 36914-2, 36916-1
Recorded 23rd March 1914
Available from September 1916 to May 1928
(Previously available on D17724 from September 1914 to October 1916)
Play at about 79rpm (though speed is a little variable)
These recordings were among Weingartner’s earliest, made in America.
|
|
PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet - Carmen selection
New Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, Alick Maclean
Bizet - Carmen - selection - Maclean
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia L1485
Matrices 76991-2, 76992-2
Recorded 10th May 1923
Available from September 1923 to February 1928
|
|
PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet - Carmen - selection
BBC Wireless Symphony Orchestra, Percy Pitt
Bizet - Carmen - selection - Pitt
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia 9125
Matrices WAX 1509-1, 1510-1 (6172, 6174)
Recorded 28th April 1926
Available from March 1927 to April 1941
|
|
The recordings below contain Landon Ronald’s complete orchestral excerpts from Carmen and almost all of his recordings from Delibes’s Sylvia - only the early 1913 account of the Prelude is missing (recorded on the same day as the Pizzicato)
|
|
Delibes - Sylvia - Prelude les Chasseresses
Bizet - Carmen - Intermezzos, Acts 3 & 4
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
Delibes - Sylvia - Prelude les Chasseresses - Ronald
Bizet - Carmen - Intermezzos, Acts 3 & 5 - Ronald
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master's Voice D 134
Matrices HO 1867ac, 3640af (side numbers 2-0698, 2-0912)
Recorded 27th May 1916, 8th March 1919
Play at 78.1rpm, 77.2rpm
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana - Intermezzo
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
(label for Mascagni “late New Symphony Orchestra”)
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude - Ronald
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana - Intermezzo - Ronald
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master's Voice D 137
Matrices HO 456 aj, Cc 2755-I (side numbers 0863, 0739)
Recorded 8th February 1913, 27th March 1923
Play at 77.8rpm, 76.5rpm
This is the later of Ronald’s two recordings of the Cavalleria Intermezzo
|
|
Delibes - Sylvia - Cortège de Bacchus
Mendelssohn - Spring Song, Bees' Wedding
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
Delibes - Sylvia - Cortège de Bacchus - Ronald
Mendelssohn - Spring Song, Bees’ Wedding - Ronald
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master's Voice D 160
Matrices HO 406aj, Cc 2754-I (side numbers 0845, 0738)
Recorded January 1913, 27th March 1923
Play at 76.6rpm, 77.2rpm
Ronald recorded the Mendelssohn pieces on 18th November 1911, but this side was not issued. On 6th January 1912 the side was recorded twice more, with the second attempt being issued. The 1923 remake given here (the first of two takes made on the same day) was his last issued recording of these works.
|
|
Delibes - Sylvia - Intermezzo and Valse Lente; Pizzicato
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
Delibes - Sylvia - Intermezzo and Valse Lente - Ronald
Delibes - Sylvia - Pizzicato - Ronald
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master's Voice D 161
Matrices HO 427af, HO 448aj (side numbers 0849, 0852)
Recorded January 1913, 3rd February 1913
Play at 78.1rpm, 77.5rpm
|
|
PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet - Carmen - Preludes to Act 1 and 2
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude Act 1 - Ronald
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude Act 2 - Ronald
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Voice E 461
Matrices BR 936-IA, 937-II (single side numbers 6-830/1)
Recorded 21st January 1927, Queen’s Hall, London
|
|
Bizet - The Toreador Song "Carmen"
Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, John Mackenzie-Rogan
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador Song - Coldstream Guards
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-283
Matrix 2482(b)-WG (side number 283)
Recorded 9th October 1902
Transferred at 78rpm, to play in G minor/major at A452.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude to Act III (Intermezzo)
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Carlo Sabajno
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude Act 3 - Sabajno
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-760
Matrix 8121b (side number 760)
Recorded May 1906, Milan
|
|
PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet - Carmen - Selection I
Bizet - Carmen - Preludio Atto I
La Scala Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Sabajno
Bizet - Carmen - Selection I - Sabajno
Bizet - Carmen - Overture - Sabajno
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
Bizet - Carmen - Preludio atto IV
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Carlo Sabajno
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude Act 4 - Sabajno
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Voice C428
Matrices: 925c, 1045c (side numbers 0548, 05025)
Recorded 1906, April 1907, Milan
No conductor is identified in the recording ledgers for the April 1907 sessions. Fred Gaisberg recorded various solo items with Alice Cuccini, the La Scala Chorus and La Scala Orchestra. Other items from Carmen were recorded at these sessions. When Gaisberg returned to Milan in May 1907, after recording in Egypt, Sabajno was in the studios, and identified as such in the ledgers. It remains uncertain, therefore, whether he was involved in the April sessions.
Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-50547
Matrix 10383b (50547 IV)
Recorded April 1907
|
|
PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet - Carmen - Intermezzo Act IV
Wagner - Lohengrin - Prelude Act III
Musica della R. Marina Italiana, Mo. Cav. Saba Matacena
Bizet - Carmen - Intermezzo IV - Matacena
Wagner - Lohengrin - Prelude Act III - Matacena
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Fonotipia 39471, 39470 (Nos. 1927, 1926)
Matrices: XPh 1595m 1594
Recorded 9th February 1906
These performances are certainly spirited, but it is noticeable how ragged they are, when compared with the much more polished performances by the Coldstream Guards and the Garde Républicaine from around the same time.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Orchestral selections
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Frieder Weissmann
Prelude (Act 1)
First Intermezzo (Avec la garde montante)
Second Intermezzo (Entr'acte Act 3)
Chorus of the Smugglers (Act 3)
Third Intermezzo (Entr'acte Act 4) (Includes extra repeat to fill out disc)
Ballet (Farandole from L'Arlèsienne, Danse bohemienne from La Jolie Fille De Perth)
Mediafire link for Bizet - Carmen - Orchestral selections - Weissmann
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Odeon 5027-9
Matrices C5027A-1, D5027B-1, A5028A-2, A5028B-5, C5029A-4, F5029B-2
Recorded 24th January 1923
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude Act 1, Act 3
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Frieder Weissmann
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude Act 1 - Weissmann
Bizet - Carmen - Prelude Act 3 - Weissmann
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Parlophone E 11015
Matrices W 2-20769-2 ab, 2-20768 Bm
Recorded late 1920s
Play at 75.9rpm
|
|
French:
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - excerpts from complete Pathé recording
Sides 5 and 6 - Choeur des gamins (Suite); Choeur des cigarieres: La cloche a sonné
Sides 15 and 16 - Ou me conduisez-vous... [Seguidille]; Oui mais toute seule
Sides 19 and 20 - Les tringles des sistres; Tra la la la
Sides 31 and 32 - Tu m'entendras [Air de la fleur]; Non tu ne m'aime pas
Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra Comique de Paris, François Ruhlmann
Marguerite Mérentié, soprano - Carmen
Agustarello Affre, tenor - Don José
Marie Gantéri, soprano - Frasquita
Jeanne Billa-Azéma, soprano - Mercédès
M. Dulac, baritone - Moralès
Pierre Ernest Dupré, baritone - Zuniga
Not heard on these sides:
Aline Vallandri, soprano - Micaëla
Henri Albers, baritone - Escamillo
Hippolyte Belhomme, bass - Le Dancaïre
Paul Dumontier, baritone - Le Remendado
Bizet - Carmen - Pathé sides 5-6 - Ruhlmann
Bizet - Carmen - Pathé sides 15-16 - Ruhlmann
Bizet - Carmen - Pathé sides 19-20 - Ruhlmann
Bizet - Carmen - Pathé sides 31-32 - Ruhlmann
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Pathé catalogue number No.1652 - Carmen 5/6
Pathé catalogue number No.1657 - Carmen 15/16
Pathé catalogue number No.1659 - Carmen 19/20
(80rpm, 11½", edge start, paper label)
Recorded 1911. Early 1920s pressings
Play at 76.6rpm, 78.1rpm, 76.4rpm
Pathé Carmen 31/32
(90rpm 11½" centre start etched label)
Recorded 1911. Early pressing.
Matrices 96460 RA, 96554 RA
Play at 87.9rpm
|
|
Auber - La Muette de Portici - Amour sacré
Orchestra
Henri Albers, baritone
Albert Vaguet, tenor
Bizet - Carmen - Je suis Escamillo
Orchestra
Henri Albers, baritone
Gaston de Poumayrac, tenor
Auber - La Muette de Portici - Albers, Vaguet
Bizet - Carmen - Je suis Esacmillo - Albers, de Poumayrac
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Pathé catalogue number 1577
Recording numbers 561, 976
(90rpm 11½" centre start etched label)
Matrices 53632GR, 49578GR
Recorded 1910 - July 1912
Play at 88.0rpm and 88.6rpm
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Couplets du Toréador
Berlioz - La Damnation de Faust - Voici des roses
Maurice Renaud, baritone with piano
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador - Renaud
Berlioz - La Damnation de Faust - Voici des roses - Renaud
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Pathé recording numbers 3381, 3383
(90rpm 11½" centre start etched label)
Matrices 11844Px, 11846Px
Recorded 1902-3
Play at 87.4rpm and 86.7rpm
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - L'amour est enfant; Air des cartes
Marie Delna, mezzo-soprano with piano
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Delna
Bizet - Carmen - Air des cartes - Delna
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Pathé recording numbers 3502, 3514
(90rpm 11½" centre start etched label)
Matrices 7845-B-x, 7866-B-x
Recorded 1903-4
Play at 89.1rpm and 85.2rpm
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera
Handel - Célèbre Largo
Orchestra
Alice Raveau, contralto
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Raveau
Handel - Largo - Raveau
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Pathé No.0484 (11½", edge start, paper label)
Recording numbers 1129, 1135 c
Recorded 1925 (Sides are dated 7th August 1925, 22nd August 1925)
Play at 78.4rpm (Handel transposed down a semitone into E major)
|
|
PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE (new restorations):
Bizet - Carmen - Chanson du Toréador
Victor Orchestra
Emilio de Gogorza, baritone
Rossini - Il Barbiere di Siviglia - Largo al factotum
Victor Orchestra, Rosario Bourdon
Emilio de Gogorza, baritone
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador - Gogorza
Rossini - Barbiere - Largo al factotum - Gogorza
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Victrola 88178
Matrix C-3349-4 (P88178)
Recorded Date 11th June 1906
Plays at 76.2rpm
In this recording (which has only one verse), the chorus members disagree over the language. De Gogorza has been happily singing in French, and most of the chorus follow this with “Toréador, en garde,” but some go for the Italian version “Toreador, attento.” Carmen was still frequently given in Italian in the early 20th century, and at the Met it was not unknown for the soloists to sing in French while the chorus sang in Italian.
Victrola 88181
Matrix C-6867-2 (D88181)
Recorded 8th March 1909
Plays at 78.6rpm
In this recording, at “uno alla volta”€ de Gogorza and the orchestra disagree over which edition of the score is being used: the singer uses the version which has the pattern F-E-F-E-D#-E, while the orchestra goes for F-E-D#-E-D#-E.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera; Seguidilla
Orchestra
Sigrid Onegin, mezzo-soprano
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Onegin
Bizet - Carmen - Seguidilla - Onegin
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Brunswick 15128
Matrices E21530, E21533
Recorded 17th February 1927
|
|
Italian:
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Romanza del fiore
Thomas - Mignon - Addio Mignon
Orchestra
Angelo Bendinelli, tenor
Bizet - Carmen - Romanza del fiore - Bendinelli
Thomas - Mignon - Addio Mignon - Bendinelli
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia-Rena Opera Record D 5503
Matrices 11243, 11266
Recorded c1912
sung in Italian
The Carmen aria is sung a semitone below score pitch, playing at 78rpm. The Mignon aria plays at 79.8rpm.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera
Donizetti - La Favorita - O mio Fernando
Orchestra
Nini Frascani, mezzo-soprano
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Frascani
Donizetti - La Favorita - O mio Fernando - Frascani
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia D 5505
Matrices 11113, 11115
Recorded c1912
sung in Italian
Play at 81.2rpm
|
|
English:
|
|
Gounod - Faust - Even Bravest Heart
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador Song
Orchestra
Thomas Chalmers, baritone
Gounod - Faust - Even bravest heart - Chalmers
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador Song - Chalmers
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Edison Diamond Disc 82060
Matrices 2826-B-5-4, 2997-A-2-1 (82060-L, -R)
Recorded 18th February 1914, 1st May 1914, New York
Play at 80.5rpm (Gounod), 79.6rpm (Bizet)
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - My Mother I Behold (Act I)
Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty
Elsa Stralia, soprano
Frank Mullings, tenor
Bizet - Carmen - My Mother I Behold - Stralia, Mullings, Harty
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia 7258
Matrix 74106-2
Recorded c 14th May 1920
Available from March 1922 to April 1924
Plays at 83.7rpm
This was reissued on double sided 7332 in April 1924, coupled with Stralia's 1920 account of Micaela's aria.
This was available until January 1925 when the Micaela aria was replaced with a 1924 remake - this new issue was available 22nd January 1925 to August 1930.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - The Toreador Song
Wagner - Tannhäuser - O Star of Eve
Orchestra, Clarence Raybould (Bizet), Robert Ainsworth (Wagner)
Harold Williams, baritone
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador - Williams
Wagner - Tannhäuser - O Star of Eve - Williams
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Columbia 9873
Matrices WAX 3226-1, 4552-2 (side numbers 8480, 11189)
Recorded 7th August 1928, 15th January 1929
Play at 76.9rpm and 78.0rpm.
|
|
Bizet - "Carmen" - Vocal Gems
Intro.: Act1; Habanera; Micaela - Don Jose Duet; Seguidilla; Toreador's Song, Act 2
Flower Song, Act 2; March, Act 4; Escamillo-Carmen Duet, Finale
Sadler's Wells Orchestra, Warwick Braithwaite
Noel Eadie, soprano
Nancy Evans, contralto
Webster Booth, tenor
Dennis Noble, baritone
Bizet - Carmen - Vocal gems - Eadie, Evans, Booth, Noble, Braithwaite
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master's Voice C 3143
Matrices 2EA 8190-I, 8191-I
Recorded 21st December 1939
|
|
Bizet - Gems from "Carmen"
Orchestra
Zonophone Operatic Party
Carrie Tubb, soprano
Violet Elliott, mezzo-soprano
Ernest Pike, tenor
Harold Wilde, tenor
Stewart Gardner, baritone
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone
Bizet - Carmen - gems - Zonophone
(mp3 file – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Zonophone The Twin Serial A 50
Matrices z5447f, 5449f (side numbers Z-044509. Z-044510)
Recorded 15th September 1911
Plays at 75.6rpm
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera; Gipsy Song
Orchestra
Edna Thornton, contralto
(credited on label as Madame Violetta)
Eleanor Jones-Hudson, soprano
Ernest Pike, tenor
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Thornton
Bizet - Carmen - Gipsy Song - Thornton
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Zonophone Celebrity Record G.O.9
Matrices 11589e, 11590e (side numbers 43205, X43207)
Recorded 14th April 1910
Plays at about 78.5rpm.
Thornton enters a beat early for the final verse of the Gipsy Song, but somehow she and the orchestra get themselves back together again after some time.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador Song
Wagner - Tannhäuser - O Star of Eve
Orchestra
Roy Henderson, baritone
Bizet - Carmen - Toreador Song - Henderson
Wagner - Tannhäuser - O Star of Eve - Henderson
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
Gounod - Faust - Even bravest heart
Rossini - The Barber of Seville - Room for the City's Factotum
Orchestra
Roy Henderson, baritone
Gounod - Faust - Even bravest heart - Henderson
Rossini - Barber of Seville - Largo al factotum - Henderson
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Broadcast Twelve 5100/3231
Matrices L 0241, L 0245 (5100-A/3231-A, 5100-B X/3231-B X)
Recorded January 1929
Sides play at about 77rpm, and 78rpm
Broadcast Twelve 5089
Matrices L 0242, L 0246 (5089A X, 5089B)
Sides play at about 77rpm, and 78rpm
Recorded January 1929
At these speeds the Bizet and Wagner arias both play in score pitch. The Gounod plays in D flat, putting the introduction at score pitch, and the aria a tone below. The Rossini plays in A, a surprisingly large transposition of a minor third below score pitch.
|
|
Bizet - Gems from "Carmen"
Soloists, full chorus and orchestra
with Constance Willis, mezzo-soprano
Bizet - Carmen - gems - Willis
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
Saint-Saëns - Samson and Delilah - Softly awakes my heart
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera
Orchestra
Constance Willis, mezzo-soprano
Saint-Saëns - Samson and Delilah - Softly awakes my heart - Willis
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Willis
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Broadcast Twelve 5018
Matrices L070X, L071X
Recorded c1929
Plays at about 76.0rpm
Broadcast Twelve 5114
Matrices L 0208X, L 0247X
Recorded 1929
Plays at about 77.5rpm
Constance Willis is perhaps best remembered (if at all) for her impressive performance as Katisha in the 1939 film of The Mikado. She was an experienced singer both in concert and in opera by this time, and was known for her Carmen. Surprisingly she appeared only once at the Proms, in 1930, singing “Amour! viens aider ma faiblesse!” from Samson and Delilah, and two Rachmaninov songs. The second of her records listed here prompted the following from Herman Klein in the December 1929 issue of The Gramophone:
Constance Willis’s experience with the B.N.O.C. has made a dramatic singer of this artist and taught her to bring some of her stage instincts with her into the recording studio. In such cases let me assure the Broadcast Twelve operator that there is no need for indiscriminate over-amplifying; the voice and the style are quite big enough without his artful aid. The only other criticism I would make concerns the descending chromatic phrases of the Habanera; and there Miss Willis is too inclined to "slither" down from note to note when a clean scale is absolutely essential.
Earlier recordings for Vocalion were warmly received.
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - Flower Song
Gounod - La Reine de Saba - Lend me your aid
Orchestra
Frank Titterton, tenor
(credited on labels as Francesco Vada)
Bizet - Carmen - Flower Song - Titterton
Gounod - La Reine de Saba - Lend me your aid - Titterton
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
Puccini - La Boheme - Your Tiny Hand is Frozen
Bizet - Carmen - The Flower Song
Orchestra, Leslie Heward (Puccini), Julian Clifford (Bizet)
Frank Titterton, tenor
Puccini - La Boheme - Your tiny hand is frozen - Titterton
Bizet - Carmen - Flower Song - Titterton
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Broadcast Twelve 5062
Matrices L 072, L 094 (5062A X, 5062B)
Recorded c 1929
Plays at about 77.4rpm. This record is very worn and scratched, particularly at the start of each side.
Decca K505
Matrices MA 486-2A, MA 746-1A
Recorded 24th September 1929, 6th December 1929
Play at about 78.5rpm and 78.9rpm.
Together, these two records provide a rare chance to hear an artist recording the same aria for two different companies around the same time.
|
|
PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet - Carmen - March Act IV
Gounod - Faust - La Kermesse
Sung in English
Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Albert Coates
Bizet - Carmen - March Act IV - Coates
Gounod - Faust - La Kermesse - Coates
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Voice D 1047
Matrices Cc 7063-II, 7065-II (single side numbers 4-0749, 4-0750)
Recorded 26th October 1925, Hayes
This was recorded in a session at Hayes which also included the Boris Godunov coronation scene with Chaliapin and the Church Scene from Faust, with Chaliapin and Austral. The baritone who has a brief solo in the Faust chorus is unnamed. There is a possibility that it is Edward Halland, who was in studio with Coates the following day when some Wagner excerpts were recorded.
The sound is somewhat recessed, as these are fairly early examples of electrical recording of pieces for chorus and orchestra. Indeed, on the same day that these recordings were made at Hayes, the pianist Max Darewski was being recorded acoustically in another of the Hayes studios.
|
|
German:
|
|
Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila - Printemps qui commence
Bizet - Carmen - Ja, die Liebe hat bunte flügel (Habanera)
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Leo Blech
Maria Olszewska, contralto
Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila - Printemps qui commence - Olszewska
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Olszewska
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila - Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix
Handel - Rinaldo - Lascia ch'io pianga
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Fritz Zweig
Maria Olszewska, contralto
Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila - Mon coeur s’ouvre - Olszewska
Handel - Rinaldo - Lascia ch’io pianga - Olszewska
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
His Master’s Voice D1386
Matrices CWR 1291-I, 1295-II (side numbers 2-043085, 2-044029)
Recorded 27th and 28th February 1927, Berlin
His Master's Voice D 1465
Matrices CLR 3961-III, CLR 3962-II (side numbers 2-033131, 2-033132)
Recorded 15th March 1928, Berlin
Across these two records Olszewska shows off her command of languages: the Saint-Saëns arias are in French, the Carmen is in German, and the Handel is in Italian.
|
|
Russian:
|
|
Bizet - Carmen - La fleur que tu m'avais jetée
Meyerbeer - Les Huguenots - Plus blanche que la blanche ermine
Orchestra
Dmitri Smirnov, tenor
Bizet - Carmen - Flower song - Smirnov
Meyerbeer - Les Huguenots - Plus blanche - Smirnov
(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Historic Masters HMB 7
Matrices 2689c, 2857c (022312, 022338)
Recorded 21st October 1912, 15th October 1913, St. Petersburg
The sides play at about 78.6rpm and 75.2rpm respectively. This repressing from original matrices was among the earliest issues by Historic Masters.
|
|
Recordings digitized using Stanton ST.150 turntable with Stanton 500 cartridge. Various styli supplied by Expert Stylus Company. Digital sound processing, including equalization, filtering to remove rumble and hum, speed adjustments and dehissing, using DC6, by Diamond Cut productions. Declicking and decrackling using ClickRepair. Re-equalisation using HarBal.
All recordings remastered from original analogue recordings, out of copyright in the UK (1960 or earlier), and hosted in the UK.
|
|
