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CD51910 Orchestral Opera Selections from Shallac Times

CD51910 Orchestral Opera Selections from Shallac Times
CD51910 Orchestral Opera Selections from Shallac Times
Item# CD51910
$9.90

Product Description

CD51910 Orchestral Opera Selections from Shallac Times

Orchestral Opera Selections, Fantasies and Potpourries from shellac times.

Shellac collectors know that in the time, say from 1910 until 1950 purely orchestral selections from operas (and also of operettas), usually on one 78rpm disc, formed an important genre of recordings. In the catalogues of the bigger companies one could find such potpourries or fantasies of all operas which were considered to be popular. In fact there existed much more of such fantasies than of complete opera recordings or of vocal selections.

These special arrangements were sorts of medleys of melodies from the opera compositions, somewhat like those available for the piano somewhat earlier. With the advent of the long playing discs, however, the day of our potpourries were over and the victory of vocal highlight discs and complete sets began. Most collectors of opera on modern CDs do not even know what once existed in the indicated direction.

Which orchestral ensembles were invoked in these recordings: the range is wider as one may think: regular symphony orchestras were used of course, but also smaller ensembles under various descriptions and also typical bands.

The duration of the recordings differ because of technical limitations. Two-sided 10' and 12' discs were used in this genre, such that between 6 and 10 minutes came together. In exceptional cases (say Meistersinger) two 12' discs were used. Exceptions in the other direction were possible which filled only one side of a 12' disc.

The aim of this collection is to give a certain impression of the virtues and shortcomings of this nearly forgotten genre. This archive contains recordings of this type from

Carmen, Faust, Rigoletto, Aida, Traviata, Trovatore, Don Giovanni, Butterfly, Bartered Bride, Boheme, Meistersinger, Fledermaus.



The product you receive will be better quality than what you see and hear below.




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Important Information!!!
USA Telephone (404) 200-4776 We sell only opera recordings. The recordings are sent to you in paper sleeves with no tray card or inserts, just the raw discs with printed labels. These recordings are of nonprofessional quality that are in the public domain. The quality of these old opera recordings is not very good and they are meant for collectors and educational purposes only. Most of them are 30 or 40 years old, so they might be blurry, colors faded, and not sound very good, but they might not be available elsewhere. Please note that most of our recordings do not have tracks, they have 1 long track per disc.