Enrico Caruso & Nellie Melba - O Soave Fanciulla (1906)

[krayzii4]

Thumbs up if Google brought you here :)

[hugothebear]

Melba left a few late electrical recordings, of course they are in her old age but they reveal a very beautiful tone, yes quite different to "modern" sound but how odd to make that a criticism, perhaps in another 100 years when Opera singers change again to what... microphones on stage... ? future generations will see the singing actresses on today's stage as quaint. Personally I want a time machine to take me back to hear the eternal Dame Nellie sing that legendary final note live.

[makrogroove]

This is really a great record. Your copy was pressed arround 1925/1926. This Label was used by "Deutsche Grammophon" to sell old acoustic classical recordings in the new era of electric recorded sound. Thanks for posting it!

[Jeansschwimmer]

vaughangarrick is reminded of Flo Jenkins, so am I, besides that Dame Nelly hit the notes, "La" Jenkins did not.

The sopranos of that period were trained to sing in that strange almost falsetto way, as if it was a robot or computer animation of a voice. That cannot be blamed on the crude recordinig techniques of that time, early electric recordings make no difference. It was fashionable to sing that way.

I am sure that F.F.Jenkins had great fun making parodies of that great singers.

[vaughangarrick]

personally I think it's about what's in right now--the singers in the 30's 40's (pop singers) sounded very different than what they do today because it was fashionable--likewise with opera singers I think she was as bad as it sounds on these recordings but it was fashionable to sound like that hence the admiration--if Fleming or Gheorghiou recorded with this old technology we would still here them in all their glory---just an opinion-

[vaughangarrick]

she sounds remarkably like Florence Foster Jenkins

[makrogroove]

I also love Caruso and Farrar. She was also singer at the royal operahouse in Berlin for a time! And did you know that Victor gave the masters of all recordings to Hannover to make copys, fathers and moters, which were sent back to america for pressing. But the masters were collected in Hannover till beginning of world war I. Some still exist! Last regular pressings (not special collector pressings) were made in the middle of the 50`s by Deutsche Grammophon!

[gabriele1807]

ich danke dafür diese stimmen hören zu dürfen!

[MrRicksStudio]

One can catch a better glimpse of Melba's sound in her one electrically recorded studio recording - Szulc's "Clair de lune" and Burleigh's "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" - yes, she was quite old when she made it, but the voice had held up well, and you can hear more of the body of the voice. Beautiful.

[Lamfada]

Excellent! I love the original sound equipment reproduction. Thanks for posting this

[stevevandien]

Might be starting a fight here, but here goes:  I'm not a Melba fan. To my ears her voice is too light and thin to be satisfying when the music calls for passion and drama. Here Caruso is still lyrico-spinto, and quite beautiful. Over the next 5-10 years, his voice grew larger, richer and more powerful, losing some lyricism but retaining considerable tonal warmth and beauty --

[AuthenticFeirce]

Well, its the recording. Her voice, like many females, was not captured well. I do agree with you on Caruso.

[rupepill]

@stevevandien No need for fighting. Your opinion is valid, and in agreeing with you may I make the point only that Melba's voice was large and notoriously difficult to record. In this particular recording, it is possible that her distance from the recording horn or funnel was too great to permit the true grandeur of that voice to be captured in any way fairly and accurately. Caruso's voice, however, seemed to record relatively well, although even in his case the recording might mislead us.

[Lovelytenor1]

There are some, many who lived thru the period, who say that Caruso's voice was at his height 1906-07. Of course, all you have to do is listen to voice grow in intensity & others would argue w/that. Remember, the ladies voices did not record as well w/the old primitive equipment. She was not a worldwide sensation for nothing.

[Mooorhe]

Just remember that many of the frequencies of her voice aren't there..

[paulostroff99]

Certainly two of the very best ever. Caruso rules this aria especially in his duet with Alma Gluck. His others such as this and the Geraldine Farrar  are also superb.

[jucameron]

I prefer the version with that Thorn bird, Geraldine Farrar.

[rupepill]

@jucameron Fair enough. However much others might disagree with you, you are right to form and hold your own opinion, and the right to express a preference is a right we should all have.

[alvarogm86]

sounds awfull

[Aetion]

That La Callas was also a belbanto singer. "The sopranos Maria Callas (19231977), Joan Sutherland (1926 ), Beverly Sills (1929-2007) and Montserrat Caballé (1933 ), and the mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (1934 ) probably best exemplify the bel canto singers of the post-war period." (Wikipedia - Belcanto)

[Aetion]

What do you mean by "what"?

[Aetion]

I have this lp. Its a- pity that we cannot hear a good recording of these great singers, in order to enjoy their voices, as they actually were.

Thanks for posting.

[meinfb]

The greatest Mimi of them all. She liked singing with Caruso, but he wasn't her favorite tenor. It is amusing today to hear the self-acclaimed critics try to pick apart the Melba voice and technique. In her day, Melba was considered to be the "foremost exponent" of beautiful singing. Melba, not Callas, was the queen of bel canto. Callas was most definitely not a "bel canto" singer, though she is credited with a bel canto revival.

[Aetion]

Was Callas not a belcanto singer? Have you heard "Callas Mozart - Tutte le torture"?

[PDQGorby]

@meinfb Please explain how Callas is not a Bel Canto singer. 

[Matt75003]

Perfect singing, amazing voices. Melba's final high note never fails to dazzle me. One of my desert island discs!