Music Chat: Building An Opera Collection in 1953 (The "A" List)

[@timyork6150]

Thanks, Dave, for these flashbacks to 1953. That was the first year I was fully into classical music. I bought Gramophone every month from October 1952 and saved most of my pocket money to buy LPs, which then cost the princely sum of nearly £2 (about $5.60 at the then rate of exchange). My first opera purchase was Furtwängler's Tristan und Isolde bought one act at a time followed by Karajan's Cosi fan Tutte. The 50s and 60s were a great time for music lovers with exciting recordings coming out all the time and some superb concerts in London and Paris.

[@DavidJohnson-of3vh]

That was interesting. Thank you. I recognize a few names that do not show up often - Jonel Perlea and Urania records! As a kid, my opera listening was the Met Saturday broadcasts via radio.

[@user-et8mh2ki1c]

That was incredible. What a time warp. Besides all the works not mentioned, I was quite surprised that there was so much (relatively) bel canto opera, since 1953 largely predates the bel canto revival by Callas and Sutherland.

[@jimshulman9221]

This was also the era of list price shopping in small town stores, before discounters became the norm. The list price for a classical LP in 1953 was $5.98, so a three disc opera set on even a minor label would be about $18, or roughly $65 in 2023 money. Today those performances are more likely than not on KZbin at a far more reasonable price.

[@geraldmartin7703]

The Urania opera L.P.s were largely "liberated" WWII German opera broadcast recordings The Germans pioneered in developing recording tape. Allied technicians who monitored German radio broadcasts were intrigued at how full length operas were being broadcast at times when they were obviously not being performed live. This is what I read, anyway. (Opera regularly available on radio even during wartime is a separate subject).

[@youtuber5305]

@@paxpaxart4740 Weren't recordings of radio broadcasts less speeded up tempo-wise than recordings made in a studio that were made for 78's?

[@youtuber5305]

@@paxpaxart4740 Didn't the tempo have to be speeded up for lengthy arias/lieder in order to have them 'fit' onto a 78 side?

[@petterw5318]

I was checking operadis, and it’s easy to guess which Wagner operas they are refering to. Lohengrin is the first Kempe studio recording, with George Vincent, Marianne Schech and Margarete Klose (not very good). Meistersinger is the live Karajan at Bayreuth (Edelmann, Hopf, Schwarzkopf), Tristan the recently released Furtwängler, and Parsifal is of course Knappertsbusch. Maybe there was no complete Ring opera, but at least they should have recommended the Bruno Walter Walküre Act I, with Melchior and Lehmann (Columbia released it in 1 LP in 1951).

[@jaykauffman4775]

No complete Ring operas till early 1954 when Allegro released a complete Ring from supposedly the Dresden St Opera which was a famous fraud and actually a very badly transferred radio broadcast from 1953 Bayreuth. It was quickly withdrawn pending legal action. I have a copy. The first complete Wagner Ring opera released on LP was the profoundly conducted and not so profoundly cast Walkure under Furtwangler

[@bbailey7818]

Between Victor (Acts 1 and 2) and Columbia (Act 3) there was a complete Walkuere. But by 1950 the Act 2 album had been deleted. Also deleted was the big HMV/Victor album of excerpts from Gotterdammerung (16 discs) and the three albums of Siegfried (20 discs) or about 2/3rds of the work. These were never transferred to LP early on so, strange to relate, more of the Ring was available in 1940 that in 1950-53 on. Unless you did it yourself with the then convenient home tape deck to take down broadcasts. The majors were slow to hop on the complete opera bandwagon and companies like Vox, Cetra, Urania (the latter two using a lot of RAI and German radio tapes, many dating from the Nazi era!) and Westminster rushed in to fill the void. That Fidelio on Vox was conducted by Karl Bohm and had a distressingly over the hill Hilde Konetzni in the title role. Within months of 1953, both the Furtwangler and Toscanini recordings would appear. The Vox was soon to be a white elephant.

[@jaykauffman4775]

@@bbailey7818 it’s a shame about Konetzni since she throws herself into the role (Both Konetzni sisters had a habit of heaving into high notes) but that 1944 Fidelio has a lot to offer Torsten Ralf is my favorite studio Florestan, Schoffler is a wonderful Pizzaro, Seefried is charming and Bohm is dramatic conductor. I return to the set once in while for its solid virtues

[@youtuber5305]

At this very moment, WFMT's "Collectors Corner" is broadcasting "The Furtwängler RAI Ring Cycle (2)".

[@DanIspas]

Fascinating. I hope more history videos are coming.

[@markmiller3713]

David: I appreciate this video and commentary. I'm going to see if I can locate a copy of that book!

[@bbailey7818]

This early in the long play era a lot of the available operas were transferred from 78 sets. A Clemens Krauss Decca Salome had already been recorded by 1953 and must not have been issued at press time of Taubman's book. The abridged Vox Gluck Orfeo is a transfer from 78s cond. Tomasi. The next one to appear would be Urania--wartime Reichsrundfunk in German with Margarete Klose. I try to be objective but I do get a queasy feeling listening to some of those bunker tapes. Yet some of them are excellent like the Hansel with Arndt-Ober as the Witch. She sang at the Met and recorded back to acoustic days. Thus is a fun series. Can't wait for the B list

[@bostonviewer5430]

Fascinating dip into history and just before Decca, RCA and EMI really started producing their catalogue much of which remains in production to this day. I remember those Vox and Cetra recording mostly with singers unknown to the American public. I recently bought a stack of High Fidelity" magazines from the 50's and 60's. Again, fascinating to read how both home equipment was viewed on the cusp of stereo LP's and what critics thought of the available recordings and the music itself. What struck me was that some of what we think of as great performances were unfavorably reviewed due to the poor quality of the LP's such as Szell's recordings on EPIC! Imagine George Szell's Beethoven getting a unfavorable review! Now with remastering of CDs and in some cases SACDs we can really hear the performances Fun talk! Thanks.

[@youtuber5305]

Another 1950's book that might be of interest is "Vocal music (The guide to long-playing records, v. 2)" by Philip Lieson Miller.

[@robertdandre94101]

the vox fidelio is the version by karl bohm recorded in 1944.....one of my first albums that i played on a bad quality BSR turntable......but at the time i liked this version. .....it was beethoven after all....! the sound of the recording is poor to listen to in our modern times today........

[@ER1CwC]

This is fascinating. At least from an Italian opera standpoint, the list is interesting because 1953 is right around when Decca-England and EMI-Angel-Columbia were just getting started. Decca had just gotten started with Del Monaco, Tebaldi, (a little bit later) Bastianini, Siepi, and Simionato, while EMI had just signed Callas, Di Stefano, Gobbi, Panerai, and Rossi-Lemeni. I think this explains all the Cetra recordings with a lot of forgotten Italian singers, many of whom were rather provincial. It also explains a lot of the Victor recordings, I’m guessing as Dave notes with Bjorling and Milanov, but also Steber, Peerce, Sayao, Merrill, Tucker, Warren, Pinza, and Barbieri (who later left for EMI). Some of the Victor ones have faired well, but the Cetra ones have been completely forgotten.

[@Mogpops2]

Those cetra records are unfairly overlooked, you get some really great singing from the likes of Clara Petrella, Caterina Mancini, Giulio Neri, Paolo Silveri, early Bergonzi, Corelli, Stella, Callas, Guelfi, Taddei and a few late recordings of Carlo Tagliabue and Maria Caniglia etc.

[@youtuber5305]

@@Mogpops2 Didn't Carteri record a complete WILLIAM TELL on Cetra?

[@Mogpops2]

@@youtuber5305 yes, with Fillipeschi and Taddei! - lots of wonderful performances on cetra

[@jaykauffman4775]

I think the last major opera release on 78s was the 51 Karajan Meistersinger

[@Mogpops2]

It's unfortunate that we don't have more recordings of non-stansard repertoire from that time. That said, there are some amazing recordings of the standard repertoire made before 1950. The Cohen Werther and Manon, the Sabajno Aida, Molajoli Mefistofele and Pagliacci, Mascagni's own recordings of Cavalleria and L'amico Fritz etc. Exceptionally sung and felt but unfortunately not the most listener friendly

[@davidrawzen8232]

Even before stereo era. Many even classical lovers today not too interested in such old recordings...

[@GarthAstrology]

Carmen was the premiere French opera after Faust.

[@murraylow4523]

Really interesting. Yes, the Bellini and Donizetti interesting (somehow I think this is about the reconstruction of elite culture after the war, but that’s just me). No Janacek, Britten, Berg, suppose that’s not surprising. No Pelleas, no Ravel or so on. That reconstruction of “opera” around fine Italian taste was about to get a shock…

[@bobparsons77]

I try to follow you but I have to say you put out far too many videos in a week for example. You make it very hard for some of us. Thanks

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Don't watch more than you can. They aren't going anywhere. I'm building a library but you have to move at your own pace, not at mine.