A monthly column by Ralph Heims, co-creator of Forgotten Opera Greats
“Who wants to listen to those scratchy, noisy old records?” And with this rhetorical question many opera lovers cut themselves off from a quarter century of great singers! What’s even sadder is that modern technology and the work of professional restoration experts has made the question irrelevant. The acoustic 78 rpm records we can now listen to, while old, are no longer scratchy and noisy.
For an example, listen to this.
That was Titta Ruffo, recorded in 1915. Many consider him the greatest dramatic baritone of the 20th century. His operatic debut was in 1898 and he retired in 1931, which is a respectable duration for a singing career. However, his vocal decline began in 1924, one year before the advent of electrical recordings — the next major advance in commercial sound recording. Ruffo did make a few electrical recordings, and they clearly show deterioration in vocal quality as he heads down the “home stretch.”
To sample the female voice on acoustic 78 RPM, let’s turn to a famous contemporary of Ruffo, Amelita Galli-Curci.
Yes, there are stylistic eccentricities, like the overlong initial trill and the extended fermatas. Tastes change over the decades, and we would do well not to judge the past by today’s standards. However, the voice is remarkable for its beautifully pure, silvery timbre, its pin-point accurate staccati, and the flawless bel canto technique.
Galli-Curci’s operatic debut was in 1906, and she retired in 1930, so, like Ruffo, to hear her in her prime, one must turn to acoustic 78 RPMs.
Whether you’re new to the world of acoustic recordings or a previously discouraged opera fan who had given up on them in the past, I encourage you to go on a hunting expedition on YouTube to sample other great artists who sang into the horn and relied on just the vibrations of their voices to leave us glimpses into their art. It’s like stepping into a time machine and being transported back 100 years or more to experience what once was. To get you started, here are a few more singers you might check out.
Mattia Battistini
Johanna Gadski
Ernestine Schumann-Heink