In 1911 the Pathé Company began an ambitious project to record complete operas in French. This series includes eleven complete operas and preserves the unique French style of singing, a tradition that is sadly lost today. Our sixth installment of the Pathé series is Gounod’s Faust. It has a stellar cast including Léon Beyle, André Gresse, and Jean Noté. The role of Marguerite is beautifully sung by Jeanne Campredon who had an important career in Paris, but made no other recordings. This is the first complete recording of Faust sung in French.

One of our early releases was the 1908 recording of Bizet's Carmen sung in German by a cast headed by the larger than life Bohemian soprano, Emmy Destinn. During that year she also participated in a similar recording of Gounod's Faust, which in Germany was titled Margarethe to differentiate it from Goethe's revered masterpiece. Over the years we received requests from our customers to reissue this earliest recording of Gounod's opera, and finally released this issue as a two-CD set. The cast includes tenor Karl Jörn, mezzo Marie Goetze, baritone Desider Zador, and bass Paul Knüpfer. The orchestra and chorus are in the capable hands of Bruno Seidler-Winkler. Michael Aspinall's informative essay includes biographical information on the singers and a thorough critical analysis of the performance. The second CD concludes with ten of Emmy Destinn's most revered recordings from the period 1906 to 1910.

Vanni-Marcoux’s (1877 – 1962) career in opera roughly-spanned the first half of the last century. Marcoux made his debut as Wagner in Gounod's Faust in Bayonne in 1900; was a guest at Covent Garden every year between 1905 and 1912; created the roles of Guido Colonna (Monna Vanna) and Panurge; performed with the Boston Opera, Chicago Opera, the Colón, and La Scala; appeared in film; and ended his career as the director of the Opera in Bordeaux. His recording career began late (1924), yet Marcoux made approximately 120 sides, leaving a legacy that is well-loved by many and is highly sought-after. His voice is rich and expressive and his diction is near perfect, which alludes to his reputation as a great actor. This compilation is the first complete Vanni-Marcoux and the 6 CD-set will be offered at a substantial discount due to the generosity of our sponsor Fabrice Pilato.

On this set, Vanni-Marcoux is represented in opera (Boris Budunov, Monna Vanna, Panurge, Bohème, Jongleur, Don Quichotte, Pelléas, and others); song (Voi dormite, signora, Soupir, Plaisir d’amour, Ninon, Prière, and others); and sings Delmet’s Nouvelle chansons.

Lotte Lehmann enjoyed a forty-year career spanning 1910 to 1950 on stage in opera and on the concert platform. Remembered now primarily for her portrayals of Wagner and Strauss roles and as a consummate interpreter of German lieder, her early recordings, not widely known, give us a broader picture of this great artist. It will, perhaps, not come as a surprise to hear Lehmann in her now familiar roles: Sieglinde, Elsa, Eva, and the Marschallin. What really makes these records outstanding is the ease and beauty of Lehmann's vocal production, and the opportunity of hearing her in repertoire not associated with her. We are treated to a generous sprinkling of Mozart, including three duets with baritone Heinrich Schlusnus, as well as arias by Weber, Lortzing, and Nicolai. Although she sings in German, you can hear French opera arias from La Juive, Faust, Mignon, Carmen, Tales of Hoffmann, and Manon. From Italian opera, we hear the Willow Song from Otello and Puccini arias from Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, Tosca, Butterfly, and two rare recordings from Suor Angelica. Other highlights include Lehmann's recording of Tatyana's Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin, an aria from d'Albert's Die toten Augen, and the exquisite aria and duet from Korngold's Die tote Stadt with tenor Richard Tauber. These are among the greatest treasures of the acoustic recording era. The booklet contains a biographical essay by Dr. Daniel Jacobson, Professor of Music at Western Michigan University, an essay on the recordings by Michael Aspinall, and a personal reminiscence by André Tubeuf, who has also provided numerous rare and lovely photos from Lehmann’s early career prior to her emergence on to the international operatic scene. Since there is some extra space at the end of the fourth CD, we are offering a selection of operatic and lieder recordings from her electric Odeon discography, 1927-1932.

Arkansas-born Mary Lewis (1900–1941) was a charming lyric soprano of great beauty whose career was cut very short and whose life was fascinating and often tempestuous. Lewis was not your average singer. She left home at the age of 18 and joined a vaudeville troupe; she sang in cabarets in San Francisco; and was a member of the Bathing Beauties of the Christie Comedies. She subsequently studied with Jean de Reszke in Paris and made her operatic debut as Marguerite in Faust at the Vienna Volksoper in 1923. In 1924 she sang in the world premiere of Vaughn Williams’s Hugh the Drover. Her recorded legacy, though small, reveals a rare beauty. This set contains all of her acoustic HMV and electric Victor recordings, including six unpublished sides, as well as a selection of material from radio transcriptions.

Fiorello Giraud (1868 - 1928) had a highly successful career throughout Italy and parts of South America and was well-respected both in Wagnerian and verismo roles. He will be remembered for creating the role of Canio (Pagliacci). His strong, vibrant voice was first captured on eight very rare G&T records. In 1916 and 1917, he recorded an additional 12 sides for Italian HMV, all song titles. This compilation will include all 20 of his published sides. Giovanni Batista de Negri (1850 - 1923) was particularly associated with the role of Otello, toured throughout Italy, and had a career that was cut short (1896) due to a series of operations for an unmentioned “malady.” In 1902, however, he recorded for the Zonophone company, forever leaving his mark. Francesco Signorini (1860 - 1927) achieved success singing Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) in Florence in 1890; appeared at La Scala in 1897; and appeared in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and South America in 1907. He gave up singing in 1910 to teach in Rome. His HMV recordings are very rare, including the scenes from Chatterton, which were issued on an early Marston release. Leopoldo Signoretti's birth date ranges from 1840 to 1850, the former seeming more plausible. His earliest traced performances were in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Solis, Montevideo in May 1875. In 1884 he went to Bologna for Tannhäuser and the world premiere of Isora di Provenza by Luigi Mancinelli. At Madrid, in the 1884-1885 season he sang La Gioconda, Faust, Aida, L’Africana, Lucia di Lammermoor (with Sembrich and Battistini), Il principe di Viana (Manuel Fernandez Grajal), Il trovatore, Ernani, Un ballo in maschera, and Lohengrin. He recorded only five documented Zonophone sides, and in many ways, these are the most impressive of this quartet of early Italian tenors.

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.

Listening to a recording of a remarkable live performance can transport the listener to a seat in a theater and make him believe he was in attendance. If you could choose a performance of Der Rosenkavalier, attending a performance at the Colón, in the thirties, with Alexander Kipnis, Tiana Lemnitz, Germaine Hoerner, Fritz Krenn, and Editha Fleischer would not be a bad fantasy. Hear Fritz Busch conduct this outstanding cast perform Rosenkavalier.