Greatest Opera Singers

Greatest Opera Singers

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Vincenzo Reschiglian (Baritone) (Bergamo 1874 - Bergamo 1955)


                               Vincenzo Reschiglian, Giovanni Martinelli and Octave Dua


He was the older brother of the tenor Giuseppe Reschiglian (1875-1949). Probably he made his debut in 1897 at the Teatro Municipale in Modena as Lescaut in G. Puccini’s ‘’Manon Lescaut’’. On 17. 1. 1901 he appeared at the Teatro Regio in Turin in one of six concurrent premieres of the opera ‘’Le Machere’’ of P. Mascagni. Since 1906 he appeared as comprimario. In the 1906-09 seasons he sang at the Manhattan Opera House in New York. In 1909 he was engaged by the New York Metropolitan Opera (beginning role: Montano in G. Verdi’s ‘’Otello’’) and sang there during the following twenty years being quite indispensable as an ensemble member. He appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in a lot of important premières, thus on 10. 12. 1910 in the premiere of G. Puccini’s ‘’La Fanciulla del West’’ (as Bello), on 25. 1. 1915 in U. Giordano’s ‘’Madame Sans-Gêne’’ (as de Brigode), in 1913 in the première of ‘’Boris Godunov’’ (as Tschelkalov), in 1921 in the première of ‘’Andrea Chénier’’. In 1911 he sang at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome also in the Italian première of  ‘’La Fanciulla del West’’. In 1929 he retired from the stage and went to Bergamo.

Chronology of some appearances

1897  Modena Teatro Municipale Manon Lescaut (Lescaut)
1901  Turin Teatro Regio Le Machere (Tartaglia)
1906-1909 New York Manhattan Opera House
1909-1925 New York Metropolitan Opera

RECORDINGS FOR SALE









Zonophone, Milano 1902-09?
Ernani (Verdi): Oh! Dei verd'anni miei X-92017
Forza del destino (Verdi) Solenne in quest'ora with Oreste Mieli X-1835

Zonophone, Milano 1902/1903
Rigoletto (Verdi): Veglia, o donna with Fernanda Rapisardi 12322
Traviata (Verdi): Morrò! la mia memoria with Fernanda Rapisardi X-1523


Columbia, Milano 1904?
I Due Foscari (Verdi): O vecchio cor che batti 10376

Edison 4-min cylinders, Milano? 1909?
Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): All'idea with Francesco Daddi BA 22406
Forza del destino (Verdi): Solenne in quest'ora with Francesco Daddi BA 22408

Carl Pusch (Tenor)


RECORDINGS FOR SALE










Vox, Berlin 1921-12
Pagliacci (Leoncavallo): Jetzt spielen 03045* 172A
Evangelimann (Kienzl): Selig sind, die Verfolgung leiden 03045* 173A


Nina Rambelli (Contralto)


RECORDING FOR SALE










G&T, Milano 1907-06?
Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni): Finale with Clara Joanna & chorus 54337 10649½b


Emilio Riguzzi (Baritone)


RECORDINGS FOR SALE











Columbia
El mal de venter 10267
Un cliente difficile 10256

Odeon Fonotipia
La Secchia Rapita: Canzone del conte 82438


Una vendita all'asta pubblica (Scena comica)
La signora del tramwai


La Cabelly (Soprano)


RECORDINGS FOR SALE










Odeon, Paris 1912/1913
Werther (Massenet): Duo du clair de lune, pt 1 with Denizot X111447 xP5936 
Werther (Massenet): Duo du clair de lune, pt 2 with Denizot  X111448 xP5937


Federico Barbalonga (Baritone)


RECORDINGS FOR SALE










Dacapo 
A sciurara (Di Capua)  D-1296
Malia (Tosti) D-1262
Maria Mari (Di Capua) Dacapo D-1296
Vorrei morire (Tosti)  D-1297


Mathilde Comès (Soprano)




Chronology of some appearances

1906 Paris Opéra-Comique Aphrodite (Diomède)
1910 la Gaite Theatre Municipal Salome (Herodias)
1920 Le Havre Opera La Juive (Rachel)
1931 Paris Théâtre de la Gaîté lyrique La Juive (Rachel)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE









Pathé-APGA, Paris 1910/1911
Africaine (Meyerbeer): O ma Selika with Agustarello Affre P1501 1501-1
Cid (Massenet): O jours with Agustarello Affre P1502 1502-1
Huguenots (Meyerbeer): Grand duo, 4e acte with Agustarello Affre P1501 1501-2
Sigurd (Reyer): Duo de la fontaine with Agustarello Affre P1701

Louis Guénot (Bass/Baritone) (? 1891 - ? 1968)


He made his debut at the Opéra-Comique in Paris (1921) and during the following twenty years appeared in this opera house in a large number of parts. In 1924 he sang at the Opéra-Comique in the premiere of Henri Rabaud’s ‘’L'Appel de la Mer’’. In 1930 he guested in Amsterdam as Thoas in ‘’Iphigénie en Tauride’’ under Pierre Monteux. In 1932 he sang there the parts of Crespel and Schlemihl in ‘’Hoffmnanns Erzählungen’’. In 1939 he appeared in Scheveningen as Arkel in Debussy’s ‘’Pelléas et Mélisande’’ together with Elen Dosia and Georges Cathelat under the direction of Ernest Ansermet.

Chronology of some appearances

1921-1940’s Paris Opéra-Comique
1930 Amsterdam Opera
1932 Amsterdam Opera

RECORDIGNS FOR SALE









Columbia, Paris 1927-12-15
Patrie (Paladilhe): Cantabile de Rysoor D12032 WL793-l

Columbia, Paris 1928-05-08

Carmen (Bizet): Je Suis Escamillo with Georges Thill 67555-D WLX 244

Columbia, Paris 1929-04-03

Les boeufs (Dupont) DFX48 WLX 963

Columbia, Paris 1929-05-04

Les sapins (Dupont)  D12053 WL 1625

Columbia, Paris 1928-01-20
Manon (Massenet): Comte des Grieux D12032 WL864-l

Charles Cambon (Baritone) (Florensac, France 1892 – Paris, France 1966)



He began studies at the Conservatory of Toulouse, then the National Conservatory of Paris. Starting in 1923, he was a chorister at the Grand Opéra of Paris and sang there in the following years a multitude of small roles. From 1930 until his retirement in 1953, he appeared at the Grand Opéra in the great heroic baritone roles: Rigoletto, Amonasro, the Flying Dutchman (1940), Valentin, the High Priest in ''Samson et Dalila'', Silvio in ''Pagliacci'', Hérode in Massenet's ''Hérodiade'' and as the Bishop in his ''Esclarmonde''. However, he continued to appear in smaller rôles including Orestes in the premier of Strauss' ''Elektra'' in 1932 and Altoum in the premiere of Puccini's ''Turandot'' in 1928. In 1924 he sang in the world premiere of Charles-Marie Widor's opera ''Nerto''; in 1936 in that of Georges Enescu's opera ''Oedipe''. In 1942 at the Grand Opéra, he took part in the first French performance of Hans Pfitzner's ''Palestrina''. He completed a lengthy guest engagement at the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona and in 1937 he made a guest appearance atLondon's Covent Garden. He was frequently to be found on the French provincial stages, and often appeared in such French provincial houses as Nice. At the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1945 he sang for the only time Zurga in Bizet's ''Pecheurs des perles''. He became well-known in France for his his appearances in radio opera performances. On these he was heard as (among other roles) Iago in Verdi's ''Otello'', as Hamlet in Thomas' opera of the same name, as Count di Luna in ''Trovatore'' and as Athanaël in Massenet's ''Thaïs''

Chronology of some appearances

1930-1953 Paris Grand Opéra

RECORDINGS FOR SALE









Polydor 1932
Le Roi de Lahore: (Massenet): Romesse de mon avenir 522455
Paillasse (Leoncavallo): Duo Nedda-Silvio with Bernadette Lemichel du Roy 522405
Sigurd (Reyer): Et toi, Freia 522391
Rigoletto (Verdi): Tous deux égaux 522406
Samson et Dalila (Saint-Sens): Maudite à jamais soit la race 522455
Le Trouvère (Verdi): Tout est désert 522472
Guillaume Tell (Rossini): Sois immobile 522406

Polydor 1931
Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Bizet): L’orage s’est calmé 516524
La Favorite (Donizetti): Pour tant d’amour 516252
Faust (Gounod): Avant de quitter ces lieux 522455





















Pavel Ludikar (Bass) (3. 3. 1882 Praga, † 19. 2. 1970 Vienna)



His real name was Pavel Vyskočil. His father was a conductor at the Prager Opera, his mother was an contralto, who also appeared on the opera stage. First he studied law and philosophy at the University of Prague and then trained as a concert pianist. In 1901, at the age of 19, he traveled throughout North America giving piano concerts. Then studied in Prague and with Jean Lassalle inParis and made his debut in 1904 at the National theater of Prague as Sarastro in the ‘’Magic Flute’’. During the years of World War II, Ludikar continued to perform in concerts in Germany andAustria. He taught singing in Prague from 1941-1943. In 1944 he taught master classes at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg and gave his final public concerts in that city in that year. He then returned to Prague. After the end of World War II, Ludikar wanted to move to Austria but was forbidden to leave by the now Soviet controlled government in his country. He spent the next couple years living in seclusion in the vicinity of Prague. He managed to leave the country in late 1947 upon which time he joined the faculty of the Vienna Music Academy. He taught there and gave annual masterclasses at the Salzburg Mozarteum up until his death in Vienna in 1970.

Chronology of some appearances

1911 Milano La Scala Der Rosenkavalier (Ochs) (Italian Premiere)
1911 Milano La Scala Königskinder (Fiddler) (Premiere)
1911 Buenos Aires Teatro Colón Rigoletto (Sparafucile)
1913 Buenos Aires Teatro Colón Rigoletto (Sparafucile)
1913 Buenos Aires Teatro Colón Lohengrin (Enrique)
1913 Buenos Aires Teatro Colón Ballo in maschera (Samuel)
1913 Buenos Aires Teatro Colón (Raimundo)
1914 Boston Opera Amore dei tre Re (Archibaldo)
1917 Zurich Municipal Theater Magic Flute (Leporello)
1917 Zurich Municipal Theater Elektra (Orest)
1920 Buenos Aires Teatro Colón Tristan und Isolde (Wotan)
1926-1932 New York Metropolitan Opera Turandot (Timur) (Debut)
1938 Prague Deutshen Theater Karl V (Karl V)

RECORDING FOR SALE










Ultraphon
Dětská láska (V. J. Novotný) B10128 15186
Medák (A. M. Nademlejnsky) B10128
Má dívenka (Zdeněk Fibich) B10128 15202

Elektrola
Heimatscholle (Brazdy) ORA 4623-II

Maria Jeritza (Soprano) (Brno, Czech Republic 1887 – Orange, New Jersey, United States 1982)




She studied in Brno and Prague, made her début at Olmütz in 1910 (a Elsa), then joined the Vienna Volskoper, and in 1912 appeared at the Hofoper. She quickly became an immense favorite in Vienna, where she sang regularly for over two decades. She was an especially admired Tosca, Minnie and Turandot. Among her many Strauss roles she was the first Ariadne in both versions of Ariadne auf Naxos (Stuttgart in 1912 and Vienna in 1919), and the first Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten (Vienna, 1919). Having sung Marietta in the first Vienna performance of Korngold’s Di tote Stadt in 1921, she repeated this role for her Metropolitan début later that year. Of greater musical significance was her Jenufa in both the first Viennese (1918) and first New York (1924) performances of Janacek’s masterpiece. During the next 12 years she became recognized as the Metropolitan’s most glamorous and beautiful star since the days of Geraldine Farrar, and appropriately introduced to New York both Puccini’s Turandot and Strauss’s Die ägyptischeHelena. Her Covent Garden performances were confined to seven roles during 1925 and 1926, whereas at the Metropolitan she sang 290 performances in 20 roles. After World War II she made isolated appearances in Vienna and New York. Though endowed with an ample and lustrous voice, Jeritza belonged to the category of artist known as a ‘singing actress’, freely yielding both dramatically and vocally to impulses that were sometimes more flamboyant than refined. In her numerous records, faults of taste and technique co-exist with genuine vocal achievement.

Chronology of some appearances

Elsa von Brabant 12/27/1921, Floria Tosca 2/28/1922, Marietta / Die Erscheinung Maries 3/28/1922, Octavian 12/5/1922, Thaïs 2/20/1923, 11/13/1923, La principessa Fedora Romazov 12/18/1923, 11/25/1924, Jenufa 12/16/1924, Floria Tosca 11/24/1925, Thaïs 12/29/1925, Maliella 1/19/1926, Floria Tosca 11/2/1926, La principessa Turandot 11/30/1926, Elsa von Brabant 2/1/1927, Violanta 11/15/1927, Santuzza 12/20/1927, Carmen 1/24/1928, Helena 11/13/1928, Elisabeth 1/8/1929, Minnie Falconer 11/19/1929, La principessa Turandot 12/10/1929, Floria Tosca 2/4/1930, Minnie Falconer 11/4/1930, Senta 12/2/1930, Giovanni Boccaccio 1/6/1931, Floria Tosca 1/20/1931, 11/17/1931, Senta 12/15/1931, René Dufaure 1/5/1932 (Filadelfia)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE









Pathé, Wien 1908?
Trovatore (Verdi): Befreit, o welche Seligkeit with Hans Melms 38656
Lohengrin (Wagner): Euch Lüften 38650

Robert Couzinou (Baritone) (Sarlat, Aquitaine, France 1888 – Sarlat, Aquitaine, France 1944)



He made his debut in 1912 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. In 1913 he became a member of the Grand Opéra in Paris, where he had a long career (beginning role: Geywhir in ''Fervaal'' by d'Indy). In 1918 he was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Here, as a beginning role, he sang on 11. 11. 1918, the part of high priest in ''Samson et Dalila'' of C. Saint-Saëns as a partner of Enrico Caruso and Louise Homer. Till 1920 he remained a member of this house, where he was highly appreciated as Athanaël in ''Thaïs'' of  J. Massenet, Escamillo in ''Carmen'' and Valentin in C. Gounod's ''Faust''. On 27. 12. 1919 he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in the premiere of Albert Wolff's ''L'yOiseau bleue''. During the 1920's he made guest appearances at the Covent Garden in London among other things in the première of P. Mascagni's ''Iris'' with Margaret Sheridan as a partner (1919). In the 1918-1919 season and in 1924 he appeared with great successful at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Here on 10. 4. 1919 he sang in the premiere of the opera ''Nausicaa'' of Reynaldo Hahn. In 1922 and 1924 he guested in Cannes as Marco in ''Monna Vanna'' of Février. By the end of his career, he sang again at the Opéra-Comique. Later he worked as pedagogue in Paris.

Chronology of some appearances

1912 Paris Opéra-Comique
1913 Paris Grand Opéra
1918-1920 New York Metropolitan Opera
1918-1919 Opéra de Monte-Carlo
1919 London Covent Garden 
1922 Cannes Opera House
1924 Cannes Opera House
1924 Opéra de Monte-Carlo

RECORDINGS FOR SALE










Polydor 1928/1932
Monsieur Beaucaire (Messager): la Rose rouge 521.944
La Marseillaise 521. 837
Chant du désert (Romberg): Je ne veux que son amour 521.603
Le chant du départ 521. 837
le Clairon (Paul Déroulède / Emile André) 521.836
Semailles 516519
Quand Madelon (Louis Bousquet / Camille Robert) 521.838
Lakmé (Delibes): Stances de Nilakhanta 566022
Griselidis (Massenet): Oiseau qui pars à tire d'aile 516.593
Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (Massenet): Légende de la Sauge 566013
Herodiade (Massenet): Salomé, laisse-moi t'aimer 566021
Patrie (Paladilhe):C’est ici le berceau de notre liberté  566013
Thais (Massenet): Voilà donc la terrible cité! Alexandrie! 566.021
Roméo et Juliette (Gounod): La Reine Mab 566023