This three disc set aims at presenting a selection of recordings, photographs, and biographical information of the singers who worked under Gustav Mahler during his tenure at the Vienna Court Opera, 1897-1907. The project has been well over a year in its realization and would not have been possible without the tireless effort of Nathan Davis, our producer, as well as the collectors and archivists who have generously assisted us in locating the requisite recordings and photographs. We have tried to confine our search to period recordings and only when absolutely necessary we have used recordings which date from 1908 or later. Although much of this material is extremely rare and is reissued here on CD for the first time, our problem has been whittling down choices instead of searching for examples. Our goal has been to include recordings that best represent each singer and rarity in itself has not been our primary criterion in selecting the featured recordings. If we have been able to offer some “hen’s teeth”, all the better. We have included operatic arias and ensembles, as well as a smattering of songs to demonstrate the diversity of the singers and to give a bit of relief to the listener as well. It should be mentioned, however, that even the best copies have severe defects. During the early days of recording, singers were usually placed extremely close to the horn in order to produce the clearest possible impression. This often caused extreme distortion on the loudest notes, a flaw that is impossible to correct, but can some times be attenuated by using a wide variety of stylus sizes. No effort has been spared to make each selection as listenable as possible. It has also been my particular responsibility to reproduce each recording at the proper pitch. I have used musical scores as my primary guide, but since the practice of transposition was widely employed in those days, I have used my own ear in cases where score pitch seemed incorrect. It is our sincere hope that our objective of producing a comprehensive survey of rare recordings and photographs in the best possible condition has been achieved.