Vocal Record Collectors’ Society 2008 Annual Issue
These CD releases need to introduction to the vocal buff or passionate record collector but it’s high time they do get some attention on our website. The 2008 CD came right in time for our first issue of 2009 and again contains for one hundred % recordings of great interest and which would take a life-time of collecting and not a small fortune to make part of one’s collection. Here you get 22 recordings for the price of a couple of dollars. Favorites? Grete Forst in an aria from Massé’s Les noces de Jeanette, an aria not included on her Court Opera LP and a first-ever CD release. Stalwart stentorian baritone and fellow countryman Jean Noté in a prayer by Gounod again not included on the Cypres CD entirely dedicated to this prolific recording artist. Baritone-chazzan Jozef Winogradow once had an interesting cassette tribute release by musique internationale but his recording of Samuel Alman’s Hasschivenu from his Yiddish opera King Ahaz along soprano S. Arkadjewa was not included and I didn’t even know of its existence. You can enjoy the tremendously impressive dark baritone in this piece on this CD, like the other recordings again a first-time ever. A great rarity. If these three selections only haven’t convinced you of purchasing this CD then the other items will do whether Elisabeth Schumann in a live 6 minute English sung excerpt from Brahms German requiem under Bernard Hermann (!) or Kathleen Ferrier live in Bist du bei mir from a 1950 Town Hall concert amongst all other items of great interest. Any self respecting vocal collector living in NYC or whereabouts should be a member of the society and any other living elsewhere should collect their CD releases. They’re a good antidote to these chaotic and difficult times.
Rudi van den Bulck, Opera Nostalgia