VOCAL 78 rpm Discs Minimum bid as indicated per item. Listings “Just about 1-2” should be considered as mint and “Cons. 2” with just the slightest marks. For collectors searching top copies, you’ve come to the right place! The further we get from the time of production (in many cases now 100 years or more), the more difficult it is to find such excellent extant pressings. Some are actually from mint dealer stocks and others the result of having improved copies via dozens of collections purchased over the past fifty years. * * * For those looking for the best sound via modern reproduction, those items marked “late” are usually of high quality shellac, pressed in the 1950-55 period. A number of items in this particular catalogue are excellent pressings from that era. * * * Please keep in mind that the minimum bids are in U.S. Dollars, a benefit to most collectors. * * * “Text label on verso.” For a brief period (1912-14), Victor pressed silver-on-black labels on the reverse sides of some of their single-faced recordings, usually with a translation of the text or similarly related comments. BESSIE ABOTT [s]. Riverdale, NY, 1878-New York, 1919. Following the death of her father which left her family penniless, Bessie and her sister Jessie (born Pickens) formed a vaudeville sister vocal act, accompanying themselves on banjo and guitar. Upon the recommendation of Jean de Reszke, who heard them by chance, Bessie began operatic training with Frida Ashforth. She subsequently studied with de Reszke him- self and appeared with him at the Paris Opéra, making her debut as Gounod’s Juliette. She also sang the Forest Bird in Wagner’s Siegfried with de Reszke in the title role. Despite various biographical references to the contrary, Abott seems not to have studied with Marchesi. She appeared at the Met during the seasons of 1906-08, but was dissatisfied with her schedule and left. She then began arrangements with Mascagni for a new opera in which she would tour. The work turned out to be Isabeau. Mascagni, however, had other ideas as to what would be done with the opera when it was completed, a decision which produced lawsuits on both sides. After touring with her own company and appearing in operetta as well, Abott married sculptor T. Waldo Story (brother of Emma Eames’ first hus- band, artist Julian Story) in 1912 and subsequently spent ABOTT as Isabeau … a role much time in Italy where they had an estate. She evidently met she never performed Puccini during this period, as she claimed one of her proudest possessions to have been a Pomeranian puppy presented to her by the composer. 1688. 12” Victrola 88084. LAKMÉ: Bell Song (Delibes). Nice pressing. Few lightest mks., cons. 2. $12.00. LUIGI ABRATE [t] 2980. 10” Purple acous. La Cigale (Eng. Col.) D9394 [70438/70441]. IL PICCOLO MARAT: Ah! se tu m’ami Mariella / CESARE FORMICHI [b]. IL PICCOLO MARAT: Si, l’amante più bella (Mascagni. Side one cons. 2. Side two there are three (harmless) rubs, otherwise cons. 2. $20.00. AÏNO ACKTÉ [s]. Helsinki, 1876-Numela, 1944. Having studied voice with Edmond Duvernoy, Giraudet and Paul Vidal, as well as with her mother (Emmy Ackté, a soprano with the Helsinki Opera), Ackté made her debut at the Paris Opéra, 1897, as Marguerite in Gou- nod’s Faust. Her subsequent career included all the major European operatic centers and the Metropolitan Opera (1903-05). In 1910, she was England’s first Salome (and one of the few sopranos at the time to do the “Dance of the Seven Veils” herself). Her repertoire was diverse, including Micaela in Carmen, Nedda (which she sang in the Paris Grand Opera premiere of Pagliacci in 1902) and Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Siegfried, among other Wagnerian heroines. 4050. 10” Blk. French G&T 33528 [x1999]. FAUST: Air des bijoux (Gounod). Announced by Ackté. This and the following disc are from Zonophone matrices with “grand orchestre” (piano and about six wind instruments). Bright label. Some LGTs and one worn groove area (not the final notes). One mark causing some sound about ¼” is in matrix. 4-5 because of greyed spots. $20.00. 21 VOCAL 78 rpm Discs 4051. 10” Blk. French G&T 33529 [x2000]. MADAME CHRYSANTÈME: Valse des Cigales (Messager). Band acc. Announced by Ackté. Spirited and charming selection, very effectively sung. Some of it very quiet but most high notes worn. Label quite bright. If only one could play the label! 1” hair crack, greying, 5. $15.00. IRIS ADAMI-CORRADETTI [s] 1411. 10” Blue Cetra AT 0110 [50499/50112]. FRANCESCA DA RIMINI: Paolo, datemi pace (Zandonai) / LINA PAGLIUGHI [s]. RIGOLETTO: Tutte le feste (Verdi). One small, harmless PB and couple lightest rubs. Cons. 2. $150.00. ROSE ADER-TRIGONA [s]. Oderberg, 1890-1955. A leading lyric soprano and also remembered for her love affair with Puccini (his last), Ader studied voice with Johannes Rees at the Vienna Conservatory. Her operatic debut was at the Vienna Hofoper in 1915 as Violetta and in this role later the same year for her Hamburg Opera. In 1922, she was first heard on stage in Italy at the Costanzi as Mimì. She was Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus the evening Marta Eggerth (presently aged 100 and still singing) made her operatic debut in Hamburg, 1929, as Adele. For further details on her career (which, for all practical purposes, ended in 1933), see Vol. 52, No. 1 of The Record Collector Magazine, which features an excellent reminiscence by her son. 2189. 12” PW Parlophone P.9257 [2-20627/2-20628]. BOHÊME: Mi chiamano Mimì / BOHÊME: Addio (Puccini). Her name on this label (her only issued recording) appears as Adler-Trigona. Side one lt. scuffs, 2-3. Side two 2. $15.00. AGUSTARELLO AFFRE [t]. St. Chinian, France, 1858-Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, 1931. He studied at the Toulouse Conservatoire and then in Paris. 1890 marked his Paris Opèra debut as Edgardo to Nellie Melba’s Lucia, the soprano appearing in Paris for the first time the same evening. He remained a leading tenor of that institution for twenty years, also appearing in various other French houses as well as in Brussels, and at London’s Covent Garden. In 1911 he moved to the United States where he was heard in operas in New Orleans, San Francisco, and in Havana. According to one source, Affre became director of the French Opera House in New Orleans in 1913 when it came under the ownership of Tulane University, remaining there until the house burnt down in 1919. He then retired to a villa on the Côte d’Azur. 3297. 10” Red Monarch 5076 [1229-F]. ROMÉO ET JULIETTE: Duo de la Chambre (Gounod). With CHARLOTTE AGUSSOL [s]. Label quite bright (tiny stain and few lt. scrs.). Some greying here and there, 4-5. $12.00. 2974. 10” Green Disque Zonophone X-82528/X-82529 [3426F/1469F]. LE LAC (Nieder- meyer) / LE PROPHÈTE: Pastorale (Meyerbeer). Tiny scr. cluster side two should be superficial. Gen. 2. $15.00. 9424. 11” APGA 2105/2106 [A258/A259]. HERNANI: Scène du Tombeau (Henri Hirsch- mann). Two sides. Affre created the title role in the world premiere, I believe at the Gaité-Lyrique in 1909. From the dated photo below, this recording would seem to have been made on 30 March, 1909. Rare! Cons. 2. $75.00. 22 VOCAL 78 rpm Discs 3269. 11” Brown/lt. Blue Odeon 36695/36727 [XP.2510/XP.2583]. CARMEN: La fleur (Bizet) / LA MUETTE DE PORTICI: Amour Sacré (Auber). Side two with JEAN NOTÉ [b]. Piano acc. Few LGTs side two, otherwise 2. $15.00. 3278. 11” Brown/White Odeon 60341/60342 ]XP.3363/XP.3364]. LUCIA: Fra poco / LUCIA: Tu che a Dio (Donizetti). In French. 2. $12.00. 3281. 11” Brown Odeon 60478/60487 [XP.3632/XP.3631]. ROMÉO ET JULIETTE: Salut! Tombeau! / ROMÉO ET JULIETTE: Pourquoi me la rends-tu si belle (Gounod). Cons. 2. $15.00. 9317. 11” Brown/White Odeon 97002/97068 [XP.4459/4356]. WILLIAM TELL: O Ma- thilde / WILLIAM TELL: Accours dans ma nacelle (Rossini). Both with LUCIEN RIGAUX [b]. Cons. 2. $20.00. 3506. 10” Blk. French G&T 34036 [3161-F]. LES HUGUENOTS: Tu l’as dit (Meyerbeer). With MARCELLE DEMOUGEOT [s]. Piano acc. Couple harmless lt. press. bumps, cons. 2. $20.00. RINA AGOZZINO [ms]. Sicilian by birth, Agozzino was raised in Naples where she studied voice with Massimino Petrilli. Her debut was in Naples at the Mercadante Theater in 1906 singing Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. In 1911 she appeared in a series of short silent films based on major operas. On the stage she was active throughout Italy until the end of the 1930s, singing principal mezzo roles in operas such as Aida, Norma, La Vida Breve, Rosenkavalier, Carmen and even (in Italian) Deems Taylor’s Peter Ibbetson. She made only four recordings, these for Fonotipia in 1924 and all excerpts from Boïto’s Nerone in which she had appeared that year at the Bologna Teatro Communale. 2817. 10” Fonotipia acous. 152029/152030 [XPho5442-2/XPho5444-3]. NERONE: Fra i giunchi di Genesareth. With MARIANO STABILE [b] / NERONE: Pater noster (Boïto). Just about 1-2. $20.00. LICIA ALBANESE [s]. Bari, 1914- . Still active as the motivating figure of the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation in New York (aiding young singers in career de- velopment), Albanese was one of the Metro- politan Opera’s leading Puccini specialists for years. Also not to be forgotten, however, are her portrayals of Verdi heroines such as Violetta and Desdemona. 3686. 10” Red PoW VdP DA 5372 [OBA- 3543/OBA-3544].