More Legendary Voices [antikvár]

FOREWORD When I started to write Legendary Voices, back in 1992, my original list of singers consisted of twenty-six names. It soon became evident that this would lead to far too long a book and so I pruned the list to fourteen; the remaining twelve now feature in the present volume. In making my final selection for the first volume I aimed at a balance between ladies and gentlemen, tenors and baritones, Verdi singers and Wagner singers, and so on; in the process many a glittering name was obliged to wait in the wings. The twelve who were left over for the present volume were, in other words, in no sense a second team - lucky the opera house which could have our present dozen as its reserves! Inevitably the first time around there were readers who asked 'Why didn't you include So-and-so?' and I am happy to say that almost (though not quite) all of the most frequently mentioned names are now on parade. During the last two years the spate of CD reissues of the great singers of the past has continued unabated, indeed new companies have emerged which specialise in this market. The public, evidently, is keen to know how the stars of yesteryear really sounded, and as it is a favourite contention of mine that it is not only singers' voices but also their personalities which form the basis of their art I hope that these brief introductions to some of them as people will help to illuminate readers' perceptions of them as performers. Once again I have preferred not to concern myself too much with the technical side of the various different record companies' re-creations. Some take greater trouble than others to find really immaculate 78s for transfer, and to ensure that XI