Elisabeth Rethberg was one of the most highly-regarded sopranos of the decades between the world wars. For twenty years, her silvery spinto voice captivated Metropolitan Opera audiences, and her records were major staples in the Brunswick and Victor catalogues.

Born Lisbeth Sättler in Schwarzenberg, Germany, her earliest musical education was with her father who was a music teacher.  At sixteen, she began studying voice and piano at the Dresden Royal Conservatory. Her debut took place at the Dresden Opera in 1915, as Arsena in Johann Strauss’s Der Zigeunerbaron opposite the rising tenor, Richard Tauber. The following year, she was entrusted with the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. In 1919 She sang the Empress in Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten in the Dresden premiere, and nine years later sang the leading role in the world premiere of Strauss’s Die ägyptische Helena.

Rethberg’s Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1922 as Verdi’s Aida. She soon took up residence in New York and joined the Met where she remained for twenty years. There she performed thirty roles by Verdi, Mozart, and Wagner. She often returned to Europe to sing at La Scala, Covent Garden, and The Salzburg Festival.

Rethberg’s first group of records were made in Berlin between 1920 and 1922 for the Lindstrom company, appearing on their Odeon label. She returned to the company in 1931 and 1933 to record several additional selections. These recordings have never been reissued complete and are included here for the first time. This set includes all of her recordings for Brunswick, Victor, and the Gramophone Company, with the notable addition of six previously unpublished Brunswick records remastered from the singer’s own test pressings. The set concludes with three selections recorded by the Bell Telephone Laboratory, excerpts from a 1933 performance of Der Freischütz at the Vienna State Opera, and several appearances on US radio programs between 1937 and 1940.

Among all of the great performances of Wagner’s final opera, this performance of Parsifal from the stage of the Met has been for years one of the holy grails for Wagner enthusiasts, for until now, this broadcast had never been issued in its complete form. It represents the only time that Parsifal with the great Wagnerian duo, Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior, was broadcast and preserved. It has none of the customary cuts that afflict other Wagner performances from this era with all cast members in excellent voice. The transfers were made from original discs recorded off the air by a New York recording studio, and we are proud to present this important performance for the first time. The two other principals are Friedrich Schorr and Emanuel List. During this time, the Metropolitan’s Wagner opera performances were conducted by Austrian conductor, Artur Bodanzky. But on this Good Friday, because of ill health, his doctors insisted that he conduct only the first and third acts; Act 2 is ably conducted by his then assistant, Erich Leinsdorf.

When we announced volume 1 of Raoul von Koczalski, we invited you to judge how Koczalski stacked up against other noted Chopin interpreters of the “golden age.” Why was he not better known? After all, in addition to his towering talent, one of Koczalski’s teachers was a student of Chopin. After years of requests for more of this extraordinary pianist and the emergence of new recordings, we are finally issuing volume 3 of this series.

The set begins with two recently discovered marvelous sides recorded for Homocord in 1930. We also are including four unpublished takes of 1938 Deutsche Grammophon recordings, held by a Berlin archive, which differ markedly from the issued versions on our second volume. Following these are twelve sides made in 1948 for the short-lived Polish label, MEWA, which had distribution only in Poland and today are rarely seen. The remainder of the set comprises performances from 1945 and 1948 recorded by German and Polish radio (although some of these have been available on two Polish CD issues, we have gone to original sources to achieve optimum sonic quality over the previous versions). Finally, there are also a number of stunning performances that have never been released, including Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor and Karl Tausig’s arrangement of Johan Strauss’s “Man lebt nur einmal.”

The booklet essay has been written by Jakub Puchalski, the Polish musicologist whose specialty is the study of pianists of the past. His essay explores the controversy surrounding Koczalski’s interpretations and discusses the pianist’s connection to Nazi Germany and his return to Poland after the Second World War.