Annus Mirabilis 1873: Rubini 3 lp Boxed set

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Annus Mirabilis 1873: Rubini 3 lp Boxed set

Selected tracks from 42 singers born in 1873; Chaliapine/Caruso/Slezak etc; mono, from The Rubini catalogue. Culled from collections of rare recordings, with notes.

Gramophone Review, 1975:

ANNUS MIRABILIS 1873. Operatic Arias and Songs. Various artists. Rubini Q RS300 (three records, nas 0.94). Notes included.

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Suzanne Adams (soprano). Stern: Coquette (from G&T3292).

Alfred von Bary (tenor). Wagner: LOHENGRIN-Wintersttirme (G&T2-42925).

Lilian Blauvelt (soprano). Traditional: Commn' thro' the rye (Victor 81068).

Friedrich Brodersen (baritone). Humperdinck: KONIGSKINDER-0 du liebheilige Einfalt; Wohin bist du gegangen? (Odeon AA79354).

Clara Butt (contralto). Scott-Faure: Ame nasceri; En priere (HMV 2-033009).

Enrico Caruso (tenor). Puccini: LA BOHEME-0 soave fanciulla (with Geraldine Farrar, soprano. HMV AGSB50).

Feodor Challapin (bass). Brahms: Sapphische Ode (PD 4-22669).

Maurice Declery (baritone). Faure: La charite (Odeon 36665).

Andreas Perello de segarma (bass). Bellini: I PURITANI-Sorgea la notte (Victor 55007). Henryk Drzewiecki (tenor). Moniuszko: HALKA-Jontek's Dream (Dacapo D25285). Katherina Fleischer- Edel (soprano). Wagner: DIE WALKURE-Du bist der lenz (Odeon 52422).

Evangelina Florence (soprano). David: LA PERLE DE BRESIL-Charmant oiseau (G&T3443). Otto Goritz (bass). Humperdinck : KONIGSKINDER-0 du liebheilige Einfalt (Victor 64184). Marla Grisi (soprano). Marchetti: RIP/ BLAS-0 dolce volutta (with Pietro Lara, tenor, (Victor 58323).

Julia Guiraudon (soprano). Puccini: LA BOHEME-Addio senza rancor (G&T33614). Alexander Heinemann (baritone). Rubinstein: Es blinkt der Tan (PD 4-42482).

Kathleen Howard (mezzo-soprano). Saint-Saens: SAMSON ET DALILA Mon coeur s'ouvre 1 ta voix (Pathe 5365).

Karl Joni. (tenor). Verdi: IL TROVATORE-Di quella pira (Zono 22267-7 inch).

Louise Kirkby-Lunn (mezzosoprano). Mozart: LA CLEMENZA DI TITO-Non pin di fiori (HMV 2-053001).

Tilly Koenen (contralto). Tosti: Ridonami la calrna (G&T03098).

Marie Kubatova (soprano). Smetena: HUBICKA-Trio (with Marie Klanova, soprano; Emil Pollert, bass. G&T74035).

Salomea Kruszelnika (soprano). Moniuszko: HALKA-Aria from Act 1 (G&T23368).

Peter Lordmann (bass). Lortzing: CZAR UND ZIMMERMANN-Van Bett's Aria (Schall 13340). Francis Maclennan (tenor). Wagner: TANNHAUSER-Dir t6ne Lob (G&T4-42158/9).

Jane Marignan (soprano). Massenet: Smmo-Ce que j'appelle beau (Elephone 189).

Enrico Nani (baritone). Verdi: NABUCCO-0 di qual onta (with Giannina Russ, soprano. Fonotypia 69173).

Antonina Nezhdanova (soprano). Grieg: Last spring (Sovsong G142).

Rosa Olitzka (contralto). D'Hardelot: Say yes, Mignon (G&T3253)

Giovanni Poiese (tenor). Massenet: THAIS-VoilA done la terrible cite (Edison cylinder 28118).

Marie Rappold (soprano). Puccini: MANOR LESCAUT-In quella trine morbide (Edison 82259).

Anita Rio (soprano). Gaynor/Browniel. The slumber song; Four leaf clover (Columbia A1872).

CiicIlie Rusche-Endorf (soprano). Wagner: TAN NHAUSER -Dich teure Halle (Schall 61777).

Attilio Sal- vaneschi (tenor). Mascagni: IRIS-Apri la tua finestra (Jumbo A82432). Auber: PRA DIAVOLOAgnese la Zitella (Jumbo A82433).

Leo Slezak (tenor). Rossini: GUILLAUME TELL--Ah Mathilde ,(with Leopold Demuth, baritone, PD 2-4432).

Anna Sutter (soprano). MillOcker: GASPARONE-Tarantella (PD 2-43191).

Natalia Tamara (soprano). Gerdalia: Little evening; When beauty is young (Amour 2-23580).

Louise Tiphaine (soprano). Donizetti: LA F1LLE DU REGIMENT-Au bruit (with Jean Delvoye, bass. Beka 10113).

Alice Veriet (soprano). Pons: LAURA-Serenade Napolitaine (PD 033061-Paris version). Herbert Witherspoon (bass). Rossini: STABAT MATER-Pro peccatis (Victor 74192). Ivo Zaccari (tenor). Verdi: I MASNADIERICome un bacio (with Ernerio Constantini, bass. Homokord 2281).

Desidor Zador (bass-baritone). Wagner: DAS RHEINGOLD-Alberich's Finch (PD 42213).

Bottom of Form

I expect that when the pie was opened and the birds began to sing, everyone was quite impressed to count as many as four and-twenty in the choir. Well, here are two-and-forty. All hatched in the same year, all in melodious flight by the turn of the century, enticed into the recording studios shortly afterwards, and served up now in dainty long-playing discs to set before the connoisseur.

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Three of them, giants of the species, were worthily celebrated in their centenary year by the companies for which they recorded in their lifetime. These were Dame Clara Butt, Enrico Caruso and Feodor Chaliapin: a formidable trio indeed. But one other name out of the many listed here would certainly ring out among opera-goers of those days with comparable power and prestige-that of Leo Slezak, who was at least remembered on the radio in an illustrated talk given by Jerrold Northrop Moore. Add to these the names of Antonina Nezhdanova, Salomea Kruszelnika (or Krusceniski), Louise Kirkby-Lunn, Karl Jorn and Alice Verlet, and it will be clear, at least to all good collectors of old records and to all old opera-goers with good memories, why 1873, the year when each of them was born, should merit its `mirabilis'. And, as we now learn, it was more prolific even than that.

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Keenly anticipated pleasures will be those of attaching a voice to a name, of discovering a new name to look out for in the dealers' lists, and of fortifying one's conviction that the present could learn a thing or two from the standards of the past. The first of these (I am speaking for myself now) arises with, say, Francis Maclennan, tenor husband of Florence Easton, and the subject of an article and discography in the current issue of The Record Collector (Vol. XXII, Nos 3 and 4). Not that the discography occupies much space, for he made only four records, two of which are included here: urgent, sincerely felt performances, showing a voice that rings out true and clear. Still, he won't quite join my second list, that of specially likeable new acquaintances that one immediately wishes to hear more of. At the head of that list stands Julia Guiraudon, Paris's first Mimi, at the Opera-Comique in 1897, for she gives an exquisite performance of the Farewell in Act III. Somewhere in the distance someone is playing a piano; it's scarcely audible. But clear as a bell, and marvellously personal, is this delicate, tender singing: a lovely record. And the Musetta of that first performance is here too. She was Jane Marignan, and her solo from Massenet's Sapho has unusual presence, as well as an agreeably fresh voice and live artistry. Others on this list would be: Rosa Olitzka (a long-standing favourite with collectors but somehow missed by me, very charmingly soft-grained and intimate in the pretty 'period' song by d'Hardelot included here), Attilio Salvaneschi (a graceful, mellifluous tenor whose Cavaradossi should be worth searching out on the acoustic HMV Tosca), and Henryk Drzewiecki (a fine lyric tenor, with the Warsaw Opera for many years, yet, oddly, not included in the four-record album of Polish singers on the Muza label).

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Now for the other anticipated pleasure, that of finding more evidence about the superior standards of the time. I must say that I would be a lot happier if somewhere in the collection were one or two examples of technical mastery in florid work that could match up with (to take a modern instance just now to hand) Janet Baker's in her new Handel recital (Philips 6500 523, 10/74). Perhaps too I would be easier without the rough diamonds, Otto Goritz, for instance, and Desidor Zador, an astonishingly vivid and ugly Alberich, with whose fierce laugh the whole recital ends. And there are just a few (Enrico Nani and Herbert Witherspoon prominent among them) who on present showing would be unlikely to see the inside of a recording studio in our own time. As against all this, however, it must be said that the general tale is one of firmly placed voices, singing with an instrumental purity of line and a well-nurtured personal art: if one wanted a single example to typify all this one could take another name hitherto unknown to me, Alexander Heinemann, a baritone and an early Lieder specialist, whose instrumental style is just what so many comparable artists in the field today seem loath to cultivate or use.

The scope of these records, as must be evident, ranges wide, and I still have not mentioned the records chosen to represent the great names. Least well represented is Karl Jorn, whose "Di quella pira" has a makeshift way with the semiquavers and rather square phrasing; still, it's from a 7-inch Zonophone original and I should think we are unlikely to have another chance of hearing it at all. But all of these selections are rare (including the Caruso and Chaliapin). There is, for instance, an amazing record of Nezhdanova made in her sixties, beautifully fresh in timbre. And outstanding among all these wonderful voices is Clara Butt in Faure's En priare, tender and warm, always imaginative, and very feminine.

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Such a monument to an age cannot be built without labour, and one wilts at the thought of all that has gone into this. The Rubini catalogue is again enriched (though the sound seems rougher, more edgy than most of their recordings), and the album is a handsome one with fascinating notes by Leo Riemens. But no doubt the major share of the credit is due to Vivian Liff, whose conception and collection, care and research are everywhere in evidence. The next remarkable year will probably be 1888 (Lehmann, Leider, Schorr, Schlusnus and Stabile in the lead, with an indifferent supporting cast). And I did look up some dates to see how 1923, the half-century, would fare : Callas and De los Angeles for a start, with Siepi, Resnik, Konya and Thomas Stewart in the not-too-dusty rear. But for quantity and quality combined, not to speak of rarity in the collectors' market, there is no doubt that 1873 takes the prize. Annus mirabilissimus! (J.B.S.  © Gramophone Archive. OCR Document.)

 CONDITION:

BOX:  EX+  No splits, tears or scuffs, no damage to gold imprinting.

RECORDS:  EX to NM

RECORD GRADINGS

(May be further qualified by + or - )

M = Mint

Must be in perfect condition with no audible or visible defects whatsoever. The record and cover/sleeve should be exactly as brand new.

NM = Near Mint

Almost mint but has one or two minor visible marks on the cover/sleeve or surface with sound quality remaining perfect.

EX = Excellent

Not quite perfect. There may a slight chance of minor deterioration in sound quality. The cover/sleeve may show slight wear.

VG = Very Good

The surface and cover/sleeve shows visible signs of wear due to the fact that it has been played on a regular basis. There will be some audible surface noise but it will not effect the listening experience.

G = Good

The sound quality has deteriorated due to having been played often. The cover/sleeve and surface will show considerable signs of wear and tear with some possible damage.

F = Fair

Has been neglected, but is still playable. There will be major audible defects such as loud clicks or jumping. The cover/sleeve maybe badly damaged.

P = Poor

Technically playable, but with serious deterioration in condition and sound quality. The cover/sleeve will be badly damaged.

VP = Very Poor

In terrible condition and absolutely unplayable. Would only be of use as a last resort to complete a collection.

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