coloratura Adelina Patti -1895 cylinder- her 1st record?

Coloratura soprano ADELINA PATTI sings "The Laughing Song" from Auber's comic opera, "Manon." This exceedingly rare recording, privately made for Patti on a brown wax cylinder, was discovered in the 1940's and transferred to a acetate 78 rpm disc by Wm. Seltsam (1897-1968) of Bridgeport, Conn.

Understand that THIS IS THE OLDEST EXISTING RECORDING of a world-class opera singer and one of the first operatic recordings by anyone! DO NOT EXPECT HIGH FIDELITY; this is ancient sound.

Listen carefully as the announcer gives Patti's name and the selection.

It is generally stated that Patti's first recordings were made in 1905. It was in this year that her first DISC records were made....but not her first recording!
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Adelina Patti, the greatest soprano of her day, will always be associated with her castle in the Upper Swansea Valley. She gave it the romantic name of Craig-y-Nos - the Rock of Night.
Born in Madrid of Italian parentage on 19 February 1843, Adelina Patti was raised in New York and gave her first concert there at the age of seven.
Patti first sang at Covent Garden, London, in 1845. From then on, her international career was assured.

As a bel canto coloratura soprano she had no rival. Giuseppe Verdi thought she was the greatest singer he had ever heard. Wherever she sang, the public adored her, and she made a fortune.

After her first marriage failed, she took a lover, the married French tenor Ernest Nicolini. In search of privacy, and good trout-fishing for Nicolini, she bought a Welsh country house overlooking the River Tawe.

Patti named the plain, four-square house Craig-y-Nos: the Rock of Night. She spent the next 40 years and £100,000 (several million in today's terms) making it over as a Gothic castle. She added a clock tower, two turreted wings, a greenhouse filled with cockatoos and parakeets, and a 150-seat theatre.
The Patti Theatre was dedicated in August 1891. It is still very much in use today. With blue silk plush curtains, her monogram in gold over the proscenium arch, and an act-drop curtain showing Patti in a chariot as Semiramide, it was designed as a shrine to the diva.

When Adelina Patti held court at Craig-y-Nos, the theatre was the centre of events. She performed there privately long after her official retirement. Guests and servants would assemble to see her sing her great roles. Her butler--who couldn't sing--would mime the male roles.

After Nicolini died, Patti married for the third time, at the age of 55. Her new husband, Swedish nobleman Baron Rolf Cederström, was 28. He was rumoured to have been her masseur.

Patti was devoted to her home in Wales, giving annual charity concerts for the poor of Swansea, Bridgend, Ystradgynlais and Ystalyfera. Her generosity made her loved and admired, however much people smiled at her regal manner.

At Craig-y-Nos Patti finally allowed herself to be recorded by the Gramophone & Typewriter Co. When she heard her own voice, her reaction was ecstatic: "Ah! My God! Now I understand why I am Patti! Yes, what a voice! What an artist! I understand all!"

Patti died at Craig-y-Nos on 27 September 1919.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• gmmix
• Edison
• cylinder
• Patti
• Auber
• Manon

[AmericanEvita]

Patti is a legend...she was a big superstar in her day back in the late 19th century...I've read about singers of this period but their voices sound similar to me and they also dont sound beautiful..what we are hearing are scratchy, worn cylinders and primitive recording technology that doesnt capture even half the amazing talent these ladies have...

[gmmix]

What you say about the primitive sound cannot be denied but, as a long-gone friend once observed: "Stale beer is better than no beer at all."

[stuartliff]

Alas, This is not Adelina Patti. It was identified many years back as a recording of Lucette Korsoff who had an extensive career in France. A cylinder of 'Una voce poco fa' by Patti was in an exhibition case at EMI's headquarters in London but during a move, the case was dropped and both it and cylinder totally smashed. It had been hoped to use it in 'The Record of Singing' Vol 1, which came out in the 1970s. Information from Bryan Crimp who was EMI's transfer engineer at the time.

Vivian Liff

[SerbianSoprano]

What a unique voice!!! Nothing like we hear today...

[eclecticdufus]

@stuartliff It's a wonder nobody ever thought to transfer it as Seltsam had done with the Maplesons in the 30s. Korsoff is delightful, however.

[sicakimmi03]

i very very like this.. :)

i like seriosa

[MrGer2295]

Adelina Patti(1843-1919)"Queen of the Hearts"

The most famous singer of the 19th-century.

wow Fantastic performance from an 1895 cylinder.Thank you gmmix for posting.

[ferociousgumby]

Sounds like another "great" soprano, Florence Foster Jenkins.