Search - Harold Wayne :: Collection 3

The Pandolfini CD

Doug - Haydn Fan | California | 10/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A VERY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL CD.



These are EXTREMELY old recordings - over 100 years old, and are really best left to listeners used to such things. If you wish to hear old singers, but have never heard any from before stereo CDs it's best to start with electrical recordings from the thirties or later. These use essentially the same microphone technology as used up until very recently. If you're curious about old singers purchase a copy of John Steane's The Grand Tradition, the best overall guide to singing through the 1960's. A tremendous aid in exploring the recorded music of most of the best singers of the first half of the twentieth century.



This CD inexplicably omits the name of Angelica Pandolfini from the credits for cuts 6, 7, and 8. If you collect Golden Age singers on CD then YOU SHOULD BUY THIS! The chances you'll hear an original honest to goodness Pandolfini record are more remote than being chosen by NASA as one of their next dozen or so civilians in space.

These 27 cuts contain some of the rarest of all opera recordings. They come from remarkably good clean copies, and despite their age are listenable. If you can appreciate old singers then you should add this to your shelf.

Included are brief but very good bios of the singers and a description of the provenance of the recordings - these are antiques now, afterall, all a hundred years or more old. Harold Wayne, the English doctor who tracked down so many of the rarest turn of the century opera singers' historical recordings, gives colorful notes on his acquistions.



As for the singing: Francesco Marconi is without question the most important historically. He was a fine tenor with both a lyric and robust quality, lighter than Tamagno - which probably doesn't help as no Italian tenor was ever larger. Marconi falls in the middle of the tenor range - somewhat analogous to a stronger Pavarotti in his placement, nearly Corelli though not quite so powerful. Though clearly nineteenth century in certain features of style, his tone rounded and smoothed to produce greater use of rubato and other caressing effects - at times he reminds me of the Russian tenors recording at the turn of the century. (This should not come as a surprise - the Russians loved Italian opera, and many of the greatest Italian singers, including Marconi, sang in Russia for the course of nearly two centuries. If you like singers like Sobinov and Smirnov you very well should appreciate Marconi.)



There is another entire CD in this Harold Wayne series devoted to Marconi, Symposium 1069, Volume 2. It adds far more information including a superb piece by Michael Henstock, the author of the De Lucia biography -one of the very best researched opera books ever written, and a must purchase if you can find it for the singing of the era. Henstock also authored the definitive work on Italy's Fonotopia recordings, a great series of opera recordings made by an Italian company at the beginning of the century - good luck locating one of those! So the separate Marconi CD gets a huge thumbs up as well! I liked Marconi's singing, especially given the rarity of his records - I've only five originals - most are too dear!



The piece de resistance - or more precisely 'pieces' - remain the three Angelica Pandolfino records, made in 1903 in Milan. The notes claim she made five recordings - few collectors have even seen one, let alone own one. As a singer she was a fine light soprano, acclaimed in the lighter Puccini roles, but excellent in a variety of roles, including the new verismo operas. Like most listeners I think her singing in an aria from Adriana Lecouveur, "Sortita di Adriana" shows off her voice and art to best advantage. Hopefully these CDs will continue in print - if not you can be sure you made a VERY wise purchase.

I will try to add comments on the other singers later - but the important point is recognizing the Pandolfini super-rarities were not mentioned in the Amazon listing.





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