All posts tagged Verdi

Louise Kirkby-Lunn

Rather than the usual Viennese fare to welcome 2018, I’ve opted instead by some early Pathé sides by the great English contralto Louise Kirkby-Lunn. They’re from 28cm diameter, centre-start, etched label double-sided issues. All are piano accompanied. There is a spoken introduction to the first side, presumably Madam Kirkby-Lunn herself. The second record has Kirkby-Lunn […]

Lorenzo Molajoli orchestrals, and opera in America

Over the past year or so I’ve produced several CD reissues for CRQ Editions. One of these was devoted to orchestral recordings conducted by Lorenzo Molajoli. The following set arrived too late for inclusion on the Molajoli CD. Verdi – Nabucco – Overture Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 1 Milan Symphony Orchestra, Lorenzo Molajoli […]

A festive feast of Wagner and Verdi

To round off the Wagner and Verdi bicentenary year, I’ve gathered a varied selection of music by these two operatic greats, in various guises. Dajos Béla recorded extensively in many genres. The following abridged version of the Tannhäuser Overture is one of his more straightforwardly classical recordings, though the scoring is adapted for his band […]

Marguerite d’Alvarez – Silent Night, Habanera, Ai nostri monti (with Giulio Crimi); George Baker – Toreador Song, Il balen

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 […]

Aida excerpts and other items with Sydney Rayner, Eva Turner, Giovanni Inghilleri, Tina Poli-Randaccio, Agustarello Affre, Jane Marignan, Frank Mullings, Elsa Stralia, Andreina Beinat, Vincenzo Bettoni, Valentina Bartolomasi, Guido Fernandez, Rosita Pagani, Enrico Trentini, conducted by Beecham, Haarth, Albergoni, Barbirolli, Sabajno, Harty; Mackenzie-Rogan, Coldstream Guards Band – Orth, Tchaikovsky; Stanley Chapple – excerpts from Stravinsky’s Firebird; Franz André – Liszt, Richard Strauss

When you have a lot of free time, it sometimes turns out that the things you planned to use it for just don’t happen. Such was the case with my summer holidays. This is why it’s been two and a half months since the last update. I hope the new selection proves interesting. I’ve been […]

Lilian Stiles Allen; Hamilton Harty and Henry Wood – Schubert; winners of Columbia’s Schubert competition; Lilac Time

The first selection of recordings this time is of the soprano Lilian Stiles-Allen. She was widely respected in her day, though her performances were confined to the concert platform and broadcasting as she was “not suited to the operatic stage.” She was one of the original sixteen soloists in Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, and […]

Landon Ronald – Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Wagner, Svendsen Bizet; Eugene Goossens – Tchaikovsky; Mary Law; Il Trovatore – Carrie Lanceley & Gwilym Richards; Daisy Kennedy interviewed

People are probably starting to wonder just how many Landon Ronald recordings I have. There are still plenty more to come, and a few early transfers which I’m keen to revisit. So, for the summer, a selection of Tchaikovsky, Svendsen, Wagner and Bizet, including a bonus side by Eugene Goossens. Schumann – Carnaval Mediafire link […]

Georg Hann, Harry Secombe and Franz André conducts

The Viennese bass, Georg Hann, was born in 1897, and died in Munich in 1950, still at the height of his powers. He left a substantial recorded legacy. Mediafire link for Georg Hann singing Verdi, Rossini, Cornelius (This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded) Cornelius […]

German’s Welsh Rhapsody from Landon Ronald and Henry Gibson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in La Traviata

There are just a few items today, with more to follow later in the week. Edward German’s “Welsh Rhapsody” was, surprisingly, not one of the many works that German himself conducted for the Gramophone Company. Pioneering acoustic versions were left to Dan Godfrey (on one side), Henry Gibson and the Mayfair Orchestra (2 sides) and […]