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 Rosa Ponselle Soprano Assoluta ASCO A-125 Mono LP Set Rare 1961 OOP

This is a 1961 Rare Edward J. Smith  first Pressing . The Album cover has some light age wear and the gatefold is split at the top. Vinyl is Excellent. This is the USA Pressing of this Double LP set.
In this album which shows the extent of her career from 1919 to 1954 are numerous recordings which are released to the public for the very first time. Not only are these recordings of the utmost importance to the musicologist and to the discophile, but to the music world at large, for included are recordings which cover the greatest of her triumphs, not previously available on records. ( from album liner notes)
 
Track listing

 TRACKS
SlDE 1
I CARMEN
2 FEDRA
3 CAVALLERA RUSTICANA,
4 OTELLO
5 DON GIOVANNI
6 VESTALE
7 NORMA
8 SEMIRAMIDE

SIDE 2
1 THE BLUE DANUBE
2 OVRE TON COEUR
3 EL MORENITO
4 CLAVELITOS
5 CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINNY
6 THE OLD REFRAIN
7 THE BIG BROWN BEAR
8 TRAVATORE
9 AFRICANA


SIDE 3
SUOR ANGELICA
2 DER TOD UND DAS MADCHEN
3 SE
4 TRAUME
5 MY LOVELY CELIA
6 MORGEN
7 AGNUS
8 NOZZE DI FIGARO

SIDE 4
1 L'ARLESIANA
2 NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART
3 PSYCHE
4 TRISTESSE ETERNELLE
5 AVE MARIA (LUZZI)
6 AVE MARIA (SANDOVAL)
7 NANA
8 ASTURIANA
9 TRE GIORNI SON CHE NINA
 Album notes


She was born Rosa Ponzillo on January 22, 1897, in Meriden, Connecticut, the youngest of three children. The family lived on the city's west side in a neighborhood chiefly populated by immigrants from the south of Italy, first at the corner of Lewis Avenue and Bartlett Streets, then on Foster Street, where Ponselle was born, moving when she was three to Springdale Avenue. Her parents were Italian Neapolitan immigrants. Rosa had an exceptionally mature voice at an early age and, at least in her early years, sang on natural endowment with little, if any, vocal training. Instead, her early prowess as a piano student (which was cultivated by a local music teacher, Anna Ryan, the organist of a nearby Catholic church), seemed to incline Rosa to instrumental rather than vocal music. But with the influence and example of her older sister, Carmela, who was then pursuing a career as a cabaret singer, Rosa began to augment her engagements as a silent-movie accompanist in and around Meriden by singing popular ballads to her audiences while the projectionist changed film reels. By 1914, her reputation as a singer led to a long-term engagement at the San Carlino theater, one of the largest movie houses in New Haven, near the Yale campus.
Rosa Ponselle made her Metropolitan Opera debut on November 15, 1918, as Leonora in Verdi's La forza del destino, opposite Caruso. It was her first performance on any opera stage. In spite of an almost paralyzing case of nerves (which she suffered from throughout her operatic career), she scored a tremendous success, both with the public and with the critics. New York Times critic James Huneker wrote:

What a promising debut! Added to her personal attraciveness, she possesses a voice of natural beauty that may prove a gold mine. It is vocal gold, anyhow, with its luscious lower and middle tones, dark, rich and ductile, brilliant in the upper register.

In addition to Leonora, Ponselle's roles in the 1918-19 season included Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Rezia in Weber's Oberon, and Carmelita in the (unsuccessful) world premiere of Joseph Carl Breil's The Legend (a role and opera that Ponselle loathed so much that she later burned the score and said the opera "would stink up a cat box").

In the following Met seasons, Ponselle's roles included the lead soprano roles in La Juive (opposite Caruso's Eléazar, his last new role before he died), William Tell, Ernani, Il trovatore, Aida, La Gioconda, Don Carlos, L'Africaine, L'amore dei tre re, Andrea Chénier, La vestale, and in 1927 the role that many considered her greatest achievement, the title role in Bellini's Norma. In addition to her operatic activities, which were centered at the Met, Ponselle also had a lucrative concert career. A tour of the West coast included an appearance at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara on March 14, 1927 in the Artist Series of the Community Arts Association's Music Branch, accompanied by pianist Stuart Ross.

You Will not be disappointed with the quality of this very special  LP in Near Mint- Condition

 

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On 04-Jul-11 at 18:39:03 EDT, seller added the following information:

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