Description

MAPLESON CYLINDERS

 

 

 

 

The Mapleson Cylinders are a group of more than 100 phonograph cylinders recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera, primarily in the years 1901–1903, by the Met librarian Lionel Mapleson (a nephew of impresario James Henry Mapleson). The cylinders contain short fragments of actual operatic performances from the Italian, German and French repertoires. Despite their variable quality of sound (some are quite good while others are nearly inaudible), the cylinders have great historical value thanks to the unique aural picture they document of pre-World War I singers in performance at an opera house with a full orchestra. Other contemporary recordings only capture singers as recorded with piano or a tiny orchestra in a boxy commercial recording studio. The Mapleson cylinders also feature the only recordings known to exist of a number of famous singers and conductors who were never recorded commercially. They include legendary tenor Jean de Reszke, soprano Milka Ternina, and conductor Luigi Mancinelli. On March 17, 1900, Lionel Mapleson, the librarian of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, purchased an Edison home phonograph, which, like most cylinder phonographs, could be used to make records as well as play them. Mapleson was apparently enchanted with the acoustic device, and on March 21, 1900, his friend, the cellist and occasional composer Leo Stern, presented him with a hardware upgrade for it: Bettini recorder and reproducer units. By the end of the month, Mapleson had persuaded the soprano Marcella Sembrich to record her vocalization of Johann Strauss’s “Frühlingsstimmen” into it. The following year, Mapleson came up with the idea of putting the recorder in the prompter’s box of the Met. His first effort recorded Nellie Melba singing a scrap of music during a performance of Massenet’s Le Cid on January 16, 1901. He recorded several more times during performances, still utilizing the prompter’s box, but often with unsatisfactory results. After a short cessation and with the commencement of the 1901–1902 season, he resumed his recording activity from the Met’s fly system. This time, he employed a huge recording horn that could capture the sounds emanating from singers and orchestra stationed below. He was thus able to unobtrusively record bits of many stage performances from 1901 through 1903. The morning after his recording ‘session’, he would invite the artists involved to listen to playbacks of their performances. His recording activity continued until the end of the 1902–1903 season. At that point Mapleson either lost interest or was forbidden by the Met’s management from continuing his recording activities (although a few cylinders exist of orchestral rehearsals or concerts dating from 1904). Alerted to the cylinders’ existence from an article in The New Yorker, William H. Seltsam, secretary (actually head) of the International Record Collectors’ Club (IRCC), met with Mapleson a few months before his death on December 21, 1937. Mapleson offered two cylinders with the challenge to derive something from them. Seltsam’s experiment met with success and after Mapleson’s death, was able to borrow 120 cylinders from his estate for the purpose of releasing them on IRCC issues. Over the remainder of Seltsam’s lifetime, the IRCC was able to issue about 60 sides on 78-rpm records and LPs. After Mapleson’s death, a number of cylinders were found in a junk store in Brooklyn, and were purchased by various collectors.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

The Mapleson Cylinders – 1900-1904 Complete Edition

Label: Rodgers And Hammerstein Archives Of Recorded Sound – R&H-100

Format: 6 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Mono

Country: US

Year: 1985

Genre: Classical

Style: Opera, Romantic

1 Carmen (20 February 1902): Act II Finale

Composed By – Bizet

Soprano Vocals – Calvé

Tenor Vocals – Salignac

2 Carmen (1902): Voici Les Banderilleros

Chorus – Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Composed By – Bizet

3 La Fille Du Régiment (30 January 1903): Duet

Composed By – Donizetti

Soprano Vocals – Sembrich

Tenor Vocals – Salignac

4 La Fille Du Régiment (30 January 1903): Rataplan

Baritone Vocals – Gilibert

Composed By – Donizetti

Soprano Vocals – Sembrich, van Cauteren

5 Lucia Di Lammermoor (2 March 1901): Verrano A Te

Composed By – Donizetti

Soprano Vocals – Melba

Tenor Vocals – Saléza

6 Lucia Di Lammermoor (18 March 1901): Mad Scene

Composed By – Donizetti

Soprano Vocals – Melba

7 Lucia Di Lammermoor (2 March 1901): Mad Scene

Composed By – Donizetti

Soprano Vocals – Melba

8 Faust (9 January 1903): Waltz

Chorus – Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Composed By – Gounod

9 Faust (28 March 1901): Jewel Song

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Melba

10 Faust (15 February 1902): Jewel Song

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Calvé

11 Faust (4 February 1903): Act III Finale

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Adams

Tenor Vocals – Alvarez

12 Faust (14 February 1903): Act III Finale

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Scheff

Tenor Vocals – Salignac

13 Faust (14 February 1903): Soldiers’ Chorus

Chorus – Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Composed By – Gounod

14 Faust (18 February 1903): Duel Scene

Baritone Vocals – Campanari

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Gounod

Tenor Vocals – Alvarez

15 Faust (4 March 1901): Act V Trio

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Melba

Tenor Vocals – Saléza

16 Faust (28 March 1901): Act V Trio

Bass Vocals – Plançon

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Melba

Tenor Vocals – Saléza

17 Faust (4 February 1903): Act V Trio

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Adams

Tenor Vocals – Alvarez

18 Faust (15 February 1902): Act V Trio

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Calvé

Tenor Vocals – Dippel

19 Faust (1903): Apotheosis

Composed By – Gounod

20 Roméo Et Juliette (9 March 1901): Waltz

Composed By – Gounod

Soprano Vocals – Melba

21 I Pagliacci (7 February 1903): A Ventitrè Ore

Baritone Vocals – Antonio Scotti

Composed By – Leoncavallo

Tenor Vocals – Alvarez, Reiss

22 I Pagliacci (7 February 1903): Bell Chorus

Chorus – Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Composed By – Leoncavallo

23 I Pagliacci (30 January 1903): Act II Opening

Baritone Vocals – Scotti

Composed By – Leoncavallo

24 I Pagliacci (30 January 1903): Di Qua! Di Qua!

Composed By – Leoncavallo

25 Ero E Leandro (March 1903): Act II

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Mancinelli

26 Ero E Leandro (March 1903): Act III

Composed By – Mancinelli

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

27 Cavalleria Rusticana (22 February 1902): Santuzza, Turiddu

Composed By – Mascagni

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Bridewell

Soprano Vocals – Calvé

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

28 Cavalleria Rusticana (22 February 1902): Santuzza, Turiddu Duet

Baritone Vocals – Campanari

Composed By – Mascagni

Soprano Vocals – Calvé

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

29 Cavalleria Rusticana (22 February 1902): Brindisi

Baritone Vocals – Campanari

Composed By – Mascagni

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Bridewell

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

30 Le Cid (1902) O Noble Lame

Baritone Vocals – Gilibert

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke, Journet

Composed By – Massenet

Soprano Vocals – Bréval, Adams

Tenor Vocals – Alvarez

31 Le Cid (19 January 1901): O Noble Lame

Baritone Vocals – Sizés

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke, Plançon

Composed By – Massenet

Soprano Vocals – Bréval, Melba

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

32 Le Cid (1902): O Noble Lame

Baritone Vocals – Gilibert

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke, Journet

Composed By – Massenet

Soprano Vocals – Bréval, Adams

Tenor Vocals – Alvarez

33 Le Cid (1902): O Noble Lame

Baritone Vocals – Gilibert

Bass Vocals – E. De Reszke, Journet

Composed By – Massenet

Soprano Vocals – Bréval, Adams

Tenor Vocals – Alvarez

34 Le Cid (16 January 1901): Alleluia

Composed By – Massenet

Soprano Vocals – Melba

35 L’Africaine (15 March 1901): Ô Paradis

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

36 L’Africaine (15 March 1901): Brahma! Wischnou!

Bass Vocals – Plançon

Composed By – Meyerbeer

37 L’Africaine (15 March 1901): Sélika, Vasco Duet

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Soprano Vocals – Bréval

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

38 Les Huguenots (1 March 1902): Queen’s Cavatina

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Contralto Vocals – Homer

Soprano Vocals – Adams

39 Les Huguenots (24 January 1903): Valentine, Marcel Duet (Act III)

Bass Vocals – De Reszke

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

40 Les Huguenots (29 January 1902): Wedding Chorus

Baritone Vocals – Scotti

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Soprano Vocals – Seygard, Adams

41 Les Huguenots (24 February 1902): Benediction Of The Swords

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Meyerbeer

42 Les Huguenots (24 January 1903): Benediction Of The Swords

Baritone Vocals – Mühlmann

Composed By – Meyerbeer

43 Les Huguenots (11 March 1901): Act IV Duet

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

44 Les Huguenots (11 March 1901): Act IV Duet

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

45 Les Huguenots (11 March): 1901 Act IV Duet

Composed By – Meyerbeer

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

46 Die Zauberflöte (27 January 1902): Der Hölle Rache

Composed By – Mozart

Soprano Vocals – Sembrich

47 Manru (1902) Act III

Baritone Vocals – Mühlmann

Composed By – Paderewski

Soprano Vocals – Scheff

Tenor Vocals – Von Bandrowski

48 Tosca (3 January 1903): Te Deum

Baritone Vocals – Scotti

Composed By – Puccini

49 Tosca (1902): Te Deum

Baritone Vocals – Scotti

Composed By – Puccini

50 Tosca (3 January 1903): Torture Scene

Baritone Vocals – Scotti

Composed By – Puccini

Soprano Vocals – Eames,

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

51 Tosca (3 January 1903): Torture Scene

Baritone Vocals – Scotti

Composed By – Puccini

Soprano Vocals – Eames

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

52 Tosca (3 January 1903): Vissi D’arte

Composed By – Puccini

Soprano Vocals – Eames

53 Tosca (3 January 1903): Act III Finale

Baritone Vocals – Bégué

Composed By – Puccini

Soprano Vocals – Eames

Tenor Vocals – Bars

54 Tosca (1 February 1902): Act III Finale

Bass Vocals – Vivani

Composed By – Puccini

Soprano Vocals – Ternina

Tenor Vocals – Bars

55 Aida (31 January 1903): Ritorna Vincitor

Baritone Vocals – Mühlmann

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Verdi

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Homer

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi, Vanni

56 Aida (31 January 1903): Temple Scene

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Verdi

Soprano Vocals – Marilly

57 Aida (31 January 1903): Temple Scene

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Verdi

Soprano Vocals – Marilly

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

58 Aida (31 January 1903): Triumphal Scene

Composed By – Verdi

59 Aida (31 January 1903): Ma Tu, O Re

Baritone Vocals – Mühlmann, Campanari

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Verdi

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Homer

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

60 Aida (31 January 1903): Triumphal Scene

Baritone Vocals – Mühlmann, Campanari

Bass Vocals – Journet

Composed By – Verdi

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Homer

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

61 Aida (15 February 1902): Triumphal Scene

Baritone Vocals – Mühlmann, Scotti

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Verdi

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Homer

Soprano Vocals – Eames

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi

62 Ernani (1903): O Sommo Carlo

Baritone Vocals – Scotti, Bégué

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Verdi

Soprano Vocals – Sembrich, Bauermeister

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi, Vanni

63 Ernani (1903) O Sommo Carlo

Baritone Vocals – Scotti, Bégué

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Composed By – Verdi

Soprano Vocals – Sembrich, Bauermeister

Tenor Vocals – de Marchi, Vanni

64 La Traviata (16 March 1901): Un di Felice

Composed By – Verdi

Soprano Vocals – Melba

Tenor Vocals – Dippel

65 La Traviata (27 February 1903): Sempre Libera

Soprano Vocals – Sembrich

Tenor Vocals – Dani

66 Götterdämmerung (28 February 1903): Immolation

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

67 Götterdämmerung (28 February 1903): Immolation

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

68 Götterdämmerung (23 January 1903): Immolation

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

69 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): Lohengrin’s Arrival

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

70 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): Lohengrin’s Question

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

71 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): Preparation For Battle

Baritone Vocals – van Rooy

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

72 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): King’s Prayer

Baritone Vocals – van Rooy

Bass Vocals – Blass

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

73 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): King’s Prayer

Bass Vocals – Blass

74 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): Elsa, Ortrud Duet

Soprano Vocals – Gadski, Reuss-Belce

75 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): Minster Scene

Baritone Vocals – van Rooy

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

76 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): Bridal Chorus

Chorus – Metropolitan Opera Chorus

77 Lohengrin (7 February 1903): Act III Scene 3

Bass Vocals – Blass

78 Lohengrin (29 March 1901): Bridal Chamber

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

79 Lohengrin (29 March 1901): Act III Finale

Bass Vocals – E. de Reszke

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

80 Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg (1903): Wach’ Auf!

81 Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg (1903): Act III Scene 2 Chorus

Chorus – Metropolitan Opera Chorus

82 Siegfried (19 March 1901): Forging Song

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

83 Siegfried (19 January 1903): Hammer Song

Tenor Vocals – Reiss, Anthes

84 Siegfried (19 March 1901) Act I Finale

Tenor Vocals – Hübbenet, J. de Reszke

85 Siegfried (4 March 1902): Hammer Song

Tenor Vocals – Reiss, Dippel

86 Siegfried (19 January 1903): Act III Duet

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

87 Tannhäuser (17 January 1903): Shepherd Scene

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Bridewell

Tenor Vocals – Gerhäuser

88 Tannhäuser (17 January 1903) Elisabeth’s Greeting

Baritone Vocals – Bispham

Soprano Vocals – Gadski

Tenor Vocals – Gerhäuser

89 Tristan Und Isolde (13 March 1901): Act II (Excerpts)

Soprano Vocals – Ternina

Tenor Vocals – J. de Reszke

90 Tristan Und Isolde (9 February 1903): Love Duet

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

91 Tristan Und Isolde (9 February 1903): Love Duet

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Schumann-Heink

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

92 Tristan Und Isolde (9 February 1903): Love Duet

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

Tenor Vocals – Anthes

93 Tristan Und Isolde (7 January 1903): Isolde’s Transfiguration

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

94 Tristan Und Isolde (9 February 1903) Isolde’s Transfiguration

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

95 Die Walküre (21 February 1903): Hojotoho!

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

96 Die Walküre (16 January 1903): Hojotoho!

Baritone Vocals – van Rooy

Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Schumann-Heink

Soprano Vocals – Nordica

97 Die Walküre (21 February 1903): Ride Of The Valkyries I

98 Die Walküre (12 February 1903): Ride Of The Valkyries II

99 Die Walküre (16 January 1903): Ride Of The Valkyries III

100 Die Walküre (21 February 1903): Sieglinde’s Farewell

Baritone Vocals – Bispham

Soprano Vocals – Gadski, Nordica

101 Die Walküre (12 February 1903): Wotan’s Farewell

Baritone Vocals – Bispham

102 Die Walküre (February 1902): Magic Fire Music