This is an overview of the opera world of a century ago, and a fascinating one. The set includes a very interesting booklet, but no English translations. My French is not adequate to translate the essay, so much of the mystery of these ancient urns waiting through the whole of the 20th century in the dark cellars beneath the Paris Opera still clings to them. Among the mysteries: there are 60 tracks, not the expected 48. Here's part of the press release:
On 24th December 1907, 48 gramophone records were buried in the basement of the Paris Opéra. The instructions were to leave them there for 100 years.
The project was the brainchild of Alfred Clark, founder and president of EMI’s ancestor, the International Gramophone Company. His aim was to enlighten the citizens of the 21st century as to “the voices of the principal singers of our time and the interpretations they gave of some of the most famous pieces from the lyric and dramatic repertoire.”
The 48 records, released by the Compagnie du Gramophone in the first years of the 20th century, were unearthed in December 2007 and then restored with enormous care by the technicians of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in collaboration with EMI Classics.
Now the contents of the so-called ‘Urnes de l’Opéra’ are being released by EMI Classics in partnership with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Opéra National de Paris and the Association pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra national de Paris.
These musical treasures from the early days of the record label are introduced with a visionary speech from Firmin Gémier, the celebrated actor and director who founded France’s Théâtre National Populaire in 1920.
All in all, this is a beautifully produced issue with dozens of great singers, Italians, Germans, Russians as well as French. These recordings are what Mr. Alfred Clark and the management of the Paris Opera considered most representative of the best of their time, and that gives the collection more than usual stylistic coherence and historical relevance; these recordings were intended to be heard together. On a brilliantly sunny, cool, perfect San Francisco day I'm having a lot of fun listening to these gloriously restored treasures.
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The 60 tracks should not come as a mystery, as even in 1907, there were double-sided records, so one original disc easily produces two CD tracks.
ReplyDeleteMuch stranger is the fact that many of the tracks presented on the CDs were recorded in 1908 and later (original documentation on the recording sessions still survives, and can easily be accessed through Alan Kelly's books and e-book CD-ROMs!), so these were obviously NOT deposited in 1907 but at some later date. Why EMI makes false claims about their own product is beyond me - there once was a time when this company had higher standards and was worth buying. Serious collectors will anyway already possess most of the tracks in better sound on Marston's, Preiser's, and other reissues... The set is a souvenir for Paris Opera tourists, sadly nothing more.
There was one set of capsules sealed in 1907 and another in 1912.
DeleteAnonymous is perfectly correct, many of the tracks in this issue are very familiar. To me, that says something about the prescience of those responsible for selecting them over a hundred years ago: some of these are among the most popular and frequently-heard recording of their kind, but who could have been sure that would be the case when they were new? And while 2-sided discs existed before World War 1, many were single-sided. Mystery solved, though, and a good catch, although Anonymous may find it rather obvious. The sound of this issue seems perfectly adequate to me, but it is true that excellent transfers of not a few of these selections exist on other issues--in some cases many other issues. Part of the unique interest of this set is that it utilizes the actual physical discs that were recovered, if my French is good enough for me to have read the booklet correctly; without that limitation, normal practice would be to locate as many copies in good condition as possible and stitch together the best-sounding performance from perhaps a dozen or more. The work of Ward Marston sets the highest standards for such restoration, and all collectors of old recordings are grateful for his peerless--and Herculean--efforts, but I believe this set's made up of single sources. As for how some recordings made after 1907 made their way into this collection, the notes indicate that a second group of discs was immured in June, 1912, in the third and fourth urns. The frustratingly French-only booklet makes very clear that the set presents the recordings in the correct order, i.e., the contents of urns 3 and 4 follow the first two. The brief promotional copy I inserted doesn't make this clear, but the well-produced and illustrated booklet details the history of the project more fully. I continue to consider the collection valuable and interesting, and in these very hard times for the classical music industry, I'm grateful to EMI for publishing it; it's obviously a labor of love, especially given it's selling price, $13.99 on Amazon for 3 well-filled CD's. I note that there are three reviews of the set there. One very unhappy that no English translation is included (I heartily agree, although full documentation of the recording sessions is provided, as any serious collector would require); one commenting that the recorded legacies of several very important but rare singers is enlarged by it (with which I also gratefully agree); and a third who's unhappy that the scratchiness hasn't been removed. On that topic, I have mixed feelings. While Marston, in particular, has been able to clean up ancient documents in a rather amazing way, the more typical result is to rob the recording of it's overtones, and make it sound dull. I'll take the scratchiness, thank you. As for the set being a souvenir for Paris Opera tourists--isn't that exactly the point? I'm very happy for the chance to tour the spectral vaults of the Paris Opera, and to hear these thrilling echoes of long-faded glory. sg
ReplyDeleteI have a Gramophone Album ,with discs before 1907 in my collection. I will produce the list of discs later,if anybody is interested. Some are Gramophone and Typewriter period. Definetely one sided .
ReplyDelete