Dear Denise,
Yes of course, you're quite right. Moreschi did indeed
record at the begining of the 20th Century. However,
I do not agree that you can say that we can have an
idea of how he sounded from those old recordings. I am
an avid collector on shellac, vinyl, and cd, but they
have no way of being any sort of representation of how
he would have sounded live as a young man for
instance. This is of course to do with the primitive
recording techniques, and because he was an elderly
man well past his prime.
There are two reasons for my argument on this subject.
One is that my first singing teacher heard many of
the greats: Melba, Tetrazzini, Caruso, Ponselle et al,
and, for instance of Melba, she said that the white
screeching on the 78's was completely unrecognisable
to her as the astounding vocalist she heard in the
auditorium. She said it was merely a thin shred of
what you actually heard. Second, is that I myself had
the opportunity to make a wax cylider record some
years ago. I sang We'll Gather Lilacs by Ivor Novello
and I have to say, when played back, I could only
recognise my own voice on one particular note (a C)
which was obviously the right resonance for the horn
and needle. It was fascinating to do of course!
Actually, third (although there wasn't going to be
one!) Birgit Nilsson did much the same thing in an
interview. When played back, the 'experts' (I use the
word advisedly) had no idea it was Madame Nilsson, and
said it was obviously some house singer of no
particular distinction! Needless to say, they were
dealt with by the Diva!
I do not have a copy of the Moreschi CD and I haven't
seen it for ages. I'll bet somebody on this list
knows where I can obtain one though!
Best wishes,
Ian Belsey. Voice technician. Bromley, Kent, England
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