In an effort to meet the needs of the Marston customer, we have chosen our upcoming releases with you in mind. We press only 1000 copies of most releases and do not repress so “when they’re gone, they’re gone.” To date, more than a 1/3 of our catalogue is out of print!

Listed below are a number of projects which are at various stages of completion. When a set is approaching release (within two months of becoming available), it will go on sale through the website. Your credit card will be charged when the order is placed, and the CDs will be shipped as soon as they are in our hands. "Pre-ordering" this way will guarantee that you are not left out in the cold! Check back regularly for updates on the status of future projects.

This set features the complete known recordings of French mezzo-soprano Blanche Marchesi (1863–1940), the daughter and pupil of legendary vocal instructor Mathilde (née Graumann) Marchesi (1821–1913). Mathilde was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and after a successful but brief career as a performer, she transitioned to teaching voice in 1849, and never looked back. Her teaching career took her from Cologne to Vienna, and ultimately to Paris, where in 1881 she established her own school and enjoyed a long and illustrious career as vocal instructor to many of the greatest singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of her most famous pupils include Nellie Melba, Emma Calvé, Frances Alda, Selma Kurz, and Emma Eames.

In addition to the complete Blanche Marchesi, this two-CD set features other rare recordings of pupils of Mathilde Marchesi, most being released here for the first time. Included are performances by American sopranos Elizabeth Parkina, Esther Palliser, and Frances Saville, Australian contralto Ada Crossley, and American lyric coloratura soprano Suzanne Adams.

Our sponsorship goal is $6,000, the cost to remaster and manufacture a two-CD set.

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.

Our sponsorship goal is $16,000, the cost to remaster and manufacture this 4-CD set.

At the turn of the 20th century, Ernest Reyer and Édouard Lalo had experienced a certain degree of fame. Reyer’s opera Sigurd was still active in the repertory of many French opera houses including the Paris Opera, and although less popular, Maître Wolfram, La statue, and Salammbô were performed and also occasionally recorded. In the early years of recording, the most popular arias from Sigurd became staples of record company catalogs especially with the tenor arias being recorded by the likes of Scaramberg, Affre, Lafitte, Franz, and Vezzani.

Édouard Lalo, who today is best known for his Symphonie Espagnole for violin and orchestra, composed one opera that was immensely popular during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first three decades of the twentieth: Le roi d’Ys. The “Aubade” from Act 3, “Vainement, ma bien aimée” was one of the most popular and ubiquitously recorded of all French tenor arias, ranking with the flower song from Carmen and “Plus blanche” from Les Huguenots.

This set devoted to Reyer and Lalo will feature at least one recording of each excerpt that was recorded between 1902 and 1930 and will feature approximately 35 singers. The booklet will contain: essays on the life and works of these two composers by Vincent Giroud; plot summaries of their operas; and short biographical sketches of the singers.

This set is fully funded.