CYLINDERS 2M = 2-Minute Wax, 4M WA= 4-Minute Wax, 4M BA = Edison Blue Amberol, OBT = Original Box and Top, OP = Original Descriptive Pamphlet
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CYLINDERS 2M = 2-minute wax, 4M WA= 4-minute wax, 4M BA = Edison Blue Amberol, OBT = original box and top, OP = original descriptive pamphlet. Any mold on wax cylinders is always described. All cylinders are boxed (most in good quality boxes) with tops and are standard 2¼” diameter. All grading is visual. All cylinders EDISON unless otherwise indicated. ROBERT BLASS [bs]. New York City, 1867-Berlin, 1930. Born of German parents, Blass studied first as a violinist and then voice in Frankfurt with Julius Stockhau- sen. His debut was in Weimar, 1892, as King Henry in Lohengrin and he was soon heard in many of Germany’s leading houses. Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera first heard him in 1900 and he sang in New York through 1910 and again the seasons of 1920-22. From 1913 to 1920 he was with Berlin’s Deutsche Opera and he taught in Berlin until his death. Blass made few recordings, these for Victor in 1903 and Edison in 1905. 9165. 2M Wax Edison B-48. MAGIC FLUTE: In diesen heil’gen Hallen (Mozart). Announced by Blass. OBT. Just about 1-2. $75.00. ALOIS BURGSTALLER [t]. Holzkirchen, Germany, 1872-1945. Trained as a watchmaker, Burgstaller was heard by chance and encouraged by Cosima Wagner. He made his stage debut at Bayreuth in 1894 in a small role, and from 1896 to 1903 he appeared there in various principal parts such as Siegmund, Parsifal, and Siegfried. In addition he sang at Covent Garden, in Paris and Moscow, as well as in other major Euro- ROBERT BLASS pean operatic sites. He became a member of the Metropolitan Opera roster in 1903, making his debut on February 12th as Sieg- mund. His Met repertoire was entirely Wag- nerian, although he was occasionally heard in music of other composers in Sunday Night Concerts and Galas. On Christmas Eve, 1903 he was Parsifal in the unauthorized American premiere of that opera. As a result, a furious Cosima Wagner banned him from Bayreuth, although they made up two years later and he returned as Siegfried. While Burgstaller was successful in New York, he missed a number of performances as a result of vocal problems stemming from the toll taken on his voice from his heavy repertoire and the New York winter weather. He sudden- ly departed from the Met mid-season, 1908-09. Joining him was Mrs. Lydia Hexa- mer, an heiress and “the wife of the well-to- do owner of the Hoboken (N.J.) Riding Aca- demy”. Burgstaller had originally come to America for the higher pay than would have been possible in Europe, but the wealthy Mrs. Hexamer suggested that when they married, fees would no longer be a problem. After putting up with the situation for several years, Mr. Hexamer was glad to see them go. Likewise the Met was not unhappy as the tenor had been able to sing only two of several scheduled performances in 1908, including missing the first Met Tristan to have been conducted by Mahler. Here he was ALOIS BURGSTALLER replaced by tenor Heinrich Knote, caught just as his ship was to depart from New York for Europe. Burgstaller’s only commercial recordings were three cylinders for Edison (1905) and one for Columbia (1907). 9158. 2M Wax Edison B-31. DER FREISCHÜTZ: Durch die Wälder (v. Weber). Announced by Burgstaller. OBT (tiny box top tear). Just about 1-2. $100.00. 28 CYLINDERS GIUSEPPE CAMPANARI [b]. Venice, 1855-Milano, 1927. Campanari’s first musical success was as a cellist, playing in the La Scala Orchestra and from 1884 the Boston Symphony. In 1893 he made his Amercan operatic debut with the Hinshaw Opera, and the following year he made his Metropolitan Opera debut where, in 1895, he created the role of Ford in the American premiere of Verdi’s Falstaff. He appeared at the Met through 1912 in close to 500 performances of 28 roles, ranging from Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette through de Luna in Il Trova- tore. He later taught, his daughter and pupil Marina having had a career as a lyric-coloratura soprano and son Christopher having demonstrated potential as a dramatic tenor but a shorter career than his sister, preferring the world of business. The two children made test records for Victor in, respectively, 1923 and 1913, but extant copies are not known. Marina did make published records for Okeh in 1921. Giuseppe recorded for Bettini in 1898 (copies of a few known to exist), Victor (1903-1905), Edison (1906) and Columbia (1903; 1907-09). 9173. 2M Wax Edison B-54. IO SON L’AMORE (Tosti). OBT. Probably the scarcest of his three Edisons. Just about 1-2. $75.00. ELEONORA DE CISNEROS [c] 9191. 4M Blue Amberol 28180. O WERT THOU IN THE CAULD BLAST (Burns-Mendels- sohn). With PAOLO GRUPPE [cellist] and piano. Repro orange box & top. Just about 1-2. $35.00. MARIE DRESSLER [comedi- enne-actress]. Ontario, 1869- Los Angeles, CA, 1934. Dressler had considerable success in vaudeville and in stage presentations. Her film career ran from silents (the earliest in 1910) through sound films the year of her death. In 1931 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her only recordings were five 1910 Edison cylinders. 9187. 2M Wax Edison 10318. I’M A-GOIN’ TO CHANGE MY MAN (Dressler). “Coon song”. OBT (plain top). Cons. 2. $50.00. FRANZ EGÉNIEFF [b] Niederwalluf, 1874-Gmund am Tegernsee, 1949. Born Marian Eberhard Franz Emil von Kleydorff, Egénieff’s father was a Prince and the son was officially a Baron. He was originally a Prussian hussar but left the military in 1900 to develop his voice. Being able to afford the best teachers, he studied with Lilli Leh- mann, Alfredo Cairati and Victor Maurel. For his professional career, he MARIE DRESSLER became Franz Egénieff and was first a principal baritone with the a touring opera company in America from 1904-06. He subsequently appeared in various theaters throughout Germany and neighboring countries, both in opera and concert, and occasionally in the U.S., as in 1917 with the touring Interstate Opera Company in Tristan und Isolde (with Rachael Frease-Green, Eleonora de Cisneros, Karl Jörn and Henri Scott). In 1920 he began a film career in Germany, appearing successfully from 1920 through 1927 in a number of German dramatic and comedic silent films. His operatic work continued as well, with performances at Bayreuth in 1927 (as Klingsor in Parsifal) and 1929-31 with the traveling Ger- man Opera Company in the U.S. He then retired to his villa in Gmund am Tegernsee. 9170. 4M BA 28154. TANNHÄUSER: O kehr Zurück (Wagner). OB (top missing). Includes orig. brochure. 2. $40.00. RALPH ERROLLE [t]. Chicago, Sept. 22, 1888 (most sources incorrectly list 1890)- Philadelphia, 1973. Born Errol Smith, Errolle studied at Racine College in Wisconsin. Upon graduation he decided to make singing his profession and made his debut at the age of 21 in the title role of Auber’s Fra Diavolo at the Marlowe Theater, Chicago. He was, as a result, offered a four-year scholarship to study at the Chicago Musical College with Hermann Devries. He was then engaged by the Chicago Opera where he made his debut as Lionel in Flotow’s Martha. 29 CYLINDERS His subsequent work included a tour of Australia with the Williamson Grand Opera Company, the St. Louis Civic Opera, the New Orleans Opera and the Metropolitan (1924-26). At the Met his roles included Romeo, Almaviva (Barbiere di Siviglia), the Fisherman in Stravinsky’s The Nightingale, Paco in de Falla’s La Vida Breve and Gonzalve in Ravel’s l’Heure Espagnole. His last performances in opera seem to have been with the “Popular Priced Opera Company” in Brooklyn, 1941-42, as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with soprano Herva Nelli. He was subsequently hired as head of the Music and Opera Department of Louisiana State University. His daughter, Martha, had a career in opera which appears to have ended upon her marriage in 1943. Errole’s own marriages totaled five. He recorded for Columbia, Edison and Gennett and one electrical disc for the American Institute of Music, Arts and Drama in Montclair, NJ, which he headed. 9179. 4M Wax Amberol 1061. CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA: Ave Maria [Intermezzo] (Mascagni). Short-lived wax issue which never appeared on Blue Amberol. OBT. Just about 1-2. $15.00. FRITZ FEINHALS [b]. Cologne, 1869- Munich, 1940. Feinhals’ early training was in engineering, followed by vocal studies in Italy. He made his debut in Essen, 1895, as Silvio in Pagliacci. In 1898 he became a member of the Munich Opera and was last heard there in 1927. He was also heard at Covent Garden (1898 and 1907). At the Metropolitan, the season of 1908- 09, he created Sebastiano in the American pre- miere of d’Albert’s Tiefland, and throughout his career he appeared as a guest in many major European houses. One of his world creations was Pfitzner’s Palestrina in Munich, 1917. 9176. 4M BA 28119. TANNHÄUSER: O du mein holder Abendstern (Wagner). OBT. Just about 1-2. $60.00. ORVILLE HARROLD [t] 9171. 4M BA 28129 [take 2]. MARY [KIND AND GENTLE IS SHE] (Richardson). OBT. Just about 1-2. $25.00. OTTILIE METZGER [c]. Frankfurt, 1878-Auschwitz, 1943. A leading artist first at Cologne, then with the Hamburg Opera and, 1916-21, with the Dresden Staats-oper, Metzger also appeared in a concert tour of the U.S. in 1914-15 and with the German Opera Company in New York, 1922-23. FRITZ FEINHALS 9190.