The Record of Singing (EMI) 2009 CD 10 (Vols 1-4) 1899 - 1952

THE ITALIAN SCHOOL

1 Ferruccio Tagliavini (tenor) 1913-1995 Una furtiva lagrima (L’elisir d’amore Act 11) by Donizetti RCA Victor Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati 23-09-1947 Italian

2 Giuseppe di Stefano (tenor) 1921-2008 Addio, Mignon (Mignon Act 11) by Thomas La Scala Orchestra conducted by Emidio Tieri 2-04-1947 Italian

3 Luigi Infantino (tenor) 1921-1991 Dicitencello vuje by Falvo Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alberto Erede 14-04-1948 Neapolitan Dialect

4 Mario del Monaco (tenor) 1915-1982 Esultate! (Otello Act 1) by Verdi Milan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Argeo Quadri 16-01-1951 Italian

5 Paulo Silveri (tenor) 1913-2001 Leonora!...A tanto amore (La Favorita Act 111) by Donizetti London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Goehr 6-12-1948 Italian

6 Giampiero Malaspina (baritone)? 1916-? Tre sbirri, una carozza (Tosca Act 1) by Puccini Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by Michael Mudie 1-07-1948 Italian

7 Gino Bechi (baritone) 1913-1993 O Carlo, ascolta (Don Carlo Act 1V) by Verdi Milan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Argeo Quadri 7-02-1949 Italian

8 Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (Bass) 1920-1991 They guess the truth (A Life for the Tsar Act 1V) by Glinka Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Tomaso Benintende-Neglia 4-08-1952 Russian

9 Tancredi Pasero (Bass) 1893-1983 I have attained the highest power (Boris Godunov Act 11) by Mussorgsky-Rimsky-Korsakov Orchestra conducted by Dick Marzollo 13-07-1944 Italian

10 Giulietta Simionato (mezzo-soprano) 1910-2010 Mi scrivo qui (Werther Act 111) by Massenet Milan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Argeo Quadri 20-04-1951 Italian

11 Fedora Barbieri (mezzo-soprano) 1920-2003 Condotta ell’era in ceppi (Il Trovatore Act 11) by Verdi Orchestra conducted by Argeo Quadri 14-01-1949 Italian

12 Ebi Stignani (mezzo-soprano) 1903-1974 La note cadente (Samson et Dalila Act 1) by Saint-Saens Orchestra conducted by Umberto Berrettoni October 1941 Italian

13 Alda Noni (soprano) 1916-2011 Siccome un di caduto il sole (Les Pecheurs de perles Act 1) by Bizet Milan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Argeo Quadri 25-01-1951 Italian

14 Margherita Carosio (soprano) 1908-2005 O quante volte (I Capuleti ei I Montecchi Act 1) by Bellini Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Anatole Fistoulari 20-05-1951 Italian

15 Magda Laszlo (soprano) 1912-2002 Su venite e consiglio by A. Scarlatti (Luigi Cortese Piano) c. 1950 Italian

16 Margherita Grandi (soprano)1892-1972 Tu che le vanita (Don Carlo Act 1V) by Verdi Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alberto Erede 7-02-1948 Italian

17 Zinka Milanov (soprano) 1906-1989 Vanne!...D’amor sull’all rosee (Il Trovatore Act 1V) by Verdi Orchestra conducted by Frieder Weissmann 14-02-1946 Italian

The Record of Singing is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record.
It was issued on LP (with accompanying books) by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voice (better known as HMV) — perhaps the leading organization in the early history of audio recording.
The project was accompanied initially by two illustrated books, containing singers' biographies and appraisals, which were published in London, by Duckworth, in the late 1970s. It covers the period running from circa 1900, when the earliest recordings were made, through until the early 1950s, when the last 78-rpm records were produced. Singers are divided into groups arranged according to national 'schools' and fach or voice type. In practice, this means that there are separate Italian, German, French, Anglo-American and East European classifications.

The collection was published with extensive documentation, including the numbers of the original recordings and full biographies of the singers.
The first two volumes were accompanied by books by Michael Scott:
• The Record of Singing to 1914, London, Duckworth, 1977, ISBN 978-0-7156-1030-5
• The Record of Singing Volume Two: 1914–1925, London, Duckworth, 1979, OCLC 6765624
They were republished in paperback by Northeastern University Press in 1993, ISBN 978-1-55553-163-8
(The books are still widely available from second hand book sellers.)

For more see: The Record of Singing - Wikipedia