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 slight marks. For collectors searching top copies, you’ve come to the right place! The further we get from the era 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. Also featured are many “Z” shellac Victors, their best quality surface material (later 1930s). * * * 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 featuring translations 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 recommend- dation of Jean de Reszke, who heard them by chance, Bessie began operatic training with Frida Ashforth. She subsequently studied with de Reszke himself 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, and left, dissatisfied with her roles assigned for the next season. She then began arrangements with Mascagni for a new opera in which she would star and tour. The work turned out to be Isabeau. Mascagni, however, evolved other ideas as to what would be done with the opera when it was completed, a decision which pro- duced lawsuits on both sides. After touring with her own opera company and appearing in operetta as well, Abott married sculptor T. Waldo Story (brother of Emma Eames’’ first husband, artist Julian Story) in 1912 and subsequently spent much time in Italy, where they had an estate. She evidently met Puccini during this period, as she claimed the composer presented her with one of her proudest possessions, a Pomeranian puppy. BESSIE ABOTT as Gounod's Juliette 1343. 10” White lbl. Vla 87003. MARTHA: Qui sola vergin rosa (Flotow). Tiny lbl. stkrs., just about 1-2. $15.00. 1314. 10” Red ’08 Pats. Vla 87500. RIGOLETTO: Si, vendetta! (Verdi). With MARIO ANCONA [b]. Scarce. Just about 1-2. $20.00. 3590. 12” Red GP ’06 Vr 88050. RIGOLETTO: Caro nome (Verdi). 2. $10.00. 3899. 12: Red Vla 88084. LAKMÉ: Bell Song (Delibes). Good pressing, few lt. mks., cons. 2. $10.00. 3707. 12” Red GP ’08 Vr 88129. MIREILLE: Valse (Gounod). 2. $10.00. 21 VOCAL 78 rpm Discs GIUSEPPE ACERBI [t]. Codogno 1871- Milan 1934. Born Santo Giuseppe Bertini, he worked in the family shop until 1897, when he began vocal studies in Milan with Marziani and subsequently with Blasco and Rossi. He made his debut in Lodi, 1899, as the Duke in Rigoletto but decided to study further. Two years later he made a second debut at the Municipale in Piacenza as Edgardo in Lucia with Isabella Svicher and Giuseppe Pacini. This time he had great success. He appeared throughout Italy in houses such as the dal Verme in Milano, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna and the Teatro Regio in Torino. Outside of Italy he made guest appearances at the Madrid Teatro Reale and the Teatro Zizinia in Alexandria, Egypt. His last appearance traced was Cavaradossi, 1917, at the Milan dal Verme. – Roberto Marcocci 2269. 10” Blk. GP ’08 Vr 52417 [7150b]. LUCREZIA BORGIA: Di pescatore ignobile (Donizetti). Cons. 2. $8.00. 3871. 12” Blk. GP ’07 “A” plate Vr 58302 [850c]. PEARL FISHERS: Del tempio al limitar (Bizet). With RENZO MINOLFI [b]. Few lt. rubs, cons. 2. $8.00. ESSIE ACKLAND [c] 1756. 10” Plum elec. PW HMV B.2769 [Bb12943-II/Bb12945-II]. FIVE LITTLE PICCA- NINNIES (Anthony) / CALLER HERRIN’ (Traditional). Piano acc. Mme. Adami. Gen. 2. $10.00. 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 Gounod’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. 3804. 11” Red Odeon 36869-2/39216 [XPR-1-1/XPh680-2]. SI J’A- VAIS VOS AILES (Messager) / ADA ADINY [s]. HÉRODIADE: Il est doux (Massenet).Excellent pressing of these rarities. Few lightest mks., cons. 2. $100.00. ALBERTO ADAMI [t] AÏNO ÄCKTÉ 2004. 10” Blk. acous. Victor 63319. ADRIANA LECOUVREUR: L’anima ho stanca (Ciléa) / SIBERIA: T’incontrai per via (Giordano). Just about 1-2. $20.00. IRIS ADAMI-CORRADETTI [s] 2624. 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. $100.00. SUZANNE ADAMS [s] 1340. 10” Monarch 91005 [2149-w2]. HOME, SWEET HOME (Bishop). Bright label. Very decent copy. A few LGTs, otherwise gen. 3. $50.00. ADA ADINY [s] 3804. 11” Red Odeon 36869-2/39216 [XPR-1-1/XPh680-2]. HÉRODIADE: Il est doux (Massenet) / AÏNO ACKTÉ [s]. SI J’AVAIS VOS AILES (Messager) Excellent early ‘30s pressing of these rarities. Few lightest mks., cons. 2. $75.00. 22 VOCAL 78 rpm Discs 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, and remained there until the house burned down in 1919. He then retired to a villa on the Côte d’Azur. 9303. 11” Brown Odeon 60308/56094 [XP3330/XP3532]. THAMARA: Rêve de Nour-Eddin (Bourgault-Ducoudray) / LISE LANDOUZY [s], GASTON DU BOIS [t], PAOLO ANANIAN [bs]. FAUST: Final Trio (Gounod). IMs. Cons. 2. $35.00. CARMELO ALABISO [t] 2439. 10” acous. Fonografia Nazionale 4618/4617]. IL PICCOLO MARAT: C’era una volta / MARIA LAIS [s]. IL PICCOLO MARAT: La Mamma ritrovò (Mascagni). Very minor lbl. soiling. 2. $15.00. 1976. 10” Purple Eng. acous. La Cigale (Columbia) D9481 [B843/B855]. FEDORA: Vedi io piango (Giordano) / GERMANIA: No! non chiuder gli occhi (Franchetti). Excellent surface material. Cons. 2. $15.00. 2297. 10” Purple Eng. acous. La Cigale (Columbia) D9481. Same as previous listing. A few LGTs, lt. rubs, 2-3. $8.00. 2002. 10” Green Viva-Tonal Columbia 4152-X [WB2555/WB2556]. ISABEAU: Canzone del Folco / ISABEAU: Or solo interno (Mascagni). One tiny mk. (absolutely harmless). Just about 1-2. $25.00. CARLO ALBANI [t]. Trieste, 1872- ? . Born of an Italian-French family, Albani sang in the French provinces before coming to the U.S. in 1907. His debut was with the Manhattan Opera as Manrico in Il Trovatore. After one repetition, Albani claimed illness, necessitating the postpone- ment of a production of Ernani in which he was to star. The Manhattan’s Impresario, Oscar Hammerstein, discovered that Albani had not only recovered but was appearing in Boston with the San Carlo Opera in what must have been his favorite work, Il Trovatore. Hammerstein promptly sued and a constable was dispatched to arrest the tenor, then at work on stage. The performance was allowed to continue, providing that the officer might follow the Pavarotti sized tenor about until the opera ended. Whenever the constable appeared from behind a tree or some other stage prop, he was roundly hissed by the audience. This ended Albani’s American career, but he was more successful in Europe, appearing at the Paris Opéra and the Costanzi in Rome, among other theaters, in, again, Il Trovatore and Aida, among other operas. There seems to be no sign of him after World War I. 3544. 12” Red GP ’06 Vr 75096. FORZA DEL DESTINO: O tu che segno agli’ angeli (Verdi). Few lt. mks., cons. 2. $15.00. ANNA MARIA ALBERGETTI [s]. Pesaro, 1936 - . Daughter of a cellist father and pianist mother, Alberghetti and her family emigrated to the U.S.