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M. Battistini's 1898 "O du mein holder"

453 Views 12 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  ewilkros, 
kappablanca
I recently came across a remastering of Battistini's 1898 Edison cylinder recording of Wolfram's aria (he's 42 at the time of recording, the youngest we'll ever hear him). It's one of the most beautiful recordings I've ever heard. I don't think any further comments are necessary. Enjoy!

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ewilkros
kappablanca said:
I recently came across a remastering of Battistini's 1898 Edison cylinder recording of Wolfram's aria (he's 42 at the time of recording, the youngest we'll ever hear him). It's one of the most beautiful recordings I've ever heard. I don't think any further comments are necessary. Enjoy!

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This would appear to be the 1911 Milan recording (with orchestra), not the 1898 privately recorded cylinder (with piano, as far as can be heard, and which breaks off in mid-aria since the cylinder had only a 2-minute capacity), or the 1902 Milan G&T recording (with piano, and where Battistini makes a late entrance early on). Did you post the cut you meant to?
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ewilkros
kappablanca said:
I do wish I could buy that Battistini biography that Thomas Hampson wrote the forward to, but there is no way that's happening when the e-book sells for 150 dollars for no apparent reason.
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For $150 one could buy two copies of Marston's 6-CD "Complete Battistini" set (CD 6 would run a bit short with only Battistini on it, so we get 10 Giuseppe Bellantoni tracks as a makeweight):

www.marstonrecords.com

Marston Records | Home

Home page of Marston Records. New release, promotions, and the latest information of the company.
www.marstonrecords.com www.marstonrecords.com

(For free one can download all of Michael Aspinall's extensive liner notes from the same link)
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ewilkros
PaulFranz said:
As regards the actual 1898 recording, it shows something interesting: his low notes did worsen as he aged, and likely were not always as awful as they are in most of his commercial recordings. Lots of reviews talk about how great he is in rôles like Tannhäuser, whereas when he recorded the arias, he struggled with C half the time. Not ideal. He recorded Abendstern four times, and the cylinder is the lowest key he recorded it in.

Not perfect evidence, but it's what we have, and it is analogous with Ruffo's career.
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I see that Marston has transferred all four "Abendstern" recordings as having been done up a half-step (in A). I trust Marston implicitly in these matters.
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ewilkros
PaulFranz said:
Check again. The earliest is up a half step, in Ab, and the next three are up a whole step, in A.
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Quite. Dam' fine-print font.
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