Track Listing
| CD 1 (73:01) | ||
Gramophone and Typewriter Company, Berlin Recordings | ||
| 1. | LA TRAVIATA: Follie, follie…Sempre libera (Verdi) | 2:44 |
| (2173h) 53344 | ||
| 2. | MIGNON: Non conosci il bel sol {Connais-tu le pays} (Thomas) | 3:17 |
| (2174h) 53345 | ||
| 3. | Mattinata (Tosti) | 3:06 |
| (2250h) 53363 | ||
| 4. | Aime-moi (Bemberg) | 2:47 |
| (2251h) 33457 | ||
| 5. | MANON: Nützet die schönen jungen Tage [Gavotte] (Massenet) | 2:54 |
| (2252h) 43568 | ||
| 6. | ROMÉO ET JULIETTE: Je veux vivre [Juliette’s Waltz Song] (Gounod) | 3:10 |
| (2253h) 53364 | ||
1904 | ||
| ROLAND VON BERLIN (Leoncavallo) | ||
| 7. | Elsbeth! Gott stehe allzeit (Act 1) | 2:37 |
| with Wilhelm Grüning, tenor
(2483) 44445 |
||
| 8. | Ich ihn lieben? (Act 2) | 2:42 |
| with Wilhelm Grüning, tenor (2482L) 44444 |
||
| 9. | Nun wohl! Dann hast du auch (Act 4, Scene 1) | 2:38 |
| with Wilhelm Grüning, tenor (2484L) 44446 |
||
| 10. | Ja! Dich nur liebe ich (Act 4, Scene 1) | 1:56 |
| with Wilhelm Grüning, tenor(2498 1/2L) 44452 | ||
| 11. | Fahr wohl! Trautgesell (Act 4, Scene 2) | 3:13 |
| (2496L) 43632 | ||
27 September 1905 | ||
| 12. | Dear heart (Mattei) | 3:24 |
| (3799h) 3621 | ||
| 13. | Cherry ripe (Horn) | 2:42 |
| (3798h) 3620 | ||
| 14. | MEFISTOFELE: L’altra notte (Boïto) | 3:28 |
| (3800h) 53425 | ||
| 15. | Caro mio ben (Giordani) | 3:06 |
| (3801h) 53430 | ||
| 16. | FAUST: Juwelen-Arie [Jewel Song] (Gounod) | 3:01 |
| (3802h) 43721 | ||
| 17. | MIGNON: Kennst du das Land {Connais-tu le pays} (Thomas) | 3:26 |
| (3803h) 43733 | ||
23 June 1906 | ||
| 18. | DOMINO NOIRE: Ines so schön (Auber) | 2:07 |
| (1313r) 43780 | ||
| 19. | MANON: Nützet die schönen jungen Tagen [Gavotte] (Massenet) | 3:12 |
| (1314r) 43796 | ||
| 20. | ROMÉO ET JULIETTE: Je veux vivre [Juliette’s Waltz Song] (Gounod) | 3:26 |
| (1315r) 33618 | ||
| 21. | LA TRAVIATA: Follie, follie…Sempre libera (Verdi) | 3:08 |
| (1316r) 53469 | ||
September 1906 | ||
| 22. | MARTHA: Die letzte Rose {Last rose of summer} (Flotow) | 2:37 |
| (4718h) 43841 | ||
| 23. | TANNHÄUSER: Gepriesen sei die Stunde (Wagner) | 2:41 |
| with Karl Jörn, tenor (4719h) 2-44145 |
||
| 24. | RIGOLETTO: E il sol dell’anima (Verdi) | 3:21 |
| with Karl Jörn, tenor (4720h) 54311 |
||
| 25. | FAUST: Es ist schon spät (Gounod) | 2:33 |
| with Karl Jörn, tenor (4721h) 2-44137 |
||
Accompaniment: Tracks 1-11 piano; Tracks 12-25 orchestra Languages: Italian [1-3,14-15,21,24]; French [4,6,20]; German [5,7-11,16-19,22-23,25]; English [12-13] | ||
| CD 2 (79:52) | ||
Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, New Jersey, Electrical Recordings | ||
| 1. | Pur dicesti (Lotti) | 4:37 |
| 11 January 1927; (CVE 37348-1) IRCC-40 | ||
| 2. | LE NOZZE DI FIGARO: Dove sono (Mozart) | 4:44 |
| Recitative and Andante section only 11 January 1927; (CVE 37349-1) IRCC-40 |
||
| 3. | On wings of song [Auf Flügeln des Gesanges] (Mendelssohn) | 3:38 |
| 11 January 1927; (CVE 37350-1) unpublished | ||
| 4. | Serenade [Ständchen] (Richard Strauss) (Translated by Ferrar) | 2:41 |
| 11 January 1927; (BVE 27731-3) IRCC-55 | ||
| 5. | LE NOZZE DI FIGARO: Non so piu cosa son (Mozart) | 3:25 |
| 12 January 1927; (BVE 37351-2) unpublished | ||
| 6. | FRASQUITA: Rest with the dew of the dawning (Farrar; Lehar) | 3:46 |
| 12 January 1927; (matrix number unassigned) IRCC-1953 re-recording | ||
| 7. | Midnight bells (Fritz Kreisler) | 3:20 |
| 13 January 1927; (BVE 37354-1) unpublished | ||
| 8. | Christina’s lament {Humoresque} (Creyke-Dvorak) | 3:17 |
| 13 January 1927; (BVE 37356-1) IRCC 41 | ||
| 9. | Hame to the highlands (M. Gilmour) | 2:20 |
| 8 March 1927; (BVE 38147-1) unpublished | ||
| 10. | Drowsy poppies (M. Gilmour) | 2:31 |
| 8 March 1927; (BVE 38146-1) unpublished | ||
| 11. | Serenata (Tosti) | 3:11 |
| 8 March 1927; (BVE 26034-9) unpublished | ||
| 12. | Pur dicesti (Lotti) | 3:18 |
| 8 March 1927; (BVE 38145-1) unpublished | ||
| 13. | Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (Mendelssohn) | 3:39 |
| 5 April 1927; (BVE 37350-6) IRCC-41 | ||
Bell Telephone Laboratories Experimental recordings (Vertically cut at 33 rpm) | ||
15 December 1932 | ||
| 14. | The old refrain (Kreisler) | 3:53 |
| BTL 2432 unpublished | ||
| 15. | Old folks at home (Foster) | 2:57 |
| BTL 2432 unpublished | ||
| 16. | Love’s old sweet song (Malloy) | 3:47 |
| BTL 2434 unpublished | ||
| 17. | In old Madrid (Bingham-Trotere) | 3:16 |
| BTL 2434 unpublished | ||
Appendix: | ||
General Motors Symphony Concerts Broadcast | ||
28 October 1934 | ||
| 18. | Marie am Fenster (Franz) | 2:30 |
| 19. | Heiden Röslein (Schubert) | 2:21 |
Metropolitan Opera | ||
4 January 1935* | ||
| 20. | Excerpt from Intermission 1 () | 7:56 |
| 21. | Excerpt from Intermission 2 () | 4:03 |
| 22. | Excerpt from Intermission 3 () | 4:53 |
| *These recordings were made in preparation for the broadcast of 5 January 1935. | ||
Accompaniment: Tracks 1-4 and 9-13 Claude Gonvierre, piano; Tracks 5-8 orchestra; Tracks 14-17 piano; Tracks 18-19 orchestra, conducted by Walter Damrosch Languages: Italian [1-2, 5, 11-12]; English [3-4, 6-10, 14-17, 20-22]; German [13, 18-19] | ||
Producer: Ward Marston
Audio Conservation: Ward Marston
Photographs: Charles Mintzer
Booklet Design: Takeshi Takahashi
Marston would like to thank John R. Bolig, Sir Paul Getty, Lawrence F. Holdridge, Jeffrey Miller, William Shaman, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Robert Tuggle, and Richard Warren Jr. for their help in the production of this CD release.
The following selections are re-recorded from copies in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Laurence C. Witten II, the Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings, Yale Music Library [CD 1, Tracks 3-5, 8-10]
Geraldine Farrar
- Berlin G&Ts 1904-1906
- Victor electrical recordings 1927
- Bell Telephone Laboratories experimental recordings 1932
Geraldine Farrar was, for many years, the prima donna assoluta of the Metropolitan Opera. She is remembered as having one of the best soprano voices of her time and yet, those who know her through her recorded output on Victor, are missing the magic that is Farrar. This two CD set, instead, captures Farrar when she made her earliest, finest, and scarcest recordings for G & T (1904-1906). These rare and stunning recordings are fresh, exciting, and expressive and demonstrate Farrar in “best voice.” This set also chronicles Farrar at the end of her career when technology provided an opportunity to hear her “true” voice during the 1920s and 1930s. While none of these were issued at the time, these test pressings and unpublished Bell Laboratory test-recordings of 1934 provide a glimpse of her brilliance.
