Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Act 1. Dir töne Lob
2. Act 1. Winterstürme
3. Act 3. Mein lieber Schwan
4. Euren König
5. Act 1. Zwei Vaterunser bet' ich vor dem Schlafengeh'n - "Traumerzählung"
6. Act 2. Dieser Anstand
7. Act 2. Selig sind with Children's Chorus
8. Act 1. Di rigori armato
9. Act 1. Glück, das mir verblieb
10. Act 1. Konstanze... O wie ängstlich, o wie feurig
11. 5. Mondnacht
12. Act 1. Ach, wir armen, armen Leute
13. Act 3. Sonst spielt' ich mit Zepter
14. 11. Die Stadt
15. Act 1. Ein Schütz bin ich
16. Act 2. Mein Sehnen
17. Act 3. Verachtet mir die Meister nicht
18. Lord God of Abraham
19. Abendlich strahlt

Disc 2:

1. Act 2. So wie sind sie
2. Act 1. O Sancta Justitia
3. Act 2. Als Büblein klein
4. Act 2. Studia il passo... Come dal ciel precipita
5. Act 2. Fünftausend Thaler
6. Act 5. O prêtres de Baal
7. Act 1. Voce di donna
8. Act 2. Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix
9. 5. Aufenthal
10. Act 1. Parto, parto
11. 15. Schwesterlein
12. Jerusalem
13. 7. L'invito
14. Act 2. Seid meiner Wonne

Disc 3:

1. Act 3. Saper vorreste
2. Act 2. In Novgorod
3. Act 2. Je vais donc le revoir
4. Act 3. Tu che di gel sei cinta
5. Act 3. Ivan Sergeich, come into the garden
6. O wie gerne blieb'ich bei dir
7. Act 3. O Sachs, mein Freund!
8. Act 1. Nach dem Matteo?
9. Act 1. Sì, mi chiamano Mimì
10. Act 1. Adieu, mon doux rivage
11. Zweite Brautnacht!
12. Act 1. Geliebte, komm!
13. Act 1. Oh, sei er gut, Quinquin
14. Act 1. Der Freund ist dein
15. Act 2. Jo-ho-hoe!... Traft ihr das Schiff

Disc 4:

1. Act 3. Ewig war ich
2. 4. Schmerzen
3. Act 1. Du bist der Lenz
4. Chi vuol la zingarella
5. Act 3. Voyons, que j'essaie
6. Liber scriptus
7. Act 1. A la nuit tombante
8. Act 3. O mon Fernand
9. Act 3. L'altra notte
10. Act 1. Te, Vergin santa
11. Act 3. O forze recondite
12. Act 4. Pace, pace mio Dio
13. Act 3. Qual vergogna
14. Act 3. La mamma morta
15. Act 1. L'amore è un'altra cosa... Laggiù nel Solidad
16. Act 1. Ernani, involami
17. Act 3. Con onor muore
18. Ma zitte, zitte!... Uno strano canto arcano
19. Act 4. Piangea cantando
20. Act 2. Io pingo

Disc 5:

1. Act 2. Tu che di gel sei cinta
2. Act 3. Ah! che suo nome... Flammen perdonami
3. Act 2. In quelle trine morbide
4. Act 1. Signore, ascolta
5. Act 2. Gentile di cuore
6. 2. El majo discreto / 4. El majo timido
7. Act 4. No, la mia fronte
8. O Colombello, sposarti
9. Act 1. Gualtier Maldé... Caro nome
10. Confutatis maledictis
11. Act 4. Vecchia zimarra
12. Act 2. Ecco il mondo
13. Fermola!... Dapprima, figuratevi
14. Act 3. Cheti, cheti, immantinente
15. Act 1. L'onore! Ladri!
16. Era dessa!... Raccogli el calma
17. Act 2. Buona Zazà
18. Act 3. Nemico della patria
19. Act 1. E'sempre il vecchio andazzo
20. Act 1. Son sessnat' anni

Disc 6:

1. Act 2. La povera mia cena fu interrotta
2. Act 2. D'un pensiero
3. Act 1. Prendi, l'anel ti dono
4. ACt 3. Traduire... Pourqoui me réveiller?
5. Flor Roja
6. È arrivata primavera
7. Act 3. Nessum dorma
8. Act 3. Se Franz dicesse il vero
9. Act 1. Donna non vidi mai
10. Act 3. Dio, mi potevi scagliar
11. Act 1. Au Mont Ida
12. Act 2. Credo a una possanza
13. Act 3. Che avvien?... Ah, non m'avvicinate
14. Act 1. La dolcissima effigie
15. Le Rossignol et la rose
16. Rossignols amoureux

Disc 7:

1. Act 1. Après avoir pris à droite
2. Act 3. Tu m'as donné
3. Act 2. Sombre forêt
4. 2. La chevelure
5. O mes sœurs... C'est ici-même
6. Act 4. Ces gens que je connais... Viens, m'ami
7. Act 1. Oh! mes clairs diamants
8. Act 1. Einsam in trüben Tagen
9. Act 1. Petite, voice ta lampe
10. Act 2. Quel nouveau ciel
11. Act 2. Le bruit de chants... Esprits, gardiens de ces lieux vénérés
12. Act 4. Ne pouvant réprimer... Adieu donc, vains objets
13. Act 4. Source délicieuse
14. Act 4. Un souvenir poignant
15. Act 2. Dieu, que ma voix tremblante
16. Act 3. Mon cœur est plein... Ange du Paradis

Disc 8:

1. Mélancolique tombe le soir
2. Je pense à vous (Romance de Charlot)
3. Act 2. Quando le sere al placido
4. Act 3. Puisqu'on ne peut fléchir... Vainement, ma bien aimée
5. Les Pélerins étant venus
6. Scene 2. Esprits des flammes!
7. Chanson épique
8. Act 2. Si cruelle... Le calme rentre dans mon cœur
9. C'est ici le berceau de notre liberté
10. À la belle étoile
11. Act 2. C'est moi, Coppélius... Je me nomme Coppélius
12. Act 2. Quand je monte Cocotte
13. Act 2. Dites-lui qu'on l'a remarque
14. Les Charbonniers et fariniers / Que voulez-vous faire?
15. Act 2. E' sogno, o realtà?
16. Act 2. O vin, dissipe la tristesse
17. Act 1. Largo al factorum

Disc 9:

1. Act 5. Comme une pâle fleur
2. Why do the nations?
3. Maledetto sia l'aspetto
4. Act 3. O Dieu! de quelle ivresse
5. Act 2. À la voix (Sérénade)
6. And she says true... O vision entrancing
7. Act 1. Recondita armonia
8. Love in her eyes sits playing
9. Act 2. Arise, ye subterranean winds
10. Act 1. Près des remparts de Séville
11. And he journeyed... But the Lord is mindful
12. Act 1. Sì, mi chiamano Mimì
13. Act 1. Sì, mi chiamano Mimì

Disc 10:

1. Angels ever bright and fair
2. Act 2. Un bel dì vedremo
3. Act 2. O nume tutelar
4. Act 4. O palais radieux!
5. Act 2. In questa reggia
6. Inflammatus
7. Act 3. My hair is golden
8. Act 3. Ivan Sergeich, come into the garden
9. Act 1. O lovely moon
10. The wounded birch, Op. 1, No. 2 / Snowflakes, Op. 47, No. 1
11. 1. Fekete fód / 2. Asszonyok
12. Act 3. Di sposo, di padre
13. 9. Tiszán innen, Dunán tûl
14. No. 17, Hunger

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #167173 in Music
• Released on: 1999-12-14
• Number of discs: 10
• Formats: Box set, Import

Customer Reviews

essential survey
Well, it does seem a lot of money for one CD! In fact, although Amazon's resident typo gremlin counts it as one CD, it's really a box set of 10 CDs and as soon as I can, I'll be buying it! I have had the LP box set of this survey of world singing for many years and it, plus Volume 4 (which is on the EMI label on 7 cds) gives a fantastic summary of the greatest singers of the first half of the 20th Century. They are divided by singing category -- from soprano through to bass -- and Testament, which has done a great job in bringing from darkness some of the gems of the EMI back-catalogue, have brought us here one of the greatest singing compilations ever assembled. It's an aural history of immeasurable value -- 10 discs of this quality is a bargain! Anthony Clarke Sydney Australia

The EMI Record of Singing
An installment in the ultimate collection of opera and concert singer recordings. If you really want to know how the great singers of the first half of the 20th century -- virtually all of them who recorded -- sang, this is the set. By 1926 (the beginning date here) the electrical (as opposed to acoustic) recording system was in general use. Unlike the recording horn, the microphone was able to capture a pretty faithful impression of the singers sound and style, including dynamic nuances and tone shadings. Many of these singers were near the end of a long career, and had studied with the great bel canto teachers. There's a huge variety of music here, and huge variety of singing styles. Makes you realize how similar everyone sounds today -- the cult of tyrannical conductors and the mass media marketing has caused today's singers to sing everything the same way: almost all the sopranos today sing "Un Bel Di" or an art song the same way, for example.

So fork out your money and buy this set while you can. Soon the mass media will have stamped out the few remaining classical music radio starions and the only way you'll be able to hear good music is by listening to your own collection.

ONE OF THE GREAT TREASURE-HOUSES OF THE GRAMOPHONE
This series, produced by EMI in the days of LPs, is one of the great achievements of the gramophone - they rightfully belong up there with the Decca Ring, the EMI Callas series, and any other candidates you care to name. Together they provide a truly comprehensive survey of singing right through the age of recording up to the early days of the LP. Sadly, to the best of my knowledge, only Volumes 3 & 4 have appeared on CD - the very earliest era of recording and the period up to the introduction of electrical recording methods that were originally on Volumes 1 and 2 really deserve to be heard again.

Volume 3, the collection under discussion here, covers the period from 1926-1939. This was a veritable Golden Age of Singing - in Wagner it was the era of Leider, Schorr and Melchior; the Italian School included the likes of Gigli, Muzio and Pinza and so it goes on through a broad representative range of French, English and Slavic singers. One of the great strengths of this series is that the best-known singers tend to be represented by less familiar repertoire, so it's more unlikely that collectors will duplicate material they already know well. And, of course, there is a huge range of other singers you probably won't have heard and some you may well not even have heard of. They all have something to tell us, though, about the times in which they worked, the styles of singing that were current then and the high standards that prevailed in the inter-war years. In some ways, the most surprising thing here is the strength in depth of the less familiar Schools, the French and the Anglo-American. It is good to be reminded just how good the likes of Georges Thill, Eide Norena or Pierre Bernac were - or from the UK, Isobel Baillie, Walter Widdop and Heddle Nash. Then there are the discoveries like the delightfully named Lulu Mysz-Gmeiner in a Brahms folksong or the black American, Roland Hayes, who sings Monteverdi with piano accompaniment totally unauthentically by today's standards, but with an attractive reedy tenor voice that reminds me a lot of the underrated Wilfred Brown.

This set, now available from Testament, is a real treasure-trove. The transfers are all well-researched and of the highest quality. Anyone with an interest in how the art of singing has evolved over the last hundred years or so, or who just has a passion for glorious singing, should snap up this set of CDs - especially this volume as it displays a Golden Age of Singing.