The Record of Singing

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The Record of Singing is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record.

It was issued on LP (with accompanying books) by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voice (better known as HMV) — perhaps the leading organization in the early history of audio recording.

The project was accompanied initially by two illustrated books, containing singers' biographies and appraisals, which were published in London, by Duckworth, in the late 1970s. It covers the period running from circa 1900, when the earliest recordings were made, through until the early 1950s, when the last 78-rpm records were produced. Singers are divided into groups arranged according to national 'schools' and fach or voice type. In practice, this means that there are separate Italian, German, French, Anglo-American and East European classifications.

Rather than concentrating on famous singers whose recordings are widely available elsewhere, The Record of Singing includes a large number of lesser-known artists in order to give a broad picture of the contemporary operatic world. Vocal artists of such lasting renown as Enrico Caruso, Nellie Melba, Titta Ruffo, Feodor Chaliapin, Kirsten Flagstad, Rosa Ponselle and Maria Callas are thus represented but by only a few recordings in each case. Nonetheless, no such compilation can ever be exhaustive in scope, and the project has been criticised from time to time since its initial release for overlooking a few important singers who, while largely forgotten today, were highly talented performers who once enjoyed substantial careers and made records of enduring artistic merit.

Origins[]

The original idea for the series came from the collector Vivian Liff, who chose the recordings used in the first two volumes, almost all of which came from the Stuart-Liff Collection, as well as the photographs of the singers which were published in the books that accompanied volumes 1 and 2 of the project. Michael Scott was asked to write these two books. They contained brief singers' biographies, too and featured a critical (sometimes controversial) commentary (see below) about their accomplishments, are gleaned from certain discs they had made. Bryan Crimp of EMI was responsible for the transfers of the original recorded material to LP. Keith Hardwick, however, was responsible for the transfers, etc., on the final two volumes of the survey (which were not accompanied by books).

Publication on LPs[]

EMI first released the collection on vinyl LP (long-playing) records.

Volume 1 first appeared in 1977, with a second edition in 1982 including corrections to the pitch of many of the recordings. The supplement also appeared around 1982. Volume 2 was published in 1979. Volume 3 and Volume 4 were released around 1984 and 1989 respectively.

The complete set was on 47 discs. Volumes 1, 2 and 3 each occupied 13, with Volume 4 having 8 discs. The original intention was apparently to produce 12 LPs per volume; but the selection of singers included in Volume 1 proved controversial, and an extra record (entitled a 'Supplement') was added to partly correct oversights. Volumes 2 and 3 were then assigned 13 records each.

Compact discs[]

Volume 4 was republished on seven compact discs (CD) by EMI Classics under the title The Record of Singing Volume Four in 1991. This was not apparently a commercial success and the firm did not proceed to reissue the first three volumes in the same format.

Volume 3, however, was subsequently republished in 1999 on 10 CDs by Testament under the title The EMI Record of Singing Volume Three: 1926–1939. This was still available through retail outlets (as of 2010).

Two related sets, each containing 10 CDs, were issued by EMI Classics in 2009. The Record of Singing, 1899–1952: The Very Best of Vols. 1–4 consists of selections previously released in the original four volumes of LPs. The Record of Singing, Vol. 5: 1953–2007 – From the LP to the Digital Era is a new compilation which brings the series up to the present day. It has been criticised, however, for not being properly representative of non-EMI artists.

MP3 download[]

Volume 2 is available as MP3 download on several internet platforms. The original LPs are now spread over 13 parts. Each part comes with an individual cover, resembling the original cover picture, but varying in color.

Documentation[]

The collection was published with extensive documentation, including the numbers of the original recordings and full biographies of the singers.

The first two volumes were accompanied by books by Michael Scott:

  • The Record of Singing to 1914, London, Duckworth, 1977, ISBN 978-0-7156-1030-5
  • The Record of Singing Volume Two: 1914–1925, London, Duckworth, 1979, OCLC 6765624

They were republished in paperback by Northeastern University Press in 1993, ISBN 978-1-55553-163-8

(The books are still widely available from second hand book sellers.)

The Record of Singing Volume 1 (1899–1919)[]

  • The Castrato Voice: Alessandro Moreschi
  • The Old School: Adelina Patti, Emma Albani, Marcella Sembrich
  • Melba and the Marchesi Pupils: Nellie Melba, Sigrid Arnoldson, Emma Eames, Lillian Blauvelt, Suzanne Adams, Ellen Beach Yaw, Blanche Marchesi

English-speaking singers[]

  • Dramatic sopranos: Agnes Nicholls, Lillian Nordica, Olive Fremstad, Geraldine Farrar, Susan Strong, Zélie de Lussan
  • Contraltos: Louise Homer, Louise Kirkby Lunn, Clara Butt
  • Tenors: Edward Lloyd, Ben Davies, Dan Beddoe, Evan Williams
  • Baritones and basses: Charles Santley, George Henschel, Harry Plunket Greene, Robert Watkin-Mills, Andrew Black, David Bispham, Emilio de Gogorza, Clarence Whitehill

The French[]

The Emergence of Verismo[]

  • 'La Gloria d'Italia': Mattia Battistini, Antonio Cotogni, Giuseppe Kaschmann, Francisco D'Andrade, Antonio Magini-Coletti, Giuseppe Pacini, Mario Ancona
  • Scotti, de Luca and Pini-Corsi: Antonio Scotti, Giuseppe De Luca, Antonio Pini-Corsi
  • Verismo triumphant: Eugenio Giraldoni, Mario Sammarco, Pasquale Amato, Titta Ruffo
  • The basso: Francesco Navarini, Giovanni Gravina, Andres de Segurola, Adamo Didur
  • Tradition and the Italian tenor: Francesco Marconi, Fernando Valero, Fernando De Lucia, Francesco Vignas, Florencio Constantino
  • Lyric tenors: Alessandro Bonci, Giuseppe Anselmi, Aristodemo Giorgini, Edoardo Garbin
  • Dramatic tenors: Francesco Tamagno, Giovanni de Negri, Giuseppe Borgatti, Fiorello Giraud, Amadeo Bassi, Giovanni Zenatello, Antonio Paoli, Enrico Caruso
  • Sopranos 'B.C.': Ines de Frate, Elena Teodorini, Fanny Torresella, Medea Mei-Figner, Olimpia Boronat, Ada Adini
  • After Cavalleria: Gemma Bellincioni, , Emma Carelli, Cesira Ferrani, Lina Cavalieri, Rosina Storchio, Salomea Krusceniski, Teresa Arkel, Amelia Pinto, Janina Korolewicz-Wayda
  • Four dramatic sopranos: Maria de Macchi, Eugenia Burzio, Giannina Russ, Celestina Boninsegna
  • Tetrazzini and some 'coloraturas': Luisa Tetrazzini, Regina Pacini, Josefina Huguet, Maria Galvany
  • Italian contraltos: Guerrina Fabbri, Eugenia Mantelli, Armida Parsi-Pettinella, Maria Gay

Wagner and the German Style[]

  • The instrumental example: Irene Abendroth, Margarethe Siems, Erika Wedekind, Hermine Bosetti, Marie Gutheil-Schoder, Hedwig Francillo-Kaufmann, Gertrude Förstel, Frieda Hempel, Selma Kurz
  • Lilli Lehmann: Lilli Lehmann
  • Sopranos of the Bayreuth school: Sophie Sedlmair, Pelagie Greef-Andriessen, Hatharina Senger-Bettaque, Ellen Gulbranson, Thila Plaichinger, Anna Bahr-Mildenburg, Katharine Fleischer-Edel, Felice Kaschowska, Lucie Weidt
  • Gadski and Destinn: Johanna Gadski, Emmy Destinn
  • Contraltos: Marianne Brandt, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Rosa Olitzka, Edyth Walker, Margarete Matzenauer
  • Heldentenors: Hermann Winkelmann, Erik Schmedes, Ernest van Dyck, Andreas Dippel, Heinrich Knote, Karel Burian, Alfred von Bary, Wilhelm Herold, Jacques Urlus, Leo Slezak, Karl Jörn,
  • Lieder singers: Gustav Walter, Felix Senius
  • Baritones and basses: Karl Scheidemantel, Baptist Hoffmann, Anton van Rooy, Theodor Bertram, Leon Rains, Leopold Demuth,

Singers of Imperial Russia[]

  • Sopranos and contraltos: Natalia Yuzhina, Antonina Nezhdanova, Marie Michailova, Alma Fohrström, Nina Friede, , Anastasia Vialtzeva
  • Tenors, baritones and basses: Nikolay Figner, Ivan Erschov, Leonid Sobinov, Andrei Labinsky, Alexander Davidov, , Tadeusz Leliva, Joachim Tartakov, Nicholai Shevelev, Waclav Brzezinski, , , Feodor Chaliapin

Supplement[]

  • Félia Litvinne, Georgette Bréjean-Silver, Léon Lafitte, Méyriane Héglon, Gemma Bellincioni, Elisa Bruno, Alice Cucini, Mario Gilion, Francesco Maria Bonini, Giuseppe De Luca, Enrico Nani, Vittorio Arimondi, Oreste Luppi, Nazzareno De Angelis, Elise Elizza, Marie Dietrich, Minnie Nast, Marie Götze, Wilhelm Grüning, John Forsell

The Record of Singing Volume 2 (1914–1925)[]

Revolution and Russian Songs[]

  • Chaliapin: Feodor Chaliapin (1873–1938), George Baklanov (1880–1938), Alexander Bragin (1881–1955), Ivan Grizounov (1897–1919), Ivan Ivantzov (c.1880–?)
  • Smirnov: Dimitri Smirnov (1881–1944)
  • Kouznetsova to Koshetz: Maria Nikolaevna Kouznetsova (1880–1966), (1884–1919), Nina Koshetz (1891–1965)
  • Two 'Coloraturas': Lydia Lipkowska (1882–1958), (1882–1953)
  • Contraltos: (1880–1951), Vera Petrova-Zvanceva (1875–1944), Klavdia Tugarinova (1877–?)

The French Tradition in Decline[]

  • Franz, Ansseau and Fontaine: (1876–1950), Fernand Ansseau (1890–1972), (1878–1955)
  • A Quintet of Lyric Tenors: David Devriès (1881–1936), Fernand Francell (1880–1966), Charles Friant (1890–1947), (1887–1922), (1884–1956)
  • Baritones of the Opéra: Dinh Gilly (1877–1940), Louis Lestelly (1877–1936)
  • Journet and the Basses: Marcel Journet (1867–1933), Hector Dufranne (1870–1951), Paul Payan (1878–1959)
  • Singing Actors: Vanni Marcoux (1877–1962), Jean Aquistapace (1888–1952), Alfred Maguenat (c. 1880–?), Armand Crabbé (1883–1947)
  • Contraltos: (1882–1943), Marie Charbonnel (1880–1969), Jacqueline Royer (1884–?)
  • Five International Sopranos: (1880–1948), Marthe Chenal (1881–1947), Geneviève Vix (1879–1939), Yvonne Gall (1885–1972), Fanny Heldy (1888–1973)
  • Lyric Sopranos at the Opéra-Comique: (1880–?), Aline Vallandri (1878–1952), Zina Brozia (1876–1958)
  • A Trio of Concert Singers: Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi (1886–1974), Berthe Auguez de Montalant (1865–1937), Georgette Leblanc-Maeterlinck (1860–1941)

The Heyday of Verismo[]

  • The Duse of Song: Claudia Muzio (1889–1936)
  • Raisa and some Dramatic Sopranos: Rosa Raisa (1892–1963), (1878–1948), Maria Labia (1880–1953), (1880–1954), (1883–1982)
  • Verismo Sopranos: (1879–1956), Carmen Melis (1885–1967), (1890–1924), Gilda Dalla Rizza (1892–1975)
  • Galli-Curci and the 'Coloraturas': Amelita Galli-Curci (1882–1963), Maria Barrientos (1884-I946), Graziella Pareto (1889–1975), Elvira de Hidalgo (1892–1980), Lucrezia Bori (1887–1960)
  • Italian Contraltos: Gabriella Besanzoni (1888–1962), Fanny Anitùa (1887–1968), (1898–1933)
  • Lyric Tenors: Tito Schipa (1889–1965), Fernando Carpi (1876–1959),
  • Tradition and the Italian Tenor: Beniamino Gigli (1890–1957), Hipólito Lázaro (1887–1974), Miguel Fleta (1893–1938), Giulio Crimi (1885–1939), (1881–1971)
  • Four Dramatic Tenors: Bernardo de Muro (1881–1955), Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana (1878–1936), (1882–1941), Giovanni Martinelli (1885–1969)
  • Principal Baritones: Giuseppe De Luca (1870–1950), Riccardo Stracciari (1875–1955), Domenico Viglione-Borchese (1877–1957), Renato Zanelli (1892–1935), Emilio Sagi-Barba (1875–1949)
  • Mardones: (1868–1932)

Singers from the English-Speaking World[]

  • Alda and Mason: Frances Alda (1879–1952), Edith Mason (1892–1973)
  • American Concert Sopranos: Alma Gluck (1884-I938), Hulda Lashanska (1893–1974), Anna Case (1889–1984), Éva Gauthier (1885–1958)
  • American Lyric Sopranos: Anna Fitziu (1888–1967), Carolina White (1886–1961), Lucille Marcel (1887–1921), Julia Heinrich (1880–1919), Marguerite Namara (1888–1977)
  • Gramophone Singers: Eleanor Jones-Hudson (1874–1946), Ruth Vincent (1877–1955), Lucy Isabelle Marsh (1878–1956), Olive Kline (1887–1976)
  • A Quartet of 'Coloraturas': Evelyn Scotney (1886–1967), Mabel Garrison (1886–1963), Florence Macbeth (1891–1966), Luella Paikin (1900–?)
  • English Lyric Sopranos: Maud Perceval Allen (1880–1955), Rosina Buckman (1880–1948)
  • Miura and Bryhn-Langard: Tamaki Miura (1884–1946), Borghild Bryhn-Langard (1883–1939)
  • Ponselle and Easton: Rosa Ponselle (1897–1981), Florence Easton (1882–1955)
  • Contraltos: Carmen Hill (1883–?), Leila Megane (1891–1960), Carolina Lazzari (1891–1946), Edna Thornton (1875–1958), Sophie Braslau (1892–1935), Eleonora de Cisneros (1878–1934)
  • A Quartet of American Tenors: Riccardo Martin (1874–1952), Orville Harrold (1878–1933), Charles Hackett (1887–1941), Mario Chamlee (1892–1966)
  • A British Born Trio: Edward Johnson (1878–1959) (actually born in Canada), Alfred Piccaver (1883–1958), Joseph Hislop (1884–1977)
  • High Cs and Heroic Voices: (1878–1948), Frank Mullings (1881–1953)
  • The Ballad and Oratorio Tradition: John Coates (1865–1941), Gervase Elwes (1866–1921), Walter Hyde (1875–1951), Paul Reimers (1877–1942)
  • McCormack: John McCormack (1884–1945)
  • Baritones and Basses: Reinald Werrenrath (1883–1953), Peter Dawson (1882–1961), Horace Stevens (1876–1954), Malcolm McEachern (1883–1945)

The German Style in Evolution[]

  • Lyric Sopranos: Eva von der Osten (1881–1936), Luise Perard-Petzl (1884–1936), (1896–1925), Elisabeth Rethberg (1894–1976), Grete Stückgold (1895–1977)
  • Lyric-Dramatic Sopranos: (1880–1935), (1884–1965), Barbara Kemp (1881–1959), (1886–1952)
  • Dramatic Sopranos: Melanie Kurt (1880–1941), Berta Morena (1878–1952), Helene Wildbrunn (1882–1972), (1894–1932), Gertrude Kappel (1884–1971), Frida Leider (1888–1975)
  • Schumann: Elisabeth Schumann (1888–1952), (1881–1933), Lola Artôt de Padilla (1880–1933), Claire Dux (1885–1967), Vera Schwarz (1884–1964), Maria Ivogün (1891–1987)
  • Jeritza and Lehmann: Maria Jeritza (1887–1982), Lotte Lehmann (1888–1976)
  • Five Contraltos: Margarethe Arndt-Ober (1885–1971), Ottilie Metzger (1878–1943), (1888– c.1921), Sabine Kalter (1889–1957), (1885–1958)
  • The Great Lieder Singers: Elena Gerhardt (1883–1961), Julia Culp (1880–1970)
  • Baritones: Julius von Raatz-Brockmann (1870–1944), (1873–1926), Heinrich Rehkemper (1894–1949), Hans Duhan (1890–1971), Hermann Weil (1876–1949), Cornelis Bronsgeest (1878–1957), (1885–1959), Joseph Schwarz (1880–1926)
  • Basses: Michael Bohnen (1887–1965), Paul Bender (1875–1947), Richard Mayr (1877–1935), (1878–1955), Carl Braun (1886–1960), Alexander Kipnis (1891–1978)
  • Tauber and the Lyric Tenors: Richard Tauber (1891–1948), (1876–1948), Johannes Sembach (1881–1944), Herman Jadlowker (1877–1953)
  • East European Tenors: Ottokar Marak (1872–1939), (1881–1955), Joseph Mann (1883–1921), Tino Pattiera (1890–1966)
  • Heldentenors: Richard Schubert (1885–1969), (1879–1951), Lauritz Melchior (1890–1973)

The Record of Singing Volume 3 (1926–1939)[]

The German School[]

The Italian School[]

The French School[]

The Anglo-American School[]

  • Lawrence Tibbett, John Charles Thomas, Dennis Noble, John Brownlee, Harold Williams, Peter Dawson, John McCormack, Roland Hayes, Charles Kullman, Heddle Nash, Thomas Burke, Richard Crooks, Walter Widdop, Norman Allin
  • Marguerite d'Alvarez, Madame Charles Cahier, Muriel Brunskill, Clara Butt, Marian Anderson, Susan Metcalfe Casals, Grace Moore, Gladys Swarthout, Ina Souez, Maggie Teyte, Isobel Baillie, Dora Labbette, Joan Cross, Florence Easton, Rosa Ponselle, Marjorie Lawrence, Eva Turner, Florence Austral

The East European/Slavic School[]

The Record of Singing Volume 4 (1939 to the end of the 78 era, circa 1955)[]

The Anglo-American School[]

  • Margaret Ritchie, Gwen Catley, Dorothy Kirsten, , Elsie Houston, Eleanor Steber, Maggie Teyte, Dorothy Maynor, Joan Hammond, Astrid Varnay, Helen Traubel, Rose Bampton, Blanche Thebom, Jennie Tourel, , Gladys Ripley, Kathleen Ferrier, David Lloyd, Webster Booth, Peter Pears, Jan Peerce, Walter Midgley, James Johnston, Richard Tucker, Alfred Deller, , , Igor Gorin, Mack Harrell, Leonard Warren, Robert Merrill, Norman Walker, George London, Oscar Natzka

The French School[]

The German School[]

The Scandinavian School[]

The Russian and Slavonic Schools[]

  • Mascia Predit, Zara Dolukhanova, , Nadezhda Obukhova, Georgi Vinogradov, , , Beno Blachut, Ivan Kozlovsky, Pavel Lisitsian, , Boris Christoff, Mark Reizen, Boris Gmyrya,

The Italian School[]

The Record of Singing Volume 5 (From the LP to the digital era 1953–2007)[]

Wagner singers of the 1950s and early 1960s[]

Sopranos and mezzo-sopranos: 1953–1968[]

Tenors: 1953–1968[]

Baritones and basses: 1955–1967[]

Sopranos: 1969–1988[]

Mezzo-sopranos: 1969–1984[]

  • Grace Bumbry, Shirley Verrett, Yvonne Minton, Frederica von Stade, Fiorenza Cossotto, Irina Arkhipova, Elena Obraztsova, Teresa Berganza, Tatiana Troyanos, Agnes Baltsa, Janet Baker, Marilyn Horne, Ann Murray

Tenors: 1969–1988[]

  • Carlo Bergonzi, Jon Vickers, René Kollo, Ian Partridge, Donald Smith, Franco Bonisolli, José Carreras, Alain Vanzo, Neil Shicoff

Baritones and basses: 1966–1986[]

  • John Shirley-Quirk, Piero Cappuccilli, Geraint Evans, Gabriel Bacquier, Gérard Souzay, Kurt Moll, Walter Berry, Peter Glossop, Ruggero Raimondi, Sherrill Milnes, Martti Talvela, Aage Haugland, José van Dam, Thomas Allen

Sopranos: 1989–2004[]

  • June Anderson, Barbara Hendricks, Cheryl Studer, Katia Ricciarelli, Dagmar Schellenberger, Karita Mattila, Solveig Kringelborn, Ruth Ann Swenson, Felicity Lott, Christine Brewer, Jane Eaglen

Mezzo-sopranos: 1988–2001[]

Tenors: 1989–2001[]

Baritones and basses: 1991–1995[]

  • Bryn Terfel, Bernd Weikl, François le Roux, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Thomas Quasthoff

Singers of Baroque and early music and early music 1953–2005[]

Singers of the new millennium: 2000–2007[]

  • Sopranos, mezzo-sopranos and contraltos: Angela Gheorghiu, Sandrine Piau, Natalie Dessay, Violeta Urmana, Patrizia Ciofi, Joyce DiDonato, Sine Bundgaard, Deborah Voigt, Christine Rice, Nina Stemme, Diana Damrau, , Kate Royal, Stephanie Blythe, Vivica Genaux
  • Tenors and countertenors: , Jonas Kaufmann, Ian Bostridge, , David Daniels, Lawrence Brownlee, Rolando Villazón, Max Emanuel Cenčić, Toby Spence, Franco Fagioli
  • Baritones and basses: Laurent Naouri, , Luca Pisaroni, Erwin Schrott, Jonathan Lemalu, , Ildebrando D'Arcangelo

Bibliography[]

  • Albright, William (1990) 'The Record of Singing: A Brief Overview of a Monumental Project' in The Opera Quarterly 1990 7(1):31–42, Oxford University Press

Discography[]

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