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Re: [ARSCLIST] Tito Gobbi on Royale : Was (Grammophone/album hole)
One interesting series of records that appeared on Royale, Varsity and other
labels in the early 60s consisted of operatic potpourris lasting about 25
minutes each. These were the soundtracks of films made at the Rome Opera c.
1945-46. Some editions had imposed narration in English, others did not. An
example of highlights from William Tell with Gabriella Gatti, Jose Soler and
Tito Gobbi is streamed (for free) on the so-called Belcanto Society website.
(I don't like it when a commercial venture describes itself as a "society".)
My reason for mentioning this concerns the participation of Tito Gobbi in
these films. His name is not mentioned by Lumpe, David Diehl &c. and does
not appear on the covers of the discs. He can be heard in Barbiere, Lucia
and Carmen, in addition to William Tell.
The Carmen disc is the most interesting, with exceptional singing from
Gobbi, Prandelli and Chloe Elmo. Gobbi sings a verse of the Toreador song
and the duet "Se tu m'ami" with Elmo. These items are not otherwise
recorded by him.
I mentioned these records to Gobbi once speaking to him backstage at the
Chicago Lyric Theatre c. 1955. He said that he had noticed the records in a
shop in South America and was offended that his name had effectively been
replaced by the veteran "second" baritone Gino Conti. He said that he went
on to sue the company. It wasn't clear to me whether he sued to stop the
records being sold or because his name didn't appear!
Steve Abrams
_______________________________________________________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: "spcv1@xxxxxxxxxxx" <spcv1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 3:47 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Grammophone/album hole
I am not sure of the Beethoven 4th concerto on Grammophone. My friend,
Ernst Lumpe, has identified many of the Royale-family issues, but there are
some things he may know that he hasn't divulged to anyone, as yet. He likes
to be sure of things. It is also likely that the rare Reger concerto
recording is with Elly Ney. I have been working for several years with
archivists, and various record sleuths, to identify many of the unknown
artists on various labels. Ernst Lumpe and David Gideon are "the kings" for
this sort of thing, from what I know. Currently, I am doing a small part in
identifying the no-name Carmen highlights issued on Rondolette(mistakenly in
a jacket that's supposed to house a Carmen Suite)...the results will be
quite interesting.(check www.rediscovery.us) Mr. Bellafiore: the hole in
the record jacket denotes a cutout album. SS