Fritzi SCHEFF ~ Kiss Me Again (1936)

Fritzi Scheff (1879-1954) / Mlle Modiste (Victor Herbert) / Recorded: 1936 / Spoken introduction by Fred Calland / for a contemporary reference to "the kiss" mentioned in the opening comments to this posting see the excerpts from a long November 17, 1903 review of "Babette" in the New York Times below.




Although one of the most celebrated operetta stars of her day, Friitzi Scheff never recorded commercially. Aside from a fragment on a Mapleson Cylinder, this performance from a 1936 radio broadcast and another from a 1954 television appearance are the only souvenirs we have of Ms. Scheff's voice.

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(The New York Times / November 17, 1903)
FRITZI SCHEFF AS BABETTE
A New Comic Opera by Herbert and Smith
The ex-Grand opera Singer Makes a Brilliant Success

Fritzi Scheff, having abandoned her claim to being a "grand opera" singer, for a time at least, appeared last evening at the Broadway Theatre as the chief personage in a romantic comic opera by Victor Herbert and Harry B. Smith. It was an occasion that rejoiced those who have admired the qualities of this grand operatic soubrette, and who have felt that she was out of place in many of the casts in which she has been appearing in the establishment a block further down town.

(and several paragraphs later toward the end of the review)

At the end of the second act she responded with a pretty little flutter of embarrassment to the evident desire of the audience to hear from her, and thanked them ever so much for their kindness, and hoped they would always come to hear her as they used to at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Then she looked around for Mr. Herbert and dragged him forth; and having shaken him heartily by the hand, she then and there threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss that was clearly the real thing and not the kind used on the stage. Mr. Herbert then tried to express his thanks also; but if he had made any calculations they were all upset by this unexpected incident. Finding his last sentence hopelessly involved he stopped it short and added: "Well, she twisted me all up by kissing me!"

== 30 ==

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Category:

Music

Tags:

• Soprano
• Fritzi
• Scheff
• Operetta
• Victor
• Herbert
• Mlle
• Modiste
• 78
• rpm
• CurzonRoad

[LadyRavenhaire]

Wonderful singer I wasn't aware of before your posting. Thank you. What I find very saddening is not only the loss of talent found in singers of this age, but also the subject matters they sing of.This song is so innocent in an age today which is so very cynical&inhuman.The way people at 1 time glorified a kiss as in this song, no one would do today,even concerning something which should be much more intimate like sex.Sex has become an ordinary commodity like buying& throwing out today's paper.

[CurzonRoad]

@LadyRavenhaire

Yes, agreed on ALL the above!

Well, I suppose we can still listen to these moments.... and dream?

In grateful appreciation... THANK YOU!

[grenadian11]

oh so as an old lady at 57! Crazy.

[CurzonRoad]

@grenadian11

LoL! I know... that's really NOT very old.

Thanks!

Doug --

[Kievest]

Priceless treasure!!! She was a first

rate beauty and her deeply romantic

interpretation, incredible diction and

vocal range are stunning! The marvelous

photos compound the emotional impact

of Scheff's performance which could

move a heart made of stone! Thanks

for the archival gem!!!

[CurzonRoad]

Hello Kievest: Once again thank for your very nice & kind comments. In grateful appreciation. Doug --

[mayatatyana1]

Doug, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Lovely video. Thank you. Maya

[CurzonRoad]

Yes, both Ponselle's acoustic and later broadcast recordings of "Kiss Me Again" are well worth hearing. Agree that 57 is NOT old! THANK YOU! Doug --

[Bivolari]

Well sung. At fifty seven she can hardly be classified as an old lady. Those older singers kept their voices. Interestingly, Kiss Me Again was a song Rosa Ponselle used to sing to great applause in her Vaudeville act. She was singing it as late as the 1930's on the radio.

Scheff's singing and reading of the lyric is an example of a vanished art!

[bigswifty33]

I was wrong, it is a different performance. I have the video up. Has a water mark though.