1912 THE GIRL TENOR Ruby Helder Dear Love remember me / Bohemian Girl COL A5548
$
25
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Description
A series of great OPERA Records from early G&Ts to World War II recordings on 78 rpm Victrola Records
Click this link for more great Opera and Vocal Records in my other listings!
Ruby Helder THE GIRL TENOR w ORch
Ruby Helder – The Bohemian Girl - Then You'll Remember Me / Dear Love, Remember Me
Label: Columbia – A5548
A The Bohemian Girl - Then You'll Remember Me
Written-By – Balfe*
B Dear Love, Remember Me
Written-By – Charles Marshall
Tenor Vocals – Ruby Helder
This recording falls in the realm of "an operatic PARTY RECORD." Ruby Helder first stepped before the recording horn for the Pathe Company in 1908 to cut cylinder masters. When heard by the management of Pathe and then the general public, most didn't believe this was the work of a 17-year-old GIRL, who stood under 5 feet tall at the time--as she sounds like a MAN. While some references state that Helder was an "International Opera Star," to the best of my knowledge, she never appeared in an opera. She sang arias in her concerts, which consisted largely of ballads and drawing-room songs of the period. Like many British singers a century ago, the opera she sang was always in English. In addition to the BOHEMIAN GIRL aria presented here, the only other operatic Helder records are two discs of the principal TENOR arias from Martha and Faust. Ruby Helder (1890-1938) progressed from "Girl Tenor" when she first made four Pathe cylinders in 1908 to "The Lady Tenor," when she was around 31.
Orig Issue Green Label Columbia w raised rim 10" 78 rpm
CONDITION: VERY GOOD PLUS PLUS unworn but rubbed, few short scratches esp on Bohemian, plays E- very quiet light crackle faint warp NAP
Ruby Helder (March 3, 1890 – November 21, 1938) was a British opera singer known for her powerful contralto voice.
Helder was born Emma Jane Holder in 1890 in the Easton district of Bristol. Her father, Thomas, a dairyman at the time, became landlord of a nearby public house where a young Helder would sing to entertain the regulars. Helder's musical range—from C3 to C5—attracted attention from an early age.[1] She soon began formal music lessons, at which point she changed her name to avoid confusion with a classmate. Her aunt, who was housekeeper to the music hall star Harry Lauder, made arrangements for Helder to train at the Guildhall School of Music with Charles Tinney. Helder also later trained with Charles Santley. Santley described her voice as a "natural, pure tenor voice of great beauty and power."[2] Singing career and later life
By 1908, Helder was recording for Pathé, and in 1909 made her first appearance in an opera at the Queen's Hall, London.[3] In 1911, she signed a recording contract with HMV, and by 1913 her international fame was such that she is said to have travelled to the United States in order to sing at a millionaire's private party.[4] She sang at venues across the United States, and between 1916 and 1917 pursued music studies at Grinnell College. Helder later toured the United States and Canada with John Philip Sousa and his band. On July 12, 1920, Helder married the American architect and artist Chesley Bonestell. The married couple then undertook a tour of Italy. At this point, however, Helder's popularity was in decline, and there were no recordings made of her after 1921. They returned to the United States in 1927, settling in Berkeley, California. She worked there as a music teacher for some years.[5] Helder retired from singing in 1935, and died on November 21, 1938, aged just 48, at the Highland Hotel, Hollywood, after a long battle with alcoholism.
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