The Golden Age of Singing: Vol. 3 1920-1930 at Music Hills.com

Music CD 1

Romeo Et Juliette: Je Veux Vivre Dans Ce Reve (Waltz Song) - Lucrezia Bori
Andrea Chenier: Un Di, All'azzuro Spazio - Beniamino Gigli
Die Tote Stadt: Gluck, Das Mir Verblieb - Maria Jeritza
Don Giovanni: Or Sai Chi L'onore - Frida Leider
I Puritani: Son Vergin Vezzosa - Amelita Galli-Curci
Carmen: La Fleur Que Tu M'avais Jetee - Richard Tauber
Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail: Martern Aller Arten - Maria Ivogun
Cavalleria Rusticana: O Lola (Siciliana) - Aureliano Pertile
Don Sebastiano: Deserto In Terra Solo - Alfred Piccaver
Il Barbiere Di Siviglia: Una Voce Poco Fa - Toti Dal Monte
Benvenuto Cellini: De L'art Splendeur Immortelle - Giuseppe De Luca
La Boheme: Mimi E Una Civetta - Antonio Cortis
Die Schone Galathea: Trinklied - Lotte Schone
Rigoletto: Pari Siamo - Carlo Galeffi
Resurrection: Dieu De Grace - Mary Garden
Le Nozze Di Figaro: Voi Che Sapete? - Elisabeth Schumann
Don Quichotte: Death Scene - Feodor Chaliapin/Olive Kline
Marina: Brindis: 'A Beber' - Miguel Fleta/Emilio Sagi-Barba
Le Nozze Di Figaro: Porgi Amor - Lotte Lehmann

Music CD 2

Pagliacci: No, Pagliaccio Non Son - Giovanni Martinelli/Grace Anthony
I Vespri Siciliani: O Patria...O Tu Palermo - Ezio Pinza
Aida: Nile Scene: O Patria Mia - Elisabeth Rethberg
Der Fliegende Hollander: Wie Aus Der Ferne - Friedrich Schorr
Les Pelerins De La Mecque: C'est Un Torrent Impetuex - Lucien Fugere
Il Trovatore: Il Balen Del Suo Sorriso - Apollo Granforte/Guglielmo Masini
Der Wildschutz: Wie Freundlich Strahlt - Gerhard Husch
Prince Igor: Jaroslavana's Aria - Nina Koshetz
Norma: Meco All'altar Di Venere - Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
Turandot: In Questa Reggia - EVA TURNER
Lohengrin: Einsan In Truben Tagen (Elsa's Dream) - Hina Spani
Werther: Va Laisse Couler - Ninon Vallin
Les Huguenots: Nobles Seigneurs - Sigrid Onegin
Bernice: Si Tra I Ceppi - Alexander Kipnis
Tannhauser: Inbrunst Im Herzen...Da Sah Ich Ihn - Lauritz Melchior
Otello: Ora E Per Sempre Addio - Renato Zanelli
Un Ballo In Maschera: Eri Tu - Lawrence Tibbett

Music reviews of The Golden Age of Singing: Vol. 3 1920-1930

Music Review: Great Voices of the 1920s in Opera and Operetta.
Rating: 5 Stars

Whatever criteria you use to assess anthologies of great singers, you will probably be well satisfied with this splendid issue. If you collect the works of particular singers, you will find not only representative but also rare items. I count the Pinza item as both. It shows him at his best, and has hitherto not found its ways into my CD collection. Occasionally items are not sung in their original language. Frida Leider's "Don Giovanni" aria sung in German in 1922 is preferred to her 1927 remake sung in Italian. Hina Spani sings Elsa's Dream in Italian. Some singers are recorded at the very end of their careers. Scottish soprano Mary Garden, Debussy's first Melisande, is heard in 1927 at her last recording session. Representing a miracle of good singing and longevity is Lucien Fugère recording a Gluck aria in 1928 at the age of 80. Tauber is heard near the beginning of his career in 1923. Youngest of all is the German baritone Gerhard Hüsch, aged 27.

I doubt that many who are considering purchase, every heard any of these singers. I happen to have heard two of them, when a very young man - Ninon Vallin and Elisabeth Schumann. To those who collect great voices on record, whether ever heard in performance or not, I restate that these Nimbus anthologies offer recreations of acoustic recordings that are well worth considering.