Emilio de Gogorza (1872-1935) was a Spanish-American baritone who regularly visited the recording studios in the first few decades of the 20^th century. Apart from a 2CD Prima Voce set and a Pearl set, he’s appeared on CD mainly in duet with other singers. This neglect is unfair – he was a fine singer with a very nimble instrument. I only have 2 of his solo recordings on Victrola, both single-sided.

Bizet – Carmen – Chanson du Toréador
Emilo de Gogorza, baritone
Victor Orchestra and New York Opera Chorus

Bizet - Carmen - Toreador - 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 20^th century, and at the Met it was not unknown for the soloists to sing in French while the chorus sang in Italian.

Rossini – Il Barbiere di Siviglia – Largo al factotum
Emilo de Gogorza, baritone
Victor Orchestra

Rossini - Barbiere - Largo al factotum - Gogorza

(mp3 files – click to play, or right click the link, then select “Save as”)

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.