Arts & Culture

Do 100 year old time capsules full of old records excite you as they excite me ?

Well then, hold onto your opera glasses, and sit back and enjoy the recently unearthed opera recordings on the three disc set "Les Urnes de l'Opéra".

In 1907 and 1912 over 48 gramophone records were buried in the basement of the Paris Opéra representing the best known singers of the time. One hundred years later they were taken out and restored by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in collaboration with EMI Classics.

The program notes are only in French but they are very clear and will be helpful in appreciating the music and tracking who is singing what. There are also online sources both at Amazon and Arkivmusic.com that list the contents.

Even though they have been remastered, the quality generally is scratchy, although not as tinny as is sometimes the case with older recordings.   Many of the works have actually appeared on other discs so there may not be much new here. Still taken altogether it makes a fascinating snapshot of the musical world during the Belle Epoque / Edwardian period.

Last night, in front of the fire at home, I listened to track 26 and enjoyed soprano Emma Calvé, possibly the greatest Carmen ever, sing Bizet's L'amour est un oiseau rebelle "Habañera".  Although many of these singers and performances are now on YouTube listening to this compilation is still a worthwhile experience.

I asked some of my more knowledgeable and passionate musical co-workers to look at the contents and suggest some key pieces and their selections are below:

• Rigoletto: Caro nome by Giuseppe Verdi with singer Nellie Melba (Soprano)
  
• Waltzes (3) for Piano, Op. 34: no 1 in A flat major, B 94 "Valse brillante" by Frédéric Chopin with pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski
• Aida: Celeste Aida by Giuseppe Verdi with singer Enrico Caruso (Tenor)

• Lucia di Lammermoor: Chi mi frena in tal momento? (Sextet) by Gaetano Donizetti with singers Gina Severina (Mezzo Soprano), Marcella Sembrich (Soprano), Marcel Journet (Bass),
  Enrico Caruso (Tenor), Antonio Scotti (Baritone), Francesco Daddi (Tenor)

• Mélodies (20), Volume 1: Cimetière de campagne by Reynaldo Hahn with performers Reynaldo Hahn (Baritone), Reynaldo Hahn (Piano)
• Don Giovanni, K 527: Batti, batti o bel Masetto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  with performers Adelina Patti (Soprano), Landon Ronald (Piano)

• Il barbiere di Siviglia: Una voce poco fa…Io sono dolcile by Gioachino Rossini with performer:  Luisa Tetrazzini (Soprano)

So, enjoy this great collection and, if you like, let us know what your favourite piece is.