Please wait for me to send you an invoice. DO NOT USE EBAY CHECKOUT if you want the lowest possible postage.

Welcome to my auctions of great records

This is my FIRST WEEK of 2 weeks of great auctions – I WILL PACK AND BILL YOUR RECORDS after the close on March 4.

PLEASE DO NOT PAY before I send you an invoice. It will take me up to 48 hours to pack your records, but this is the ONLY WAY to get you the LOWEST POSTAGE. If you pay before I sent you an invoice, the EBAY system will charge you a HIGHER POSTAGE for shipping.

I am currently selling a series of great Richard Wagner and classic European 78 rpm orchestral recordings on all the great European labels:

A great Lorenzo Molajoli record, here one of his rarely seen operatic singles

Verdi NABUCCO Sinfonia 1&2

US Columbia 10" 78 rpm records

Condition: EXCELLENT long light scratch on Mano, plays very quiet

And one of those great web reviews:

The house conductor: Lorenzo Molajoli

b. 1868, Rome, Italy; d. 1939, Milan, Italy

Career

• 1893: Embarks on career as operatic coach, working in Italy, North and South America and South Africa
• 1912: At Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires with Toscanini
• 1926-1932: House conductor in Milan for Columbia Graphophone Company

Little is known about the life and career of Lorenzo Molajoli, other than his work associated with the recording industry in Italy during the inter-war years. Born in Rome, he studied there at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and began his career as a professional musician in 1893. He seems to have been active as an operatic coach in North and South America, South Africa and various provincial Italian opera houses; he was certainly involved in the 1912 season at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, when he wrote to a friend about a dramatic falling-out over the interpretation of Massenet's Manon between conductor Arturo Toscanini and tenor Giuseppe Anselmi, as well as criticising another conductor of the season, Bernardino Molinari.

Following the introduction of electrical recording in 1925, the British Columbia Graphophone Company embarked on an extensive programme of recording using the new system and commenced recording in Italy in March 1926. Molajoli was engaged by the company as its house conductor, which generally involved the organisation of recording sessions with artists and technicians, decisions about side-breaks and musical cuts, as well as conducting in the studio. Columbia’s programme initially involved only the recording of operatic excerpts, most usually with singers then appearing at Milan’s major opera house, La Scala. At the end of 1928 the company decided to embark on the recording of complete operas, using the chorus and orchestra of La Scala. In November of that year Molajoli conducted the first three works in this series, Verdi's La traviata and Aida, and Puccini's La Bohème. As a result of the commercial and artistic success of these recordings Columbia decided to continue to record complete operas during the following years. In total twenty operas, either complete or abridged, were captured on wax, despite the downturn in activity in the recording industry following the Wall Street crash of 1929.

Columbia was forced by its bankers to merge with its larger rival The Gramophone Company, whose major label was His Master’s Voice (HMV), to form Electric and Musical Industries (EMI) in 1931. The chairman of The Gramophone Company, industry veteran Alfred Clark, was less than wholly enthusiastic about this change: Columbia was to be seen very much as the junior partner in the new arrangement. It had been in head-to-head competition with The Gramophone Company, which had also used the La Scala forces for its own recordings of complete operas. These had been conducted by its own Italian recording director, Carlo Sabajno, who had been recording for The Gramophone Company since 1905: many record critics of the 1930s took sides on whether they preferred the HMV Sabajnos or the Columbia Molajolis, as their repertoire often overlapped. Molajoli conducted his last recordings for Columbia in 1932. His only recording for another company was of his own arrangement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in A major, which he recorded for HMV with the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He died in Milan in 1939.

Molajoli's conducting is notable for its sure sense of style and unanimity of ensemble, especially between orchestra and singers: classic characteristics of a solid opera professional. Many of his recorded performances possess an enjoyably fiery sense of drama, as well as frequent headlong tempi, which give his readings an engaging and often appropriate sensation of forward propulsion. Although Columbia's casts are generally held to be on a slightly less exalted level than those employed in the rival HMV recordings, they are never less than wholly competent and in fact frequently much more than this. Occasionally they featured the same casts as those of current La Scala productions, such as in Molajoli's recording of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. Among his most successful recordings are complete accounts of Boito's Mefistofele, Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Leoncavallo'sPagliacci, Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Manon Lescaut, and Verdi's Aida, Falstaff, Il trovatore, La traviata and Rigoletto. His exciting abridged account of Verdi's Ernani has yet to appear on compact disc.

More Great Records on sale right now:

http://shop.ebay.com/carsten_sf/m.html

http://shop.ebay.com/carsten_sf/m.html

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A Quick NOTE ON GRADING AND SHIPPING:

As you can see from my feedback, I try hard to earn your POSITIVE FEEDBACK and FIVE STAR RATINGS.

If for any reason your transaction was NOT SATISFACTORY, pls contact me and I will work something out with you. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A REASON TO GIVE ME A NEGATIVE RATING or a LOW STAR RATING.

Quick note on grading:

The Grade (Excellent to Fair, I don't give Mint) refers to the WEAR of the record. Any other defects are stated separately

When I listen to a record, I may also give it an aural grade (again E to F), and make a SUBJECTIVE judgment of the pressing quality for hiss and surface noise.
"SUPERQUIET" is basically noiseless, like a vinyl pressing.
"VERY QUIET" is an quiet record for a given pressing.
"Quiet" is a record that is a great example without undue noise for a give pressing.

These judgments are SUBJECTIVE and will depend one the styli, phonograph etc. you use on your own equipment.

If you win multiple items, pls send me an INVOICE REQUEST to calculate the correct postage. Ebay check out will not give you the multiple item discount!

Records will be packed safely between corrugated cardboard in a sturdy box with plenty of padding for safe shipment.

Shipment is usually Media Mail, unless another service is requested. Shipping is at your risk, I will be happy to insure items at your cost.

I charge actual postage plus a small fee for packing materials

As always, I guarantee your satisfaction. If you don't like the item, just return it, and I will refund the full purchase price.

If you are in the San Francisco area, I encourage pick-up in person.

US Domestic Shipping:

Here is a guideline for US Media Mail Shipping:

Prices below are for regular 78 rpm records. Up to about 5 records, I will ship Edison Discs for the same rates. Albums from Album Sets count as 1 record. Above that and for international shipments, it will be actual weight plus a small packing charge (1-3$ depending on size of shipment)

1 record: 4.50 – 5.00$

2 records: 5.75$

5 records: 7.50$

10 records: 9.50$

MANY MORE RECORDS: Don't worry. I safely ship 40 - 50 pounds of records double boxed in moving boxes, and even then Media Mail will probably not exceed 30$.

Please send me a message if you would like to lower your shipping rates!

International Buyers:

I am very happy to ship records worldwide.

Please use the EBAY shipping cost only as a guideline. My actual charges are usually lower

International shipping: approx postage 1x10"=$25: 1x12"=$35: 10"Album 4 Rec=50$: 12" Album 2 Rec=50$
HOWEVER in most cases I can get you SIGNIFICANT savings by using other services. Pls contact me for a quote.

About 30% less to Canada.

Pls contact me for a shipping estimate, or send me an invoice request after close of auction. 

AND AGAIN -THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST

As you can see from my feedback, I take great care in presenting, grading and shipping your items. I really want you to be happy with the purchase. If you feel that anything is wrong with the item or the shipping, contact me and we will work it out !!!

 As always, I would appreciate any suggestions and corrections from you, pls contact me with any question.

Thank you very much, and good luck bidding !!!