The Record Collector

15/12/2023

The final issue of 2023 will be the largest that The Record Collector has ever produced. We have great pride in presenting a rather exceptional article. Volume 68 no 4 is dedicated to one singer, and a major figure of the "Golden Age": the tenor Francesco Marconi (1853-1917).
Our biographer is Michael Henstock, the internationally known author of the definitive books on Fernando De Lucia and Fonotipia Records: A Centennial Survey. In his biography Michael shows Marconi's path from a humble woodworker to one of the most famous tenors of his epoch. The career took Marconi to all the important opera houses of Europe and South America over a period of two and a half decades. It was the volume, easy top, sweetness of timbre, virility and a truly golden enamel that characterised the Marconi voice. He had, perhaps, no equal in Italy during that period.
In addition, Michael has quoted extensively from unique letters written by leading figures within the Gramophone Company, who recognised the tenor's worth both as a recording artist and an asset to their roster of singers. These form an unparalleled insight into the working of the, then, leading recording organisation.
Luckily, the gramophone captured Marconi's voice just in time, albeit with only 28 known matrices. He was past his best by the first session in 1903, when he was 47. He had always given generously to his audiences, often in taxing roles, and the voice was worn, but there is still much to commend these recordings and evidence of the unique qualities that made him great is still there in his recordings.
The discography, by our editor Larry Lustig, clears up a few errors that have crept into the literature and shows the amazing versatility in his range of recordings.
Finally, there is a masterly treatise on Marconi's voice and singing style by one of the last great writers of operatic singing Michael Aspinall. Michael also points to the best of the tenor's recordings.
This issue will remain as near definitive a work on this singer as it is possible to achieve.

24/06/2023

For Volume 68 no 2 (June 2023) we present another quintessential singer from the "Golden Age" of singing. Very little was previously known about the Romanian mezzo soprano, later soprano, Elena Teodorini (1857-1926). In fact, for years collectors confused her with the Greek soprano Eleni Theodoridou. Hence, the time was right for a reappraisal and a major new article.
Our author is the fine Spanish researcher Francisco Luis Segalerva Cabello, who has produced superb biographies for this journal of such luminaries as Emma Calvé, Pol Plançon, Giuseppe Kaschmann and Regina Pacini. Elena Teodorini is rightly considered the first Romanian opera singer with a proper international career. Without her pioneering activities and international success it is likely that the Romanian National Opera would have taken much longer to develop as an institution. She also set an example that was soon followed by no less a singer than Hericlea Darclée as well as other Romanian singers who ventured beyond the frontiers of their country with great success.
Teodorini was to triumph at all the great houses of Europe and South America but a combination of vocal problems and bad health brought her career to a close early in the 1900s. However, she was to become an important singing teacher: her most famous pupil was Bidú Sayão.
It is much regretted, however, that Teodorini's recorded legacy is tiny (barely 15 minutes altogether). However, those five published 10-in. sides which she recorded in 1903 still contain many a singing grace and allow us to realise why she was one of the major singers on the 1880s operatic scene. The article is further enhanced by an assessment of Teodorini's voice and records by the great writer on historical singers, Michael Aspinall.
Romania also boasted another gifted singer. The tenor Traian Grosăvescu (1895-1927) boasted a sensational career which was cut short by his tragic and untimely death at the age of 31. His lirico-spinto voice brought him great success at the Romanian Opera, then the Vienna Staatsoper, where he was revered, in roles such as Radames, Cavaradossi, Don José, the Duke and Andrea Chénier. His early demise was as a result of a bullet fired by his jealous wife, who was tired of his excessive life style. Our author, the prolific Chilean researcher Juan Dzazópulos shows how the tenor became a legend during a career of little more than six years. It is a fascinating story beautifully written.
Fortunately, Grosăvescu recorded much of the repertoire for which he was famous, all for the Odeon company in Vienna and Berlin.
2023 is the sesquicentennial anniversary of the birth of Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). To celebrate this we have been bringing you during this special year articles covering little-known aspects of Caruso's life. The first, in this issue, was entitled "Caruso the Film Star" in March. The next in the series is "Caruso the Composer". This has been written by the Italian scholar Davide Montella, the author of several articles about the tenor. Davide discusses the hardly known song compositions that the great tenor produced during his career. Apparently he would sing them to friends but most are lost to us today as he never recorded them. It is another fascinating byway into the life of the great Neapolitan.
With further articles about the joint recordings of Richard Tauber and Joseph Schmidt, a fascinating discussion of two different takes of Maria Callas's 78 rpm recording of the I Puritani aria and our regular CD and book reviews, this is a very full and varied issue indeed.
For more information visit www.therecordcollector.org

06/04/2023

We celebrate our 77th year of publication with the first issue of Volume 68. Our main subject is a quintessential example from the "Golden Age" of singing. The name of Angelica Pandolfini (1871-1959) lives, today, principally through the notorious rarity of the few recorded examples of her voice and art, a rarity that ensures that few collectors can hope to see any of her records, still less own one. This scarcity is the more unfortunate since her career was of importance and, whilst it may truthfully be said that many highly prized records are rare because a discriminating public refused to outlay what was, early in the twentieth century, a considerable sum for a dubious souvenir of some ageing singer, no such reason may be adduced in the present case.
Pandolfini made only five records for G&T in October 1903. Among collectors her few discs are legendary and only a handful of copies exist. The biography has been written by the well-known collector and scholar Michael Henstock, based on his article originally published in Recorded Sound in 1971. For The Record Collector the work has been augmented, and supplemented with original correspondence from the Gramophone and Typewriter Company which explains the notorious rarity of her records.
The article also contains a discussion of her recordings by Michael Aspinall, one of the last great writers on singers and singing. He lovingly analyses Pandolfini's recordings and explains why her discs are so prized.
Our second article is dedicated to one of the great French baritones of a more recent era. Michel Dens (1911-2000) was, for more than thirty years, a success on all French lyric stages. He was the first lyric artist to reach a million sales of his records. By the end of his career, it was estimated that some three million Michel Dens records had been sold. He also entertained the people of France on radio and stage during a particularly harsh period of French history.
The biography has been written by Robert Bunyard, the author of so many fine articles for this journal. Robert sketches the baritone's career and shows how the singer was universally loved. The discography, compiled by David Mason, turned out to be a real labour of love owing to its complexity and is unusual because much of the baritone's output is on LP, requiring a rather different approach from most of the discographies in this journal. Dens made a number of very beautiful records and deserves greater recognition among collectors. Let us hope that this fine artist will once again receive the recognition he truly deserves.
2023 is the sesquicentennial anniversary of the birth of Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). To celebrate this we will be bringing you during this special year three articles covering little-known aspects of Caruso's life. The first, in this issue, is entitled "Caruso the Film Star". This has been written by the Italian scholar Davide Montella, the author of several articles about the tenor. Davide describes Caruso's two films, one of which, "The Splendid Romance", appears not to have survived the years. Caruso, apparently, did not take naturally to being a film star although his charisma is evident throughout "My Cousin Caruso". It is a fascinating byway into the life of the great Neapolitan.
With our regular CD and Book Reviews this is a very full and fascinating issue indeed.

23/12/2022

The last issue of 2022 (Volume 67 no 4) is dedicated to one of the greats of the "Golden Age". Antonio Scotti (1866-1936), although not gifted with a baritone voice of the splendour of his colleagues, such as Amato, Danise or Ruffo, covered himself with glory during a career of four decades, most of it at the Met. Much of the reason for his special place in the history of opera and great singing was his histrionic ability. He was also a supreme actor: frightening as Scarpia, suave and elegant as Don Giovanni and the very personification of evil as Iago.
We are thrilled to bring to our readers, once again, a thoroughly researched and beautifully written article by the internationally known critic, author and collector Tully Potter. Tully's biography charts Scotti's career from his debut in Malta in 1889 to his last appearance in 1933. Scotti even formed his own opera company, the Scotti Grand Opera Company, which toured America and Canada.
Scotti's discography has been compiled by our editor Larry Lustig. For an artist of his importance he made relatively few records: 105 sides, beginning with Bettini cylinders in 1899 to his final one in 1914, mostly for Victor. Tully graces the article yet further by discussing Scotti's recordings and pointing to the best of them.

One of the most beautiful voices on disc was that of the Danish mezzo Else Brems (1908-1995). As with many Scandinavian singers her career was largely a local one, though her Carmen was such a celebrated portrayal that she essayed it in a number of European houses, among them Covent Garden and the Staatsoper in Vienna. But her career was primarily focused on the Royal Danish opera, where she remained for 32 years. She married the Icelandic tenor Stefan Islandi in 1940.
Her discography by René Aargaard and Larry Lustig shows, again, relatively few commercial recordings, only 45, but she fortunately left a number of live broadcasts, most of which have been reissued.
The Italian tenor Aurelio Marcato (1902-?) left a pitifully tiny discography of just eight recordings, for Columbia and Cetra. They show a thrilling spinto tenor so it is a surprise that he remains something of a mystery. Our Chilean author and collector Juan Dzazópulos has researched the tenor for many years yet has managed to find very little about him, other than he was born in 1902 in Florence. We do not know where and when he died. His career was mainly confined to many of the important houses in Italy but he did sing in Paris and Vienna and undertook a tour of South America. We look forward to presenting a number of his recordings on a future The Record Collector annual CD.
With a number of important new CDs reviewed in our "Record Reviews" section this is a very full and fascinating issue indeed.

We wish all our subscribers worldwide a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

19/10/2022

Our third issue of 2022 (Vol. 67, no 3) is a very full one indeed, containing no fewer than three biographies and discographies of important singers, plus further articles of interest to the collector.
The lead article is devoted to Giannina Arangi Lombardi (1891-1951), one of the greatest of lirico spinto sopranos of the 20s and 30s. She began her career as a mezzo in 1920 at the relatively late age of almost 29, before re-emerging as a soprano in 1923. She achieved great success in such operas as Il Trovatore, Andrea Chénier, Nerone, La Gioconda and especially Cavalleria Rusticana. She was a great favourite in the opera houses of Europe and South America. Her career lasted until 1937, when she decided to retire at the peak of her powers. In the latter part of her career she began to teach, accepting a post in the Regio Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan and later at Ankara State Conservatory, where her most famous pupil was Leyla Gencer. The biography and discography have been written by the esteemed Italian researcher Giorgio Feliciotti. As well as a comprehensive discography representing the best of her roles, Arangi Lombardi will be remembered for taking the lead soprano role in three complete sets: Cavalleria Rusticana, Aida and La Gioconda.
We have long wanted to publish a work on the great French concert singer Germaine Martinelli (1887-1964) and are delighted to be able to bring you that in this issue. Those who know her records will attest to one of the most beautiful soprano voices on disc. A short biography by Alfred de C**k shows that, although she was primarily a concert singer, she did sing at the Opéra in 1936 in La Damnation de Faust. A comprehensive discography by Paul Steinson shows the diverse nature of her recordings, with an abbreviated set of Faust and the song cycles Frauenliebe und -leben and Dichterliebe among them.
An important function of The Record Collector is to publish information on artists who may not be well known outside their native land. Pedro Mirassou (1889-1963) was considered as the greatest tenor born in Argentina, a leading artist who reached the category of a myth. He did not have local rivals on stage in spite of the presence of some good Argentinian tenors and also foreign singers residing in Argentina, such as Isidoro Fagoaga, Pedro Lafuente and others. The possessor of a thrilling lirico spinto voice, he was successful in the opera houses of Europe, but especially in South America. The article has been written by the well-known Chilean researcher and collector Juan Dzazópulos. A certain reason for Mirassou's obscurity must be his pitifully small discography: an abridged set of El Matrero (Boero) and six other recordings.
One of the last great writers on the human voice and historical recordings must surely be Michael Aspinall. Hence, it is always with great pleasure that we are able to publish his writings. In this issue he discusses recordings of Tosti and asks whether we can learn how to sing the great composer's songs using examples from the gramophone. Michael discusses those recordings of Tosti by many of our favourite singers. It is a masterly treatise on the recordings of the composer's many songs.
From one great writer to another. John Steane wrote an appreciation of The Record Collector in a now defunct journal published by the then British Institute of Recorded Sound (now The British Library). The journal enjoyed relatively local circulation and, hence, this beautifully−written article by one of our favourite authors has probably been seen by few. We thought that it thoroughly deserved reprinting.

05/07/2022

For our June 2022 issue of The Record Collector (Vol. 67, no. 2) we have a rather different leading article. Because there was a major article on Pasquale Amato (1878–1942) in Vol. 21, no. 1-2 (1971), consisting of an extensive biography, discography and a discussion of the recordings we did not feel the need to update the whole article. Rather, this new work augments the original with additional biography and an evaluation of the best of the baritone's recordings. It has been written by our regular contributor Nick Limansky. Nick points to the discs which show the baritone's many virtues but pulls no punches where they do not quite equal the artist's formidable best.
As fine as it was for the period, the discography did need urgent updating. In 1971, for example, the Fonotipia registers had not yet been discovered and dates given in the earlier work are incorrect or approximate. We also now have a number of on-line sources to supplement the information available for the other companies for which Amato recorded. Nor were CD reissues commercially available. The discography has been updated by our editor, Larry Lustig. All in all this will be a valuable issue for the many admirers of one of the great baritones of the past.
A tenor of whom little was known is the Costa-Rican Manuel Salazar (1887-1950). Salazar’s professional career extended from 1910 to 1940, a period of thirty years, although he sang some performances before 1910 and after 1940. He was at his peak for fifteen years, from 1915 to 1930. Though he sang a repertoire of twenty-five operas and five zarzuelas, his name is now best associated with Verdi’s Otello. Indeed, most collectors would have encountered him by his 1929 Columbia recordings of two arias from that opera, which must have been a best-seller. Our excellent Chilean researcher and writer Juan Dzazópulos describes the man, the importance of the Salazar career and opines that it might have been even greater were it not for the singer's character flaws. Salazar's discography is not extensive, only nine records, all of which show a very fine voice. Indeed it was Herman Klein who, writing for The Gramophone, could find little to choose between Salazar's Otello arias and those of the better known Renato Zanelli.
Artists who were primarily concert singers do not regularly feature in these pages. They are difficult to research and what can one write about a concert singer, other than that he or she sang in concerts! However, that does not mean that such singers are unworthy of a place in The Record Collector. For the collector there are many examples of singers who, for whatever reason, chose not to tread the boards of the opera house but whose records, nonetheless, make rewarding listening. One such is largely forgotten now, except by record collectors. She was one amongst several fine British concert sopranos at that time. Yet, for four decades her singing graced many an ensemble, with a purity of tone imbued with a youthful freshness and a consummate style. She made many beautiful records which are worthy of a place in any collection. She was Elsie Suddaby (1893-1980). The biography and discography have been produced by our editor, Larry Lustig, and points to a very full and worthy career. Suddaby's voice was perfect for the gramophone and her impressive discography boasts well over 100 records, recorded both by the acoustic and electric methods, and touching into the LP era. The article is greatly enhanced by a discussion of the records and the singer's technique by the last great writer on the human voice Michael Aspinall.
When one encounters a living link to the great singers of the past it is vital to preserve memories for posterity lest those be lost. One such is the fine British tenor Donald Pilley. Pilley, now 85, was one of the leading British tenors during the decades from the 60s through to the 80s. He sang extensively with Sadlers Wells opera later the English National Opera, and Scottish Opera. His career also took him to Italy, where he sang at La Fenice in Venice and to the U.S. at the New York City Opera Company. His repertoire encompassed both lyric and lirico spinto roles. Donald was a pupil of Joseph Hislop and shares his memories of the man, attributes both good and not so, and his method of teaching. It is a most enjoyable work and brings a valuable insight into the personality that the usual texts cannot.
With yet more articles of interest to the collector and our regular CD and book reviews this issue is very full and fascinating indeed.

20/03/2022

To mark the first issue of our 76th year of publication, we realise an ambition of more than twenty years: to publish a major new article devoted to Frances Alda (1879-1952). It began with the great New Zealand researcher Adrienne Simpson, who contacted me wanting to write an article on the soprano who was one of her favourite singers. Regrettably, it was not to be as Adrienne was taken from us in 2010. A friend of Adrienne's offered to finish her research but that was never realised. An opportunity has arisen as a result of the forthcoming publication in September of a new book on the Simonsen family of singers, of whom Alda was one. It's author Roger Neill kindly agreed to allow us to use a condensed version of his extensive research into Alda for our March issue (The Simonsens of St Kilda: A Family of Singers by Roger Neill (Per Diem Publishing, 2021) © Roger Neill 2022). The article confirms Alda as one of the greats, singing with all the most important artists of her time over a long and glorious career.

Alda's discography, compiled by our editor Larry Lustig, is an extensive one, covering both the acoustic era and the early years of electrical recording. Her output of 171 recordings shows no diminution in a ravishingly beautiful voice over nearly two decades.

The article further benefits by a masterly analysis of Alda's recordings by one of the last truly great writers on the singing voice, Michael Aspinall.

03/12/2021

I regret that this CD is now sold out!

Now available! Our newest CD, devoted to the wonderful French tenor Jean Planel. If you are fond of the elegant and stylish singers of the French school you will love the beautiful voice of Planel. In a Fanfare review Henry Fogel ended by saying "This is singing of refinement and great beauty, and a collection that anyone who loves vocal music should snap up." And, as with all of our CDs, it is priced at only £9.95; £15.00 (EU) and £17.00 (US/rest of world). In the US the CD is also available from Norbeck, Peters & Ford.
Check out the sound sample in an earlier posting below.

26/09/2021

The Exquisite Tenor of Jean Planel

The Record Collector is currently at work on a brand new CD devoted to Jean Planel. There are hardly any reissues of the beautiful records this singer made in the 1930s and we wanted to bring them to collectors and voice lovers everywhere. To reserve a copy of this CD when it becomes available please visit our website therecordcollector.org, click on the "contact us" page and send us your details.

For those who have not heard the voice of this lovely French tenor treat yourselves by clicking on the link below. Please note that the sound quality will be much better on the actual CD.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k6bii58c1q9vdov/Planel.mp3?dl=0

Shared with Dropbox

02/09/2021

Our September 2021 issue, Volume 66 no 3, is devoted to a soprano who, amazingly, has not been updated since an article appeared in Volume 4 in 1949. Toti Dal Monte (1893–1975) occupied a rather singular position during the early years of the twentieth century. Although most sopranos of that era had begun to concentrate on moulding their voices to fit into the ‘new’ classification of verismo repertoire, Dal Monte did the opposite and carefully crafted her voice to shine in the bel canto works of the ottocento period. She was actually the first of a new breed of coloratura sopranos who began to appear during the early 1920s: the lirico-leggiero or lyric coloratura. Dal Monte made her début in no less than the hallowed halls of La Scala and stayed at the top, singing at major houses for most of her career. Her debut was in 1916 and she continued to sing until 1951. She exploited an attractive stage presence also in a number of films and on early Italian television.

The biography has been written by the eminent author Nick Limansky, in cooperation with our editor Larry Lustig. Larry has also compiled her discography. The soprano's recorded legacy was significant: some 63 sides plus her lauded participation in the complete set ofRafael Lagares Madama Butterfly with Gigli and Mario Basiola . In many ways she is best known for her role in that set. A little known surprise is that she recorded seven sides for HMV during a tour of the UK in 1947 but, regrettably, all were unpublished.

The name Rafael Lagares (1917-1999) is almost forgotten, even among record collectors, yet his discs reveal a sensational spinto tenor voice demanding the attention of lovers of fine singing. Hence, it is with great pleasure that we bring you an article on this fine Argentinian tenor, written by our indefatigable Chilean researcher Juan Dzazópulos. Although he enjoyed a major career in Italy and South America, even venturing as far as Australia and New Zealand, Lagares never sang at the Met or at Covent Garden, though he made a number of appearances in New York at the New York City Opera and with the San Carlo Opera Company.

His recorded legacy is not large, some 18 sides for HMV, Milan and RCA Victor in Argentina, but these cover much of his regular repertoire. There also exist four live recordings, two of which come from his tours of New Zealand. His is a talent worthy of interest from our readers.

2021 is the centenary of the death of the great Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso. To commemorate this event we present an article by John Bolig, who has written extensively about the tenor's records and produced the definitive Caruso Records: A History and Discography. One might be tempted to ask what more there is to write about the tenor but John has chosen to describe the effect that Caruso has had on him as a collector of the tenor's memorabilia. It is a very appealing and fascinating article.

The name Rudi Sazunic is still well known internationally as one of the earliest of record dealers, who, along with his friend Hugo Bergallo, formed the company "Discor" in Buenos Aires. Now 87 years of age, Rudi, with his daughter Carla, has written an engrossing article describing how Discor came about in 1957 and its effect on the collecting community. It is a gripping read as he explains why South America became such a happy hunting ground for major record rarities and how he interacted with many of the earliest collectors world wide. It is an important part of the history and evolution of our hobby and it is important that it is documented for posterity.

With our regular record reviews this is a very full and fascinating issue indeed.

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