![]() ![]() In 1925, electrical recording techniques were introduced, and microphones replaced the old horns. In the early years, singers recorded their voices by singing into giant conical-shaped horns. Not only is Caruso a fantastic singer, but he also made 250 recordings, a wonderful document of operatic singing early in the history of the recording industry. He was like a great film star who could play comic roles, play the heavy and play serious roles. (Why the producers of the set chose this over the even more stunning 1904 version is a mystery to me.)Ĭaruso was one of those singers who had it all. In The Record of Singing Caruso is represented with Donizetti 's aria "Una furtiva lagrima," made at his very first recording session, in 1902 in Milan. His career blossomed at the very same time that the recording industry blossomed, and they fed off of each other, making a lot of money in the process. Caruso is the original "Ridi, Pagliaccio" guy - the one in the clown suit singing his guts out. Afterward, she was offered a contract, but she turned it down to follow the bigger money to be found in concert tours.Įven for people who don't know anything about opera, most have at least heard the name Enrico Caruso. Yaw sang Lucia di Lammermoor at the Met in 1908, and the audience gave her 29 curtain calls. These are not nice notes, let's put it that way they sound more like little chirps. She's an American soprano, little more than a footnote in opera books today, who was known for her freakish high notes. (You can hear the singers we discussed on the left-hand side of this page.) We began with the earliest recording in the set, a scratchy-sounding rendition of the aria "C'est l'histoire amoureuse," by American soprano Ellen Beach Yaw in 1899. To do all of those things and more, there's a new collection of opera called The Record of Singing: a pair of box sets, 10 CDs each, covering the history of recorded opera from 1899 to the present.Īs NPR's classical music producer - and an opera fanatic - I took Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon on a brief, chronological guided tour. Opera can touch the heart, stir the soul and soothe the savage breast - yes, that is the correct quote.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |