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The Record of Singing, 1899-1952: The Very Best of Vols. 1-4
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About The Record Of Singing, 1899-1952: The Very Best Of
EMI Classics is proud to present two 10-CD boxed sets of The Record of Singing. The first release covers the earliest vocal recordings from 1899 through 1952 (when the era of the 78 rpm shellac record effectively ended), and the second set is from 1953 to 2007 (the introduction of the vinyl LP through the digital era and the CD). Together these 20 CDs offer a breath-taking overview of the past century of classical vocal music. The recordings from the first box are all taken from the beloved original four volumes of The Record of Singing, issued by EMI on LP between 1977 and 1989 (all tracks have been re-processed at Abbey Road Studios to improve the sound). Divided under headings such as "The Old School," "English-Speaking Singers," "The Emergence of Verismo," among others, the set begins with recordings of enormous historical importance that preserve the art of a number of singers from the so-called "golden age" at the end of the 19th century whose careers largely predated the beginning of sound recording, including Adelina Patti, Lilli Lehmann, Sir Charles Santley, Victor Maurel, Édouard de Reske, and Francesco Tamagno. Then comes a generation of stars whose careers ran parallel to the development of the gramophone, foremost among them being Enrico Caruso and Dame Nellie Melba. The selection of artists includes the great names of the past whose records were found in the collections of all discerning music lovers: Beniamino Gigli, Amelita Galli-Curci, Luisa Tetrazzini, Giovanni Martinelli, Tito Schipa, Jussi Björling, Lotte Lehmann, Lauritz Melchior, and literally hundreds of others. Because each singer appears only once, these sets allow the listener to compare and evaluate the voices and singing styles of the whole of the 20th century, as well as marvel at the development of sound recording through the years, from the primitive sounds of the earliest shellac discs through the introduction of electrical recording in 1925, the arrival of tape recording in 194
