A major new CD project of rare Italian tenors is being produced.

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Franco Corelli ‘Granada’

We think the 2009 singers CD (TRC30) is one of our best yet. No fewer than eighteen of the twenty-three tracks are being issued for the first time on CD. And, for two of the artists featured, their entire 78rpm output is presented complete. In addition the two songs of Franco Corelli have never been reissued on CD.

Mario Berini possessed an attractive, lyric tenor voice with a hint of steel in its timbre. His entire output of four commercial 78s is given here. They are all operetta and songs. It is a pity that he did not record more of his repertoire, which encompassed many of the important Italian and French lyric tenor roles. His singing is satisfying, stylish and always falls graciously on the ear.

The reputation of Robert Radford among some collectors is not of the highest because a number of his recordings fail to show him at his best. We hope we have selected three examples which really do this bass justice and will place him in greater esteem. There is no doubt that, at his best, this was a fine voice, a deep bass of great solidity, evenness of timbre and of tremendous compass, up to an easy F sharp. He was also skilled in coloratura, as is shown in the aria from The Tempest.

Few readers had heard of the name Felice Lyne prior to the article in Vol. 54, no. 4. I hope the quality of her recordings will delight collectors. The voice is somewhat darker than that of other leggiero sopranos. Yet, she has all the agility and ease in fioriture of many of her far more famous colleagues. And what a sensational trill! For some reason the discs are hard to find and rarely turn up on dealers’ lists. Hence, we are very proud to present all four of her commercially-released recordings.

Elizabeth Parkina is a particular favourite. The voice has a beautiful timbre, not always in evidence in some Marchesi pupils. What a pity her career was cut short by illness! Not only are her G&Ts very rare but they often turn up well worn, obviously greatly enjoyed by previous owners. We know of no CD devoted to her, so we hope collectors will enjoy these examples. All the attributes of the Marchesi school are here, wedded to a charm that just leaps from the grooves.

Lucien Muratore, it seems, had everything: good looks, histrionic ability and a strong lyric tenor with a beautiful timbre. It is hardly surprising that he had a long career at the top of his profession. We have selected recordings spanning over 20 years, which show his ability in both lyric and heroic arias. Yet, the more intimate idiom of songs shows he could modulate his fine tenor and spin a delicate legato line. I am particularly fond of his ‘Magali’, which is quite different from the Calvé version. It is lovingly sung and ends with a magical pianissimo.

In Vol. 54, no. 3 Michael Bott dispelled the long-held myth that Edward Johnson, who sang under his Italian stage name of Di Giovanni, recorded for Odeon and Kalliope. This was, rather, Remo di Giovanni, a heroic tenor with quite a different career. Here is an opportunity to hear this other ‘Di Giovanni’, so you can make up your own mind. No-one will pretend that this is an artist of the first rank, but the comparison is fascinating and it is an opportunity to hear a very rare Kalliope recording. We hope collectors will be able to listen through the slightly rough start.

What more is there to say about Franco Corelli, now acknowledged as one of the great voices of the 20th century? Only that the two songs he recorded for Cetra have never been reissued on CD. They are surely the rarest of his 78 rpm recordings and were available only for a short time. Here is that unique, heroic timbre that electrified the thousands who heard him. It is a thrilling end to this CD.

That well-known Italian writer and critic Rodolfo Celletti described Giannina Russ in Le Grandi Voci as "probably the only Italian singer in the first twenty years of the 20th century who succeeded in expressing completely the old formula of the soprano drammatico d'agilita".

She was one of the first singers chosen to make recordings for Fonotipia. Her rapid rise by 1905, barely two years after her debut in 1903, had gained for her enough of a reputation for the company to commit to posterity some of the roles in which she was so much admired. It is obvious from her recordings, where in some she is joined by renowned and established singers, that her fine international career and reputation are fully justified.

This CD contains arias and duets from Le Nozze di Figaro, La Bohème, Aida, L'Africaine, La Gioconda, Rigoletto, Amica, Norma, Cavalleria Rusticana, Mefistofele, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Fedora, Ernani, Siberia, Carmen. Madama Butterfly and Don Carlo. There are practically no complete CDs of this fine artist available, so this issue fills a very important gap in collectors' shelves.

Giannina Russ  O grandi occhi (Fedora)

Cloe Elmo excerpt from La Madre e il Figlio (cantata)

No less than eight of the twenty-two tracks on the 2008 CD have never been reissued on LP and CD. The superb bass voice of Hippolyte Belhomme is mighty of tone but with the coloratura technique of a soprano and a fine trill to boot. The beautiful voice of Thomas L. Thomas will delight those not familiar with his voice. Josefina Huguet has always been neglected by collectors but we have four discs designed to show her at her best: the tone utterly feminine and the technique formidable. The Danish soprano Johanne Brun was a phenomenon: an Isolde who could also sing coloratura roles. Agnes Nicholls, possessor of one of the most magnificent high Cs of her time, thrills with her superb soprano and we precede one of her recordings with those two doyens of collecting, P.G. Hurst and John Freestone, discussing her singing.

But by far the most interesting item on the CD is an ultra-rare cantata by the composer Soddu, sung with great beauty of tone by the ravishing mezzo Cloe Elmo. It is gorgeous music, beautifully sung and this is the first time this disc has appeared on any reissue. The CD ends with a hell-for-leather duet of two great voices. Cloe Elmo and Gina Cigna give an object lesson in the art of verismo in the show stopping duet from La Gioconda. It is one of the most thrilling duets ever to have been recorded!

George Thill J’aurais sur ma poitrine (Werther)

We are proud of our latest CD. It features a number of firsts and certainly several “first time on CD” items. Here are all four of George Thill’s acoustic 78s, which have never been issued before. The beautiful bass of Endré Koreh will be a revelation to many listeners. “First time” items include three Leonard Warren broadcast tracks, a live Hjördis Schymberg and, amazingly, a Pol Plançon take which seems to have eluded previous issues. There are also five tracks which our contributors have described as “favourite records”.

Beno Blachut Ha, kym to kouzlem (Dalibor)

This CD features the mighty bass voice of José Mardones in four selections, one of which is unpublished and two were available originally only in Spain. The Dutch soprano Engelen-Sewing will amaze listeners with her coloratura ability. There are four tracks of the amazing Russian mezzo Dolukhanova, with her hair-raising account of ‘O don fatale’. The thrilling, ringing tenor of Beno Blachut should not be missed, nor the wonderful baritone voice of the very underrated Richard Bonelli. All in all a CD full of little known, sometimes previously unavailable and superb selections of all these singers.

Solomon Khromchenko Romance of the Young Gypsy (Aleko)

This is one of our most interesting CDs, featuring several ‘first time on CD’ issues. There are four tracks of the ravishing singing of the French tenor David Devriès, including the two rare Büsser songs (first time on reissue). For tenor lovers Solomon Khromchenko will be a revelation. He is still little known in the West; the voice like Kozlovsky in its beauty.

Many will remember the thundering bass of Nowakowski and the attractive sound of Lester Ferguson, both prominent just after the War. So too was Alfred Orda, arguably one of the most beautiful heroic baritone voices to emerge from Poland. Another wonderful heroic baritone was Umberto Urbano, whose contemporary was the dramatic soprano Barbara Kemp. These are just some of the singers on this CD. If you like fine voices, give this CD a try.

At last, a CD that pays tribute to one of the greatest baritones of the 20th Century. Arguably this was one of the most beautiful baritone voices before the public and it was used with an impeccable technique. This CD is a mixture of the best of his published Victor 78s and radio transcriptions. Much of it has never been transferred to CD. Transfers are by Roger Beardsley in superb sound. No wonder he was a favourite in the US for over thirty years!

Igor Gorin El vito (Nin)

César Vezzani Roi du ciel (Le Prophète)

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century the French school of singing produced some of the most exciting heroic tenors ever to tread the boards. The sound was unique from the dark but ringing baritonal quality of Agustarello Affre (said to be a rival to the great Francesco Tamagno) and the little known but equally impressive Georges Granal (the first time so many examples have appeared on CD) to the lirico-spinto, uniquely French sound of Luccioni, Verdière and Franz. The Record Collector bring for your interest the first issues of Louis Orliac and Georges Imbart de la Tour on CD, perhaps on reissues.

Martha Angelici Cantu di Malincunia (Tomasi)

Simply, a collection of 24 tracks of great singing designed to appeal to the connoisseur, hence the title. The emphasis is on many less well-known names but each is an outstanding performance guaranteed to enhance any collectionof great voices.

Many of these are from rare discs in fine condition, mastered with astonishing quality and clarity by Roger Beardsley.

Examples of the artists who were the subjects of articles in Volume 45. Arias, duets and songs by Celestina Boninsegna (2), Amelia Pinto (9 sides of her incredibly rare Fonotipias), Margarethe Siems
 (“Swiss Echo Song” first ever reissue & Rosenkavalier aria), George Hamlin (3, one unpublished), Enzo De Muro Lomanto (3), Carlo Morelli (3), Joseph Schmidt (3)

A selection of her greatest Polydors. Mint copies from the Harold Wayne Collection and guaranteed the finest sound. These acoustic Polydors probably show the voice at it’s best: young, vibrant and of a rare beauty. They contain repertoire that she never again recorded, like arias from Don Carlos, Aida and Oberon. It was little surprise that she became one of the great singers of the twentieth century with performances of this quality.

Songs by Tosti and other favourite song composers, sung by Anna Case, Fernando De Lucia, Ferruccio Corradetti, Richard Bonelli, Jean François Delmas, Elizabeth Parkina, Charles Dalmores, Oscar Kamionsky, Maria Labia, Giuseppe Bellantoni, Juste Nivette, Antonio Magini Coletti, Augusto Scampini, Enriqueta Basavilbaso de Catelin, Cesare Formichi, Andre Labinsky, Giuseppe Anselmi, Ninì Frascani, Umberto Urbano, Angelo Minghetti, Gösta Björling, Stefan Islandi & Salomea Kruszelnicka.

Arias and Songs by Iris Adami Corradetti, Helena Arizmendi, Mario Ancona, Dan Beddoe, Celestina Boninsegna, Lucrezia Bori, Tom Burke, Louis Cazette, Antonio Cortis, Giuseppe De Luca, Fernando de Lucia, Giuseppe di Stefano and many more.