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[ARSCLIST] (Fwd) Re: [ARSCLIST] Paris Opera Unearths 100-Year-Old Recordi
From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad
Hello all, and all the best for the upcoming festivities!
Clark Johnsen reported and referred to a Playbill online article relating to
the time-capsules previously stored in the foundations of the Paris opera
(now known as Opéra Garnier).
I had the pleasure of providing a complete report of the 1907 ceremony (24
December in Paris) at the AES Convention in Vienna in May 2007. The report
includes my translation of the original donation document as well as a
selection of the photographs taken and distributed to the press and internal
comments by Alfred Clark to the Gramophone Company head office. In the
official document it is stated quite clearly that the urns could be opened if
the French government so requested, already after 50 years.
My report was published as AES Convention Preprint 7007, with the title "150
years of time-base in acoustic measurement and 100 years of audio's best
publicity stunt - 2007 as a commemorative year", but since I have signed away
the first and second publishing rights, I cannot bring it here. However, as
secondary source material it is unique and well worth paying the AES for.
The 150 years refers to Édouard-Léon Scott's (sometimes also "de Martinville")
invention of the phonautograph, the first registration of an air-borne
sound.
All the best,
George
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> The Opéra national de Paris and the Bibliothèque nationale de France have
> exhumed a musical time capsule: recordings of some of the greatest singers
> of the early 20th century, made in 1907 and sealed for opening 100 years
> later.
>
> The two urns containing the old discs go on display today at the national
> library in the French capital, Agence France-Presse reports.
>
> Nellie Melba (top) and Enrico Caruso
> Each vessel contains 12 discs recorded and donated by the French
> subsidiary
> of The Gramophone Company (ancestor of today's EMI).
>
> http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/7506.html
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