Giacomo Puccini - Complete Gramophone Company Recordings, Vol. 3

Artist: Giacomo Puccini Title: Complete Gramophone Company Recordings, Vol. 3 Label: Naxos UPC: 636943174326 Price: $6.98

Giacomo Puccini - Complete Gramophone Company Recordings, Vol. 3 Track Listing

1 - La boh�me, opera: On m'appelle Mim�
2 - Jean
3 - Tosca, opera: Vissi d'arte
4 - Don C�sar de Bazan, comic opera in 4 acts (2 versions): Sevillana
5 - Lohengrin, opera, WWV 75: Elsa's Dream
6 - Tosca, opera: Vissi d'arte
7 - Faust, opera: Final trio
8 - Rigoletto, opera: Quartet
9 - Faust, opera: Final trio
10 - Bid Me Discourse
11 - Sounds of Earth, song for voice & piano
12 - Hamlet, opera in 5 acts for voice & piano (transcribed by Georges Bizet): Recording Tests: excerpts from the Mad Scene
13 - Don C�sar de Bazan, comic opera in 4 acts (2 versions): Sevillana
14 - Don C�sar de Bazan, comic opera in 4 acts (2 versions): Sevillana
15 - Le Cid, opera: Pleurez mes yeux
16 - Soir paien
17 - Hear My Prayer ('O for the wings of a dove'), hymn for soprano, chorus & organ or orchestra in G major
18 - Spring
19 - Pur dicesti, o bocco bella, song
20 - Chanson triste ('Dans ton coeur...'), song for voice & piano (or orchestra), Op. 2/4
21 - Il r� pastore, opera, K. 208: L'amer�, sar� constante
22 - Ave Maria, for voice & piano (after Bach's Prelude No. 1 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1)
23 - Le Temps de Lilas, for voice & piano (included in 'Po�me de l'amour et de la mer')

Giacomo Puccini - Complete Gramophone Company Recordings, Vol. 3 Reviews

Average Rating: 5.0

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Rating: 5
There was a time when collectors prized their single sided Melba records as though they were the crown jewels. If any such collectors are still alive, the prospect of acquiring 23 Melba recordings, including 12 that were never issued during Melba's lifetime, on one budget-priced CD, might induce more excitement than is healthy for a veteran collector.

Found here are all the recordings Melba made on the eastern side of the Atlantic from 1908 to 1913. Joining Melba to participate in a trio from "Faust" and the quartet from "Rigoletto" is John McCormack (reportedly severely tongue-lashed by Melba for not arriving at the recording session on time). Heard here also in famed violinist Jan Kubelik, father of conductor Rapheal Kubelik.

Accepting that these are 90 year old recordings, and accepting that Melba's voice was never well caught by the acoustic recording process, modern listeners might still be able to discern a phenomenal voice here, sure in pitch and quality throughout a wide range. The best opportunity of discerning it occurs during a "distance test" track. While Melba practises some of the roulades and ravings of Ophelia's mad scene from Thomas' "Hamlet", she is placed a varying distances from the acoustic horn so that the ideal placing can be found and fewer matrixes wasted.