Latest Issue

The December 2011 issue represents the completion of our 65th year of publication. To mark this great achievement we have produced a biography and discography of a superb artist: the tenor René Maison.

René Maison was Belgian by birth and enjoyed a fine career during a period of great tenors. It was one which took him to most of the important opera houses of the world. At first he sang primarily in French, Belgian and European houses but as his fame grew he was invited to the U.S.A. and South America. At the Met he sang every year from 1936 to 1943 and was popular in Chicago and San Francisco, where his spinto tenor was much appreciated in Wagnerian roles and in such parts as Florestan, Samson, Don José, Canio etc.

Yet, despite the great fame he enjoyed he is somehow undervalued by collectors. We hope this article will help to change that. The biography has been written by Robert Bunyard, the author of the superb articles for this journal on José Mardones, Lucien Muratore and Georges Thill. The discography is by David Mason, one of our foremost discographers and there is an analysis of Maison's recordings by that great tenor afficionado Alan Bilgora.

Our second article is on the excellent British baritone Eric Marshall. His name is not so well known outside the U.K. and we hope that this article will bring him to collectors' attention. He was primarily a concert singer though he did sing at Covent Garden. For those who know his records he is a great favourite. His mellifluous lyric baritone can be heard in a number of arias and songs on labels such as Vocalion, H.M.V. and Brunswick. His Vocalions show him at his best and we are looking forward to presenting him on next year's annual CD in such rare arias as "O Lisbona" (Don Sebastiano) and "Promesse de mon avenir" (Le Roi de Lahore), where his singing rivals that of many more famous singers.

We are also proud to include an article devoted to the recording(s) of Anna von Mildenburg. This superb piece of research by Christopher Kuner delves the archives of the Österreichisches Theatermuseum in Vienna, where documents from the singer's estate are housed. Kuner has unearthed fascinating new information on von Mildenburg which suggests that it is highly likely that she recorded more than just the one disc that is known to collectors. This is one of the most important pieces of research that we have published in the history of this journal.

In addition, we have the regular CD and book reviews, making for a very full and fascinating issue.

 

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