Florence Foster Jenkins [w/Cosmé McMoon At The Piano], Jenny Williams & Thomas Burns - The Glory (????) of the Human Voice/A Faust Travesty (1962 RCA Victor LP)

Spanning over ten octaves in at least seven different type classifications, the human voice is the most fantastic instrument of all. It can be heard above a full orchestra with no extra amplification needed, as well as alter its tone and expressions to degrees greater than even what the largest pipe organ is capable of producing!

It can also sound worse than an orgy of beached, dying whales.

Compared to just two years ago, the average American is now familiar with the life and times of Florence Foster Jenkins (photographed in costume on the cover, 1868-1944), thanks to the biographical film released last fall starring Meryl Streep (1949-) as the fabulously unskilled "singer". Likening herself to such legendary sopranos as Luisa Tetrazzini (1871-1940) and having a more-than-passing knowledge of music thanks to receiving frequent piano lessons before suffering an arm injury, Jenkins recorded several discs for Melotone Records during the WWII era with her (reluctant) pianist and musical coach, Cosmé McMoon (born Cosmé McMunn, 1901-1980). These recordings - while being "so bad they're good" - do demonstrate that she was capable of making insightful artistic choices to the repertoire with her voice, but delivered them in an extremely distorted (dare I say warped) manner. Nevertheless, she was a huge hit among recital audiences during her life, and when asked about her thoughts on her own performances, she cheerfully replied, "People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing!" She died at the age of 76 from complications resulting from advanced syphilis.

The life and times of soprano Jenny Williams and baritone Thomas Burns, in contrast, are quite difficult to discern as of this writing. The liner notes state they were two amateur vocalists living in the New York City area who recorded four tracks from Charles Gounod (1818-1893)'s opera Faust. They wanted to use the tracks for their own personal promotions (only God knows why!), but eventually agreed to let RCA Victor include the tracks in this LP. There is no other information I can find about what became of Williams or Burns, but suffice it to say, without their - ahem, unique musical contributions - to this album, they would never have received infamy.

I found this LP at a garage sale many years ago, and bought it for the ridiculous cover as well as to be able to brag to fellow collectors that I have a Florence Foster Jenkins record (her records are, extremely understandably, not that common). This LP is great for a quick laugh, and as my summer full of classical music and opera draws to an end, it is the perfect way to close this month of The Retro Echo; future posts will instead be oriented towards other musical genres and releases by artists of the past.

Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear all of these unforgettable singers for yourself!

  
From the liner notes on the back cover:

Few artists ever gave such unalloyed pleasure as Florence Foster Jenkins, yet this extraordinary soprano had the wisdom not to overdo a good thing. 

She emphatically declined to appear in New York oftener than once a year and rarely anywhere else except such favored centers as Washington and Newport. For years her annual recital at the Ritz-Carlton was a private ceremonial for the select few--her stubbornly loyal circle of clubwomen and the adventurous cognoscenti. If the latter at times displayed an unmannerly lack of restraint they were nonetheless faithful. 

Music critics covered the event in precisely the same reverse English with which they frequently, though perhaps less intentionally, leave a baffled public speculating as to what actually did happen the night before. Then the word began to get around. Tickets became harder to come by than for a World Series. Finally, on the evening of October 25, 1944, Madame Jenkins took the big step. Forsaking the brocade atmosphere of a fashionable hotel ballroom, she braved Carnegie Hall. 

There are those who claim that her death one month and a day later was the result of a broken heart--as unlikely as the story that her career was all a huge joke at the public's expense--a pretty expensive joke, incidentally, since Carnegie Hall was sold out weeks in advance and grossed something like $6,000. Moreover, the late Robert Bagar wrote in the New York World-Telegram: "She was exceedingly happy in her work. It is a pity so few artists are. And the happiness was communicated as if by magic to her hearers..." 

No, Madame Jenkins died full of years--76 to be exact--and, it is safe to say, with a happy heart. 

Neither her parents nor her husband gave any encouragement whatever to her musical ambitions, but with her divorce and the money inherited from her father, a Wilkes-Barre banker and lawyer who had served in the Pennsylvania legislature, she was free to turn her sights on New York. She broke into print in 1912 as chairman of the Euterpe Club's tableaux vivants. She was also glad to foot the bill for the annual spree of her Verdi Club. The lavishness of this entertainment may be guessed from the name under which it went--"The Ball of the Silver Skylarks." 

All this gave free rein to her hair for costume design, a faculty that was to prove almost as startling as her vocal flights. No Jenkins recital was accompanied by less than three changes. In "Angel of Inspiration" a very substantial and matronly apparition, all wings and tinsel and tulle, made its way through potted palms to the curve of the grand piano. Small wonder the late Helen Hokinson was an ardent Jenkins fan. 

Her method of ticket distribution was also unique and a model of straightforward dealing. In the hands of the scalpers those coveted pasteboards would have brought ten times the price. It is doubtful, however, if this was the reason she insisted on personal application to the genteel midtown hotel where she had rooms. Toying with the tickets as Rosina might with her fan she would inquire: 

"Mr. Gilkey, are you a--a newspaperman?" 

"No. Madame Jenkins," the applicant replied quite soberly, "a music-lover." 

"Very well," the diva beamed. "Two-fifty each, please. Now would you like some sherry?" 

Would he? Who wouldn't sit down for a friendly glass with this phenomenon in the musical life of our time? 

It is too bad she did not record her favorite encore, "Clavelitos", a number she invariably had to repeat. A contemporary account describes Madame Jenkins as appearing in a Spanish shawl, with a jeweled comb and, like Carmen, a red bloom in her hair. She punctuated the rhythmic cadences of the song by tossing tiny red flowers from her pretty basket to her delighted hearers. On one occasion the basket in a moment of confusion followed the little blossoms into the audience. It too, was received with spirit. 

Before she would do the repeat her already overworked accompanist had to pass among the jubilant groundlings and retrieve the prop buds and basket. The enthusiasm of the audience at this point reached a peak that beggars description. 

After a taxicab crash in 1943 she found she could sing "a higher F than ever before." Instead of a lawsuit against the taxicab company, she sent the driver a box of expensive cigars. 

Although high coloratura was Madame Jenkins' particular province, she also ventured into the quieter realm of lieder. She opened her 1934 program with "Die Mainacht" of Brahms. Under the title was this quote: 

"O singer, if thou canst not dream, leave this song unsung." 

Nobody will ever say Florence Foster Jenkins couldn't dream. 

For some time there has been wide demand for a reissue of this Florence Foster Jenkins album, but it was felt that an attraction should be found to couple with the soprano's recordings. 

If it is impossible to predict where the lightning of genius is going to strike, how much less predictable is the urge to artistic endeavor. One day with no advance warning whatever Jenny Williams and Thomas Burns walked into RCA Victor's Custom Record Department. The records they wanted to make were to be for their own use but eventually they agreed to the public issuance of the material on this disc. The English translations are their own and speak for themselves - also for the cause of opera in English. 

As Madame Jenkins found her way to the recording studios from the concert hall, perhaps Miss Williams and Mr. Burns, with the start they may surely expect from this disc, will one day attempt to fill, in a measure, the gap left by Madame Jenkins' departure from the musical scene. 

Francis Robinson 
Assistant Manager of the Metropolitan Opera (1952-76)
and author of "Caruso: His Life in Pictures"

The tracks on this album are as follows:

1. "Adele's Laughing Song"*
2. "Biassy"*
3. "Charmant Oiseau"*
4. "The Queen of the Night's Aria"*
5. "The Bell Song"*
6. "Like A Bird"*
7. "The Musical Snuff-Box"*
8. "The Jewel Song"#
9. "Emotions Strange"#
10. "Valentine's Aria"#
11. "Final Trio"#

*Performed by Florence Foster Jenkins [w/Cosmé McMoon at the piano]
#Performed by Jenny Williams & Thomas Burns

Download (57.1 MB, 160 kbps)

Ernst Haefliger, Josef Greindl, Maria Stader, Martin Vantin, Rita Streich & Walter Franck [w/The RIAS Symphony Orchestra Of Berlin & Chamber Choir] - Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" (1954 Deutsche Grammophon Album Set)

Most people will know, or at least have heard of in passing, the "big" Mozart (1756-1791) operas like The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni if they are asked about them. But how many of those same people will also mention The Abduction from the Seraglio (or, in its original German, Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in the same breath? Likely very few, for this challenging and vibrant opera has always taken an ill-deserved back seat to Mozart's more publicized works.

Composed in 1782 at the bequest of Austrian emperor Joseph II (1741-1790), it was initially designed as an entertaining Turkish/Ottoman Empire comic opera. However, what sets it apart from many of his other operas is the fact that it is an unexpected work of fantastic exuberance. The characters all develop surprising emotional complexities as the opera goes on, and Mozart always considered it among his best works. The story is based on the libretto of the 1781 operetta Belmont und Constanze by Christoph Bretzner (1748-1807), but Mozart, with the help of fellow librettist Gottlieb Stephanie (1741-1800), tweaked the material to turn it into a masterpiece.

Contrary to conventional former belief among musical scholars, Joseph II did not complain to Mozart after the opera's premiere performance that he thought it had "too many notes!" What is now generally accepted is that Joseph II instead told Mozart he thought it had "an extraordinary amount of notes"; in other words, he was surprised at how well the performers sang the difficult arias (in particular, "Martern aller arten" and "O, wie will ich triumphieren"), which Mozart specifically wrote to take advantage of the talent possessed by many great singers of the era specially commissioned to premiere the opera. Regardless of the emperor's take on it, the opera was a great success among audiences and is still being performed to this day, albeit much less commonly than when it was new.

This 1954 studio album set (originally released on a double vinyl LP set, here presented in its reissued CD set from the mid-1990s) is one of the best - if not, the best - recording of The Abduction from the Seraglio. Under the baton of conductor Ferenc Fricsay (1914-1963), the album has an all-star case consisting of sopranos Maria Stader (1911-1999) and Rita Streich (1920-1987), tenors Ernst Haefliger (1919-2007) and Martin Vantin (1919-), basso Josef Greindl (1912-1993) and voice actor Walter Franck (1896-1961). They are accompanied by the RIAS Symphony Orchestra of Berlin and its chamber choir, which to this day remain a pinnacle among European classical musicians and singers.

I was first exposed to this album set in high school by a former music teacher, and have greatly enjoyed listening to it since! The only drawbacks of it is that not all the arias present in the opera were recorded on this set, and voice actors speak most of the libretto instead of the singers themselves (perhaps this was a cost-saving measure on the part of Deutsche Grammophon?) Even with these drawbacks, the album is still a very enjoyable listen! I insist that all fans of Mozart give it a listen, especially those only familiar with his "big" operas.

Check out these clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself! (Ignore the puppets in the first clip...)

The tracks on this album are as follows:

1. "Ouvertüre"
2. "Hier soll ich dich denn sehen...Aber wie soll ich in den Palast kommen?"
3. "Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden"
4. "Solche hergelauf'ne Laffen"
5. "O wie angstlich"
6. "Versteckt euch, Herr...Singt dem grossen Bassa Lieder"
7. "Ach ich liebte, war so glücklich"
8. "Marsch! Trollt euch fort!"
9. "Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln"
10. "Ich gehe, doch rate ich dir"
11. "Welcher Kummer herrscht in meiner Seele"
12. "Martern aller arten"
13. "Vivat Bacchus! Bacchus lebe!"
14. "So, gnädiger Herr, jetzt schnell"
15. "Das Fenster geht auf, Herr!"
16. "Bassa Selim lebe lange"
17. "Welche Wonne, welche Lust"
18. "Frisch zum Kampfe! Frisch zum Streite!"
19. "Wenn der Freude Tränen fließen"
20. "Ach! Belmonte! Ach, mein Leben!"
21. "Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke"
22. "O, wie will ich triumphieren"
23. "Welch ein geschick!"/"Ha, du solltest für mich sterben!"
24. "Nie werd' ich deine Huld verkennen"
25. "Alleluja"*
26. "Tu virginum corona"*
27. "Exsultate, jubilate"*
28. "Fulget amica dies"*

*From Exsultate, jubilate (K. 165) sung by Maria Stader

Download (110.1 MB, 160 kpbs)

The Complete Victor Recordings of Pol Plançon (1994 Parlophone CD)

As mentioned in a previous post, as long as there are record collectors out there willing to digitize their finds, the artists themselves live on forever. This truth is perhaps epitomized by the magnificent French basso Pol Plançon (1851-1914), who was born before Napoleon's infamous coup d'etat and died just after the onset of WWI! Plançon is one of the earliest-born artists in my classical and operatic collection, as well as the only artist in my entire music collection of about 15,000 songs whom I can confirm has now been deceased for over 100 years.

Naturally, the extreme length of time between when he was alive, performing, up to now has resulted in some pretty significant changes in not only just music itself, but the very act of singing! Listening to Plançon is a truly wondrous experience - once the listener gets over the fact that s/he is listening to someone who has been dead for over an entire century, s/he instantly becomes aware of the major differences in his vocal styling and production compared to most of today's performers. The best way to describe this difference would be to take the voice of a lyric coloratura soprano, drop it down about two octaves, and the result would probably be very much like the voice of Plançon! Whereas most of today's famous opera bassos (regardless of fach) are expected to sing with a delivery of sound resembling that of an idling diesel engine, Plançon sings with a silky smooth, graceful delivery ideal for the many French art songs and lyric operatic roles that were being composed during his life.

Born in Fumay, he began taking voice lessons as a teenager from the retired tenor Gilbert Duprez (1806-1896). He modeled his vocal styling and overall technique after the famous baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830-1914), who had been an idol of sorts among Parisian operagoers of the day. In 1883, he received an invitation to sing at the Paris Opera, and was such a hit among audiences that he stayed there for the next decade. He then sang at the London Royal Opera House to full houses, and premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1893, spending the next 11 years shuttling between performances in the US and Europe.

He was friends with several of the most prominent opera singers of the day, including tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) and soprano Emma Eames (1865-1952). He was also one of the last vocalists trained exclusively in the bel canto tradition to make recordings, which he began doing in 1902 for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company, eventually moving up to the prestigious Red Seal label of Victor Records in 1903. He stopped recording in 1908 due to his voice beginning to falter, but gave periodic voice lessons and guest concert appearances until his death (presumably of lung cancer) at the age of 63. He is considered to be one of the last lyric basses in a marvelous French tradition that extended back some 150 years in operatic history. His body is buried in Paris.

This Parlophone collection is second-to-none in its remastering of Plançon's complete Victor recordings. While he was forced to utilize the crude acoustic recording method (since recording with microphones was still about 20 years away) which only really captured the mid-range of his voice, he recordings are of high enough quality that I was able to learn one piece originally performed by Plançon for my senior voice recital. The recordings do still contain some amount of wow and blasting (particularly on high notes), but they are not as distracting as one would expect. I highly recommend that opera enthusiasts listen to this compilation to better understand the performance history of some famous French arias (such as "Nonnes qui reposez"), and aspiring opera singers would do well to listen to (though not attempt to imitate) it to get an idea of how flexible and smooth lower voices can be!

Check out these clips from YouTube to hear him for yourself!

The songs in this compilation are as follows:

1. "Allons, jeunes gens"
2. "Au bruit des lourds marteaux"
3. "Cantique de Noël"
4. "Credo"
5. "De son cœur"
6. "Devant le maison"
7. "Die bieden Grenadiere"
8. "Embarquez-vous"
9. "En chasse"
10. "Enfant chéri des dames, des grisettes"
11. "In diesen heil'gen Hallen"
12. "Je dormirai dans mon manteau royal"
13. "Jésus de Nazareth"
14. "Laß mich euch fragen"
15. "Le cor"
16. "Le filibustier"
17. "Le lac"
18. "Le lazzarone"
19. "Le soupir"
20. "Le vallon"
21. "Le veau d'or"
22. "Les rameaux"
23. "Nonnes qui reposez"
24. "O Isis und Osiris"
25. "Ô jours heureux"
26. "Pro peccatis"
27. "Schon eilet froh der Ackermann"
28. "Si tu veux, mignonne"
29. "Une puce gentille"
30. "Vallons de l'Helvétie"
31. "Vi ravviso"
32. "Voici des roses"
33. "Vous qui faites l'endormie"
34. "Alerte! Ou vous estes perdus!" (with Emma Eames & Charles Damorès)

Download (118 MB, 160 kbps)êêCharles Damorès

Sekiya Toshiko - Collected Recordings (1927-1932 RCA Victor)

As record collectors, it is our obligation to preserve musical history for ourselves and future generations. Unfortunately, that dedication often doubles our workload, because we sometimes must start piecing history together nearly a century after the fact! The recordings and biography of Japanese operatic coloratura soprano Sekiya Toshiko (1904-1941, photographed above) are no different.

Toshiko was one of the most outstanding Asian singers of the early 20th Century. She was born in Tokyo at Tsubaki Goten, Camellia Palace. She came from a notable, upper-class family lineage; her uncle was Kabuki actor Ichimura Uzaemon XV (1874-1945) and her maternal grandfather was Charles Le Gendre (1830-1899), American Foreign Policy Advisor to Japan. Her father, Yunosuke Toshiko, was also Secretary of the Yusenkaisha Mail Boat Company, Japan's largest international mail courier service at the time.

As a child, she showed interest in world languages and music. She recalled in a 1932 newspaper story that Yunosuke used to encourage her sing at his workplace parties and social functions starting at age eight, sometimes in front of as many as 300 people! Most notably, in 1912, she was selected to sing in front of the Empress Consort Shoken (1849-1914), who attended the third grade Ochanomizu University Elementary School graduation ceremony, where Toshiko attended classes. Shortly thereafter, her parents enrolled her in music lessons with noted Japanese soprano Tamaki Miura (1884-1946) and composer Komatsu Kosuke (1884-1966).

Her "big break" came in 1925, when Italian aviator Francesco de Pinedo (1890-1933) landed and stayed in Japan during his transcontinental flight journey. He heard her in a performance of Madame Butterfly, and he was so impressed by her knowledge of Italian that he paid for her to provide interpretive services during his stay. He was a major professional reference for her operatic career in Italy, which began in 1927 at the Teatro Reggio Emilia and culminated in 1929 at the prestigious Teatro alla Scala. As previously mentioned, she could speak and write Italian and Japanese fluently, but also knew Spanish and French, which allowed her to perform at the Barcelona Olympic Theatre and in professional productions by the University of Bologna.

Talk of her astounding career caught the attention of Japanese Victor Records (JVC), which contracted her in 1927. She recorded for the label until circa 1933 when she switched to Columbia Records, continuing to record for them shortly before her death. She was an expert in providing singable translations of classical vocal works into Japanese, which helped increase Japanese listeners' understanding and meaning of Western classical music in the pre-Internet age. Two of her self-composed songs, the solemn "Hotaru koi" and the difficult "Noibara", were released on Victor and included in this collection (YouTube samples of both can be heard below).

In February of 1928, she was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci Medal of Fine Arts. In May of that same year, she was also awarded a Special Diploma by the Royal Philharmonic Academy of Bologna, becoming the first Japanese citizen to do so. Further, she received an honorary degree from the Conservatory of Livorno, awarded to her by none other than Pietro Mascagni (1862-1945)! She was friends with such notable composers of the day as Richard Strauss (1864-1949), who also gave her an extraordinary eulogy. She starred in a talkie film in 1930 entitled Komoriuta, but regrettably it has become lost.        

She toured the US starting in 1932 at the Metropolitan Opera to great acclaim, and sang alongside such legendary singers as Amelita Galli-Curci (1882-1963). She married Yagyu Goro, a martial arts instructor, in 1937 but divorced him in early 1941 due to him having an extramarital affair. Later that same year, soviet spy Richard Sorge (1895-1944) and his Japanese accomplice Hotsumi Izaki (1901-1944) were arrested and convicted of espionage. Toshiko, who was rumored to be Sorge's mistress and distraught over her own divorce, committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. Her suicide note, written on the back of the sheet music for "Noibara", read "Even if [I am not yet] 38, I, Sekiya Toshiko, am as scattered as fragrant cherry blossoms and I realize that I cannot exist forever. With sincerity, I will keep [my family's] honor safe for eternity, year after year, for a million years. The world will know how, in this, I demonstrated the purity of my heart, thoughtfully done to protect the dignity of the arts of greater Japan."

She was rarely mentioned by the end of WWII, and I cannot find any reference to her after 1951, when Japanese-Canadian mezzo-soprano Aiko Saita (1909-1954) wrote in a newspaper article about meeting Toshiko during a performance in the early 1930s.

This is probably the best compilation of Toshiko's recordings available to date. While it does not have her recordings on Columbia (which are not nearly as enjoyable as her Victor recordings due to her voice beginning to falter), it does have most of her recordings for JVC - including with the La Scala Theatre Orchestra and the Victor Salon Orchestra, compiled from 12 records. If anyone reading this has a copy of a Toshiko recording on JVC not included in this compilation, please let me know so I may update this post accordingly!

Check out these clips from YouTube to hear her for yourself!

The songs in this compilation are as follows:

1. "¡Ay, Ay, Ay!"

2. "Four-Leaf Clover"

3. "Itako dejima"

4. "Tre giorni son che Nina"

5. "Gounod's Serenade"

6. "Hab 'ich nur Deine Liebe"

7. "Hotaru koi"

8. "Noibara"

9. "Schubert's Serenade"

10. "Tosti's Serenade"

11. "Song of Solveig"

12. "O sole mio"

13. "Barcarolle"

14. "Clavelitos"

15. "Edo komoriuta"

16. "Estrellita"

17. "An Indian Lullaby"

18. "La Paloma"

19. "La Spagnuola"

20. "Lo! Hear the Gentle Lark"

21. "Maria Mari"

22. "Onatsu Kyoran"

23. "Sansa shigure"

24. "Wiegenlied"

Download (69.6 MB, 128 kbps)

Unknown artist's rendering of Sekiya Toshiko on a circa 1930 JVC catalog advertisement

Al Goodman & His Orchestra [w/Earl Wright, Frances Greer, Jimmy Carroll & The Guild Choristers] - Gems From "The Desert Song" (1949 RCA Victor 78 Album)

There have been many recordings made of the once-phenomenally popular Sigmund Romberg (1887-1951) & Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) operetta The Desert Song. However, this is the first known album set of the work to feature some of the best opera and musical theater singers of the day, instead of relying on unnamed studio performers or forgotten members of the original cast to record the music.

In this album, soprano Frances Greer (1917-2005), tenor Jimmy Carroll (1910?-1965?) and baritone Earl Wrightson (1916-1993) - who all performed with each other in a 1949 Broadway production of the operetta - sing under the direction of famous conductor Al Goodman (1890-1972, and who later went on to be an easy-listening/Muzak figurehead). I picked this 78 set up at Hymie's Vintage Records two years ago, mostly because I wanted to hear Earl Wrightson's version of "One Alone", a song from this operetta I adore and performed at my senior voice recital. When I listened to the other records in this album, I was pleasantly surprised at how good each and every one of them was - there are no "dud" tracks in this album!

As an interesting side note about The Desert Song itself, it was debuted in 1926, adapted to a movie version in 1943 and remained fairly popular with audiences until 1987, when the New York City Opera staged a live televised production of it. After that, it faded away from the public interest and to the best of my knowledge, has not been performed anywhere since 2008. This is no doubt due to its politically-incorrect portrayal of all Muslims as bloodthirsty savages, which can easily offend modern audiences. At any rate, overlooking this otherwise fantastic operetta is truly a shame, because it has some of the best music Romberg & Hammerstein II ever composed.

Check out a few clips from the Internet Archive to hear it for yourself!

a.) "One Alone"
b.) "Romance"
c.) "One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden"

The songs on this album are as follows:

1. "Overture"
2. "The Riff Song"
3. "The French Military Marching Song"
4. "Romance"
5. "Love's Dear Yearning"
6. "The Desert Song"
7. "One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden"
8. "One Alone"

Download (32.5 MB, 160 kpbs)

The London Symphony Orchestra [w/Gladys Ripley, Contralto] - Elgar's "Sea Pictures" & "Overture to 'In The South'" (1955 Capitol LP)

One of the great joys of record collecting is that as long as there are collectors willing to digitize their finds and share them with the world (or at least until they get taken down by the DMCA copyright zealots!), the artists themselves live on forever - even if they died before they could be fully appreciated in their own lifetime. Such was the case with the magnificent contralto Gladys Ripley (1908-1955), and the brilliant orchestral conductor George Weldon (1908-1963). It also was the case with the the subject of my last post, the Lebanese singer/actor/conductor Mohammed El-Bakkar.

   

Gladys Ripley (pictured above) was one of the great British singers of her time who could hold her own against the likes of such other (regrettably short-lived) classical contralto competitors as Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1953) and Ruby Helder (1890-1938). Born in Forest Gate, Essex, she gave her first public performance at the tender age of 17, singing in Mendelssohn's hefty oratorio Elijah. After receiving well-deserved public and professional accolades, she went on to record operetta for the small Sterno Records label and was frequently brought in as a studio singer to perform classical works over British radio. She sang under the baton of such prestigious orchestral conductors as Malcolm Sargent (1895-1967) and Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), which eventually allowed her to tour New Zealand in 1940 and sing for six seasons at the London Royal Opera during WWII.

Her "big break", though, came in 1942 when she provided the singing voice of Mrs. Cibber in The Great Mr. Handel. After the film received high critical acclaim, she toured Australia in 1949 and the Netherlands in 1950, each time performing to standing-room-only audiences. By the end of WWII, her voice was in her prime, and she could very well have stood to become Europe's premiere contralto vocalist had she not suddenly passed away from breast cancer just a decade later. She was only 47 years old, and this 1954 rendition of Elgar's Sea Pictures is the last recording she ever made, being released posthumously one year after her death.

George Weldon (pictured above) was a pianist in his youth before deciding to become an orchestral conductor. He attended the London Royal College of Music, studying conducting under the tutelage of such instructors as Malcolm Sargent (who introduced him to Gladys Ripley) and Alymer Buesst (1883-1970). Having gained valuable experience conducting amateur orchestras and choirs after graduating, he served as assistant to Julius Harrison with the Hastings Municipal Orchestra from 1937 until 1939. Following the outbreak of WWII, he conducted the London Philharmonic and took charge of a season of ballet. 

In 1943, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra after an open competition. He was extremely well-liked by audiences and critics, offering stylish and exciting performances of the popular repertoire, but not neglecting new music either. Weldon’s contract with the Orchestra was unexpectedly terminated in 1951, when its board of management felt that a new conductor was required. The reasons for this are likely due to false rumors being spread that he was having an affair with a married female vocalist in the Orchestra's choir, but he resigned before he could be dismissed.

Starting in 1952, he conducted several top-tier European orchestras (the London Symphony Orchestra being just one of many) and appeared as a guest conductor in North and South Africa, Turkey and Yugoslavia from 1953 until his death from lung cancer at the age of 55.

There are not enough praises I can write about this record! While not as well-known as Janet Baker's rendition (considered the most famous rendition of the Sea Pictures) recorded a decade after Ripley's death, I happen to prefer this version over virtually anybody else's - even my own! Ripley's introspective delivery, perfectly-sized voice, caressing tone and crystal-clear diction make me melt into my seat every time I listen. I also consider her the last of the great British contraltos who, for nearly two centuries, were traditionally considered to be the finest in the English-speaking world. 

George Weldon also adds just the right blend of driving excitement and sensitive melancholy to the Orchestra, and at no time does he cause the Orchestra to overpower Ripley, or allow Ripley to overpower the Orchestra on her high notes. While his tempo on "Where Corals Lie" is a bit fast for my taste, I don't believe that it detracts from the mood or delivery of the piece, either. He also uses dynamics in a very skilled and enjoyable way on the overture to In the South that I have yet to hear any other conductor attempt. 

While I personally consider the Sea Pictures to be the more interesting work of the two (showing off my opera bias), I also recognize that this is one of the better renditions of the In the South overture I have ever heard. Any Elgar aficionado should make listening to this album a priority, and beginning conducting and vocal students in particular would do well to take away an idea or two from both Ripley and Weldon - even if they have both been departed from this world for over fifty years!   

Check out these clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!

The tracks on this album are as follows:

1. "The Sea Slumber Song"*
2. "In Haven (Capri)"*
3. "Sabbath Morning at Sea"*
4. "Where Corals Lie"*
5. "The Swimmer"*
6. "Overture (Alassio)"

*With Gladys Ripley
  
Download (42.2 MB, 128 kbps)
   

Mohammed El-Bakkar & His Oriental Ensemble - Sultan of Bagdad (1958 Audio Fidelity LP)

As I mentioned in my post from August 5th about my trip to Italy to attend the International Music Festival of the Adriatic, while I was there, I bought two LPs at a bookstore in Trieste - this album being the second one. (The other album was The Art of Lucrezia Bori.)

Mohammed El-Bakkar (1913-1959) was a tenor vocalist, oud player, conductor and actor. During his relatively short life, he gained fame in his home country of Lebanon before moving to Brooklyn, New York in 1952. There, he performed in night clubs and at Arabic music festivals before attracting the attention of Broadway director Joshua Logan (1908-1988), who cast him as the singing oriental rug salesman in the first production run of the musical Fanny. He performed the role from 1954 from 1956, and was so admired by Broadway audiences (and fellow performers) that he was immediately signed afterwards with the folk/exotica label Audio Fidelity Records. His albums (seven in total, with Sultan of Bagdad being his second) coincided nicely with the calypso and folk music craze of the 1950s, and were immediately greeted to both critical and commercial success. He continued to record, and even appeared in the 1957 Egyptian movie version of Tarzan opposite Arabic film superstar Tahia Carioca (1915-1999) before suddenly dying of a brain hemorrhage during a private performance. He was just 46 years old. 

How exactly this album found its way to an Italian bookstore is something I am not able to answer, but I am certainly glad I found it! Although I don't remember it, I must have heard of or read about El-Bakkar when I was younger, as I had a strange feeling when I first picked this record up that it was likely by "that Arabic guy who died young." A simple Google search confirmed my suspicion, and the flamboyant cover alone was worth the €2.50 I paid for it. When I returned to Minnesota and put the needle in the first track ("Ya Habibi") to hear what it sounded like, I was completely floored by El-Bakkar's fantastic singing and memorizing oud playing!

This album is essentially Arabic-language party music, and features none of the cheesy arrangements/sound effects that were so common in other folk/exotica albums of the time. El-Bakkar's voice rivals that of the purest muezzin, and his incredible agility (particularly in "Why Why Fatima" and "Zenat El Haflat") is something unforgettably prodigious for the ears to behold! While his oud is not particularly loud or has any solo passages on any of the tracks, it blends nicely with the rest of the ensemble and adds a mysterious, wandering troubadour-like quality.

Check out this clip from YouTube to hear it for yourself!

The songs on this album are as follows:

1. "Ya Habibi"

2. "Why Why Fatima"

3. "Ana Winta"

4. "Laysh Laysh"

5. "Raksat El Sahara"

6. "Yalla Yalla"

7. "Sultan of Bagdad"

8. "A-la-Elwadee"

9. "Zenat El Haflat"

10. "Albak Ya Asmar"

11. "Salamat Salamat"

12. "Ya Shara"

Download (34.1 MB, 128 kbps)

The Art of Lucrezia Bori (195? RCA Victor LP)

As I mentioned in my last post about my trip to Italy to attend the International Music Festival of the Adriatic, while I was there, I bought two LPs at a bookstore in Trieste - this album being one of them. It's a compilation of recordings made by the incredibly skilled lyric soprano Lucrezia Bori (1887-1960) from around 1930 through 1950, featuring the arias of some of her most renowned roles during her long career.

Although not mentioned much nowadays, Bori was the leading Spanish lyric soprano of her time. She was named after her ancestor Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), and possessed a fine voice befit for someone of royal heritage! Her career began in 1910 at the Met, and she stayed there for a successful 22-year run before changing direction of her career towards that of fundraising for the Met. Thanks to her talent in soliciting donors, she saved the Met from declaring bankruptcy during the worst years of the Great Depression. In 1935, she was the first performer to be elected to the Met's Board of Directors. In 1936, she retired from the Met and an enormous farewell gala was put on in her honor. She continued to record and give radio performances occasionally throughout the remainder of her life before dying of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 73.

The recordings on this LP, while perhaps not featuring Bori in her prime, are nonetheless worth a listen by anyone who likes opera or wants to become more familiar with it. I particularly like her renditions of Massenet's "Obéissons, quand leur voix appelle", and her performance of Mozart's "Vedrai, carino" is enough to make me wish I could turn back time and see her in the role of Zerlina!

Unfortunately, the recording quality of this LP is not the greatest. It was pressed on relatively cheap vinyl  - surprising for a classical album - and the recordings themselves sound rather "muddy". I have cleaned up the recordings and boosted the highs as much as I am able to, but I do wish RCA Victor recording techs had chosen to better record such a legendary performer as Bori in the first place, rather than thinking "good enough" will do. (If Bori had been simply "good enough", then would she have lasted for two decades at the most prestigious opera house in North America?)

Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!

 The arias on this album are as follows:

1. "Adieu notre petite table" (Manon)
2. "Ah, fors' é lui sempre libera" (Verdi)
3. "Batti, batti, o bel masetto" (Mozart)
4. "Connais tu le pays?" (Thomas)
5. "Giunse al fin il momento"/"Deh vieni non tardar" (Mozart)
6. "Me voici dans son boudoir" (Thomas)
7. "Obéissons, quand leur voix appelle" (Massenet)
8. "Tales From The Vienna Woods" (Strauss, Jr.)
9. "Un bel di" (Puccini)
10. "Valse di Musette" (Puccini)
11. "Vedrai, carino" (Mozart)
12. "Malagueña" (Nin)
13. "Séguidilla" (De Falla)

Download (42.7 MB, 128 kbps)

Ciao, sono tornata ora!

Hello, dear readers! I know I have been away for nearly two months, and this post is as much to provide an explanation for my prolonged absence as it is to inform you that - perhaps shockingly so - I am still alive!

For those of you who don't know what has transpired during the last two months, I was selected to be one of seven vocalists to attend the International Music Festival of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy (pictured above), from June 11th through July 5th! It was an incredible an honor considering that I don't even have a music degree, and I even sang for a real live princess! Well, a princess in legal terms only since she married into the royal Thurn und Taxis family, but still a princess nonetheless.

I had a great time gallivanting around Europe and getting to know fellow musicians, most of whom were students at Luther College, but many others as well from colleges around the world (one student was from Canada, another already from Italy, and the rest of the students were from the US). I picked up several words and phrases of Italian while I was there, and I can say with total sincerity that I am now the classical vocalist and performer I have always wanted to be!

This also happens to relate to The Retro Echo itself because I happened to pick up two interesting LPs while I was over there (The Art of Lucrezia Bori and, rather strangely, Mohammed El-Bakkar's Sultan of Bagdad), both of which are unforgettable listens and will be posted shortly.

The reason why it has taken me almost another month to get back to posting here after my return to Minnesota, though, is because I picked up so many records and tapes from Record Store Day last April that I had to set aside an entire month's worth of free time to clean them and get them digitized (you're welcome). In addition to the two LPs mentioned above, I'll also be posting previously-digitally-unavailable recordings by the great folk musician Neal Hellman, EPs by Ricky Nelson, the Sunny Mountain Boys and the White Oak Mountain Boys, as well as tons of other top-notch recent finds!

Thanks for your patience, and I'll upload recordings of my performances on my YouTube channel as soon as they are made available to me from the Festival directors!