FRANCESCO TAMAGNO // Recordings / ORIGINAL 1978 UK 78 Box Set SEALED

$

100

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Music sounds BEST on vinyl  --and this is a keeper, fantastic condition! You'll not find finer!!

ORIGINAL 1978 UK MONO PRESSING on EMI/HISTORICAL MASTERS RECORDS, Catalog # FT1-FT7

Historic Masters issues 78 rpm discs in original form. "Our records are pressed from the original metal parts used for pressing the discs in the days of 78s. They are not transfers or dubbings. Thus they are identical to original pressings, but instead of noisy shellac, we use vinyl which has a much lower surface noise. That means more of the music can be heard. And, modern technology enables us to produce better pressings than could be made 50 or more years ago." Early in his career Tamagno had gained a fine reputation as a tenore di forza exciting his audiences with his powerful and brilliant acuti, (high notes), especially in Donizetti’s Poliuto and Rossini’s Guillaume Tell. This gained him a popularity that had been previously been reserved for Roberto Tamberlik (1820-1889), the tenor who had interpolated an unwritten High C sharp in the finale of Rossini’s Otello and also the High C’s in the stretta ‘Di quella pira’ from Il Trovatore). Aged 29, Tamagno was given the opportunity of increasing his reputation by creating the role of Gabriele Adorno in the revised version of Simon Bocca negra in 1881, and later the title role in the revised 5 Act version of Don Carlo in 1884, when both operas were re-staged at La Scala, Milan. According to Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, in his fascinating book Voci Parallelle (Parallel Voices) that very literate tenor comments that, initially Tamagno was no more highly regarded or appreciated, than his distinguished contemporaries Angelo Masini (1844-1926) Juliån Gayarre (1844-1890) Roberto Stagno (1836-1897, the creator of Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana) and ’Cecco’ (Francesco) Marconi (1855-1916). The news that Verdi was writing a new opera to be called Otello evidently prompted Tamagno to write to the composer, proposing himself as the protagonist. Surviving correspondence indicates that at first, Verdi was not sure Tamagno was the artist he thought could do justice to the work. However on reconsidering who else might be available, and impressed not only with Tamagno’s vocal prowess but also his physique, he relented, and so on the 5th February 1887 at La Scala, Milan a ‘Legend was born’. Since the advent of sound recording, collectors and admirers of vocal art, particularly that period euphemistically referred to as the ‘Golden Age’, have usually endeavoured to acquire, where possible, discs of artists who appeared in a première, thus creating those roles that have now become part of the standard operatic repertoire. Performance style and traditions can be put into some perspective and Tamagno’s singing of various excerpts from Otello, barely 16 years after its première, can surely be considered authentic and as the composer would have wished. Some of the Otello recordings were available over the years in original shellac format, but for the first time in association with the EMI Archive Trust, Historic Masters offer a set of vinyl pressings of the 12? discs made in Ospedaletti in Feb 1903 and Rome in April 1904. (there is no trace whatever of a duet from Il Guarany said to have been recorded with Giannina Russ in October 1903) The sound emanating from these discs is of unsurpassed quality, with a presence and ambience previously not available. Because of ill-health, Tamagno had not sung in the theatre for some time before these recordings were made, and indeed, barely two years after, he died aged 55. Although Fred Gaisberg wrote that the discs gave the listener only a fraction of his enormous voice, nevertheless the freedom of Tamagno’s tonal emission, placement, brilliance, thrust and penetration of the high tones, emanating from recordings made well over 100 years ago are still remarkable. They also indicate, why, for some considerable time after his retirement, this fiendishly demanding role was so difficult to fill successfully. Eight of these discs have never been published in their original form, including the rare Messalina aria, previously thought to exist only as a test pressing. Recent research in the archives has also uncovered not only this unpublished material, but also sensationally brought to light a completely unknown version of the great Otello/Iago Act lll Oath duet; ‘Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro’. Various suggestions have been made as to who the baritone might be, and it was suggested that it might be Giovanni Albinolo, rumoured as Tamagno’s natural son, but the voice one hears here does not really resemble other known recordings of this baritone. Another suggestion is that it could possibly be Antonio Cotogni (1831-19180) who had not only been a very famous singer, but, on retirement became a much admired teacher at the Academia Santa Cecilia, Rome. However this theory is unlikely, as although the voice is not that of a young man, by the time the recording was made Cotogni would have been well into his 70’s. Another suggestion, and one that is now thought most likely, is that it is Tamagno’s, brother, who it is reported, was visiting Tamagno’s home, where by special negotiations with the Gaisberg brothers, on behalf of the Gramophone and Typewriter Company, these recordings were made. As with the Patti issue, which was made available with facsimiles of her specially designed original coloured labels, each record in this special set will bear faithful copies of ‘The Gramophone and Typewriter Company’s famous Red Labels, with which Tamagno’s discs were first issued, and will also contain an illustrated booklet with analytical comments on the tenor’s art, by Michael Aspinall. The first twelve items in this set (HM FT1 – FT6) were all recorded at Tamagno’s villa in Ospedaletti, Susa, Italy in February 1903. The matrix numbers for these 12 inch records were all in the Gramophone & Typewriter Company’s ‘C’ series that would, in 1904, be allocated the identifying letter “c”. They are: HM FT1 10-W2-FT Otello (Verdi): Esultate! (Published as G & T issue no. 052101) 11-W2-FT Otello (Verdi): Esultate! (Unpublished) HM FT2 12-W2-FT Otello (Verdi): Ora e per sempre addio (Published as G & T issue no 052102) 13-R-FT Otello (Verdi): Ora e per sempre addio (Unpublished) HM FT3 14-R-FT Otello (Verdi): Niun mi tema (Unpublished except as HM 36) 15-R-FT Otello (Verdi): Niun mi tema (Unpublished) HM FT4 16-W2-FT Andrea Chénier (Giordano): Un dì all’azzuro spazio (Unpublished) 17-R-FT Guglielmo Tell (Rossini): O muto asil (Published as G & T issue no 052103) HM FT5 18-R-FT Il Re de Lahore (Massenet): O casto fior (Promesse de mon avenir) 19-W2-FT Priv Otello (Verdi): Sì, pel ciel marmoreo giuro (Both are private, unpublished recordings. 18 is sung by an unknown baritone who accompanies on 19) HM FT6 20-R-FT Private Messalina (de Lara): Dei del patria suol 21-R-FT Private A Santa Maria di Oropa (Mapelli) (Both are private recordings and unpublished.) The ‘R’ suffix indicates Bedford Royal, and the ‘W’ indicates Will Gaisberg – the two engineers who made the recordings. Gaisberg was in overall charge. Titles of the unpublished items have been listed and printed on the labels as, in our opinion, would have been the case had they been published. Thus, since the original label for 17 R gave the opera title in Italian, rather than the original French; we have followed that for the Massenet and de Lara titles. The following were recorded in Rome in April 1904. The engineer was William Sinkler Darby: HM FT7 269i Otello (Verdi): Niun mi tema (Published as G&T issue no. 052068) 270i Andrea Chénier (Giordano): Un dì all’azzuro spazio (Published as G&T issue no. 052100) This is a really beautiful and well produced set. These records are pressings on high quality vinyl made from the original metal masters. All seven records are housed in a sturdy box, and a detailed booklet accompanies the records. Many of these recordings were previously unpublished or private issues. You may now hear alternate takes and other rarities by this legendary tenor. The entire set looks to be new - no defects of any kind in the packaging. I'll grade it a 10 on a scale of 10.

    



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  (?PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, SHOWN ABOVE) (Note: the image shown is the actual album, shot just for this listing.  We work to show you the entire cover, all seams and corners.).




(NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we grade records under a bare light bulb or the Florida sunlight)

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QUALITY CONTROL :  past those details listed above, and to make sure you have no surprises when you get this in the mail, this record and cover have:
 
-        No split seams

-        No cut corners

-        No saw-marks or indents

-        No writing in pen, pencil or marker

-        No stamps

-        No tearing: no chips, dents or nicks on the seams

-        No peel-off marks

-        No mold, discoloring or mildew spots 

-        No water damage

-        No cuts, razor marks, lines, streaks, scratches, pressure marks.

-        No warping or dishing

-        No paint, glue, wax or liquid drops on the cover

-        No RIAA stamps or stickers.

 
 

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Grading Scale: M (mint) Record is new, shiny, never played. A Mint cover would be flawless. 

M- (mint minus) Record is like new, probably played a few times, but it doesn't effect the quality of the

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EX (excellent) Record in great shape, may have light marks, played more than a few times but little or no surface noise. An EX cover would

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