Once again Marston has compiled a two disc set of great imagination and rarity value, reaching back well over a century for recordings of considerable historic importance. We have, then, the voices of ‘six verismo sopranos’ and they represent, according to the booklet rubric, ‘six studies in passion, technique and style’. Certainly one can argue the pros and cons of individual singers and performances but to have such recordings made available in this way and in such splendid sound, is something that no lover of the vocal art should easily spurn.
 
Not the least reason for excitement is that many of the performances are ‘Creator’ recordings — sung by the very artist who gave first performances of the work in question. Such a cachet offers a palpable frisson, not least when the composer himself is either present or known to have coached the singer. Prestigious collectors and a particularly prestigious collection, held at Yale, have surrendered their copies for transfer.
 
The set begins with Gemma Bellincioni (1864-1950), who was both long-lived and an important international artist. Her 1903 Milan G&Ts are fascinatingly uneven examples of her art. She has what will be for many a bleaty vibrato, and for those who find Supervia unacceptable on this account — and there are some — Bellincioni will provide similar analogous problems. In her Boito some of her runs are a touch speculative and there is a hint of wear in the voice, though she was still only 39. Her tempi are certainly free, indeed erratic. Her Mascagni represents a Creator role and is a most important document, though her Traviata aria is musically undisciplined, though of some interest because both Verdi and Boito heard her sing. She re-recorded Ah, fors’è lui in Paris two years later on the less immediate Pathé sides. Vissi d’arte preserves the intense flutter of her vibrato, whilst her Bohème extract remains a touch superficial. Nevertheless we have her complete recordings here, an invaluable fourteen sides that preserve a most important singer’s oeuvre.
 
We also have the complete recordings of Angelica Pandolfini, a precious five in all, recorded once again in Milan in 1903. As with the Bellincioni recordings in the city, the pianist was Salvatore Cottone. These sides are all exceptionally rare, having been withdrawn soon after publication. She didn’t much like them herself. Her Boito Mefistofele is, for me, superior both vocally and musically to Bellincioni’s recording of it. The runs are more accurate, the vibrato is under better control, she is florid when called for, and eminently characterful. It’s rare, in this context, to hear Mozart but she essays Deh vieni creditably and also displays the lighter side of her art with a lovely rendition of Godard’s Chanson de florian. Amelia Pinto is represented by ten sides; G&Ts from Milan in April 1902 and a selection of Fonotipias from 1908-14. The 1902 session is heard in its entirety and includes an interesting rarity in Bottesini’s Romanza di Ero. Both published takes of Vissi d’arte are quite slow but very convincing. She was born in 1876, remained in pretty good voice to the end of her recording career and impresses every time one hears her, whether in Tosca or the Sicilian songs she sang in May 1914.
 
The fourth soprano is Cesira Ferrani (1863-1943) whose six selected recordings come from December 1902. The composers represented are Puccini — Manon, Bohème — Boito, once again Mefistofele (most movingly done here), and Gounod. She sang in the first performance of Manon Lescaut in 1893 which makes these two extracts of great significance. Her portamenti are fluid and fortunately her unnamed accompanist’s piano has been well recorded which means the performances are very listenable in these fine transfers. There is also the Gounod, a duet with the negligible tenor Giovanni Apostolu. Emma Carelli is the next soprano, born in Naples in 1877. These are, again, very rare 1903 sides, and were not available for long. The singing is powerful and committed albeit not without technical fault. In some sides she is joined by partners; Mario Sammarco in Mascheroni’s Lorenza and in Vissi d’arte (notable for Sammarco’s vivid laughter and her own highly theatrical performance), and Elvino Ventura for the Fedora extract. The remaining tracks are devoted to Giordano’s Siberia, recorded in Milan in 1904 with its all-star cast including De Luca, Rosina Storchio, Antonio Pini-Corsi and Giovanni Zenatello amongst others. There are nine sides, all with the original cast members preserving, however imperfectly, their contributions. The results are suggestive and fascinating, and transferred with great skill.
 
As ever the booklet presents full biographies, excellently reproduced photographs and a first class essay by Michael Aspinall. The claims of verismo are superbly documented in this engrossing set.
 
-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International