Mapleson Cylinders
Encyclopedia
The Mapleson Cylinders are a group of more than 100 phonograph cylinder
s recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera
, primarily in the years 1901–1903, by the Met librarian Lionel Mapleson (a nephew of impresario James Henry Mapleson
).
The cylinders contain short fragments of actual operatic performances from the Italian, German and French repertoires. Despite their variable quality of sound (some are quite good while others are nearly inaudible), the cylinders have great historical value thanks to the unique aural picture they document of pre-World War I
singers in performance at an opera house with a full orchestra. Other contemporary recordings only capture singers as recorded with piano or a tiny orchestra in a boxy commercial recording studio. The Mapleson cylinders also feature the only recordings known to exist of a number of famous singers and conductors who were never recorded commercially. They include legendary tenor Jean de Reszke
, soprano Milka Ternina
, and conductor Luigi Mancinelli
.
Home Phonograph
. Mapleson was apparently enchanted with the acoustic device, and on March 21, 1900, his friend the cellist and occasional composer Leo Stern
presented him with a new machine: a Bettini
cylinder recorder and reproducer. By the end of the month, Mapleson had persuaded the soprano Marcella Sembrich
to record her vocalization
of Johann Strauss
's "Frühlingsstimmen
" into it.
The following year, Mapleson hatched the idea of putting the recorder in the prompter's box of the Met. His first effort recorded Nellie Melba
singing a scrap of music during a performance of Massenet
's Le Cid
on January 16, 1901. He recorded several more times during performances, still utilising the prompter's box, but often with unsatisfactory results. After a short cessation and with the commencement of the 1901–1902 season, he resumed his recording activity from up in the flies of the Met. This time, he employed a huge recording horn that would be able to capture the sounds emanating from singers and orchestra stationed below. He was thus able to unobtrusively record bits of many stage performances from 1901 through 1903. The morning after his recording 'session', he would invite the artists involved to listen to playbacks of their performances. His recording activity continued until the end of the 1902–1903 season. At that point Mapleson either lost interest or was forbidden by the Met's management from continuing his recording activities (although a few cylinders exist of orchestral rehearsals or concerts dating from 1904).
, William H. Seltsam, secretary (actually head) of the International Record Collectors' Club (IRCC), met with Mapleson a few months before his death on December 21, 1937. Mapleson offered two cylinders with the challenge to derive something from them. Seltsam's experiment met with success and after Mapleson's death, was able to borrow 120 cylinders from his estate for the purpose of releasing them on IRCC issues. Over the remainder of Seltsam's lifetime, the IRCC was able to issue about 60 sides on 78-rpm records and LPs.
After Mapleson's death, a number of cylinders were found in a junk store in Brooklyn, and were purchased by various collectors.
. In 1985, under the direction of David Hall
, the library transferred all the existing cylinders to six LPs which were released with a 72-page booklet containing translations and extensive historical and biographical notes.
In 2000, David Hamilton and Seth Winner gave a lecture-demonstration to determine if any more sound information could be retrieved from the cylinders using the most modern technology then available. Their verdict was that the cylinders were then too deteriorated to retrieve much more information than previous dubbings.
A number of the cylinders have been reissued on CD by the Romophone and Marston record labels as part of wider anthologies devoted to individual singers. A comprehensive but unauthorized CD transfer of the cylinders was issued in 1987 by the British company Symposium Records (catalogue number: Symposium 1284). For its reissue, Symposium used the IRCC 78 rpm recordings.
Suzanne Adams
, Albert Alvarez, Georg Anthes, Jacques Bars, Mathilde Bauermeister
, Bernard Bégué, David Bispham
, Robert Blass, Lucienne Bréval, Carrie Bridewell, Alois Burgstaller
, Emma Calvé
, Giuseppe Campanari
, Carlo Dani, Emilio de Marchi
, Edouard de Reszke
, Jean de Reszke
, Andreas Dippel, Emma Eames
, Johanna Gadski
, Emil Gerhäuser, Charles Gilibert, Louise Homer
, Marcel Journet
, Marguerite Marilly, Aristide Masiero, Marie Maurer, Nellie Melba
, Adolph Mühlmann, Lillian Nordica
, Pol Plançon
, Albert Reiss
, Luise Reuss-Belce, Albert Saléza, Thomas Salignac, Fritzi Scheff
, Ernestine Schumann-Heink
, Antonio Scotti
, Marcella Sembrich
, Camille Seygard, Eugene Sizès, Milka Ternina
, Marie Van Cauteren, Anton van Rooy
, Roberto Vanni, Lodovico Viviani, Alexander Von Bandrowski, and Adolph Von Hübbenet.
Conductors included on existing Mapleson Cylinders are:
Walter Damrosch, Phillippe Flon, Nahan Franko
, Alfred Hertz
, Luigi Mancinelli
, Felix Mottl
, Armando Seppilli, and Artur Vigna.
Phonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was...
s recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, primarily in the years 1901–1903, by the Met librarian Lionel Mapleson (a nephew of impresario James Henry Mapleson
James Henry Mapleson
James Henry Mapleson was an English opera impresario, probably the leading figure instrumental in the development of opera production, and of the careers of singers, in London and New York City in the second half of the 19th century.-Life and career:Mapleson was born in London, England...
).
The cylinders contain short fragments of actual operatic performances from the Italian, German and French repertoires. Despite their variable quality of sound (some are quite good while others are nearly inaudible), the cylinders have great historical value thanks to the unique aural picture they document of pre-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
singers in performance at an opera house with a full orchestra. Other contemporary recordings only capture singers as recorded with piano or a tiny orchestra in a boxy commercial recording studio. The Mapleson cylinders also feature the only recordings known to exist of a number of famous singers and conductors who were never recorded commercially. They include legendary tenor Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
, soprano Milka Ternina
Milka Ternina
Milka Ternina was a Croatian dramatic soprano who enjoyed a high reputation in major American and European opera houses...
, and conductor Luigi Mancinelli
Luigi Mancinelli
Luigi Mancinelli was a leading Italian orchestral conductor. He also composed music for the stage and concert hall and played the cello....
.
History
On March 17, 1900, Lionel Mapleson, the librarian of the Metropolian Opera House in New York City, purchased an EdisonThomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
Home Phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
. Mapleson was apparently enchanted with the acoustic device, and on March 21, 1900, his friend the cellist and occasional composer Leo Stern
Leo Stern
Leo Stern was an English cellist, best remembered for being the soloist in the premiere performance of Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor in London in 1896.-Biography:...
presented him with a new machine: a Bettini
Bettini
Bettini is a surname of Italian origin. The name refers to:*Antonio Bettini , Italian clergyman and writer*Domenico Bettini , , Italian painter of the Baroque era...
cylinder recorder and reproducer. By the end of the month, Mapleson had persuaded the soprano Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich was the stage name of the Polish coloratura soprano, Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska...
to record her vocalization
Vocalise
A vocalise is a vocal exercise without words, which is sung on one or more vowel sounds.-In classical music:Vocalise dates back to the mid-18th century...
of Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
's "Frühlingsstimmen
Frühlingsstimmen
"Frühlingsstimmen" , Op. 410, is a waltz by Johann Strauss II, written in 1882, for orchestra and solo soprano voice.-History:Strauss dedicated the work to the pianist and composer Alfred Grünfeld...
" into it.
The following year, Mapleson hatched the idea of putting the recorder in the prompter's box of the Met. His first effort recorded Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
singing a scrap of music during a performance of Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Le Cid
Le Cid (opera)
Le Cid is an opera in four acts and ten tableaux by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet, Édouard Blau and Adolphe d'Ennery. It is based on the play of the same name by Pierre Corneille....
on January 16, 1901. He recorded several more times during performances, still utilising the prompter's box, but often with unsatisfactory results. After a short cessation and with the commencement of the 1901–1902 season, he resumed his recording activity from up in the flies of the Met. This time, he employed a huge recording horn that would be able to capture the sounds emanating from singers and orchestra stationed below. He was thus able to unobtrusively record bits of many stage performances from 1901 through 1903. The morning after his recording 'session', he would invite the artists involved to listen to playbacks of their performances. His recording activity continued until the end of the 1902–1903 season. At that point Mapleson either lost interest or was forbidden by the Met's management from continuing his recording activities (although a few cylinders exist of orchestral rehearsals or concerts dating from 1904).
IRCC
Alerted to the cylinders' existence from an article in The New YorkerThe New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, William H. Seltsam, secretary (actually head) of the International Record Collectors' Club (IRCC), met with Mapleson a few months before his death on December 21, 1937. Mapleson offered two cylinders with the challenge to derive something from them. Seltsam's experiment met with success and after Mapleson's death, was able to borrow 120 cylinders from his estate for the purpose of releasing them on IRCC issues. Over the remainder of Seltsam's lifetime, the IRCC was able to issue about 60 sides on 78-rpm records and LPs.
After Mapleson's death, a number of cylinders were found in a junk store in Brooklyn, and were purchased by various collectors.
New York Public Library and CD Reissue
With the co-operation of collectors, by 1962 eventually all existing Mapleson Cylinders had wound up in the The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, a division of The New York Public LibraryNew York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
. In 1985, under the direction of David Hall
David Hall (recorded sound archivist)
David Hall is a sound archivist and writer.-Early life:Hall's parents were Fairfax and Eleanor Raeburn Hall. He married Bernice Dobkin on June 8, 1940. Their children are Marion Hall Hunt, Jonathan Hall, Peter Dobkin Hall, and Susannah Hall.-Education:After graduating from Phillips Exeter...
, the library transferred all the existing cylinders to six LPs which were released with a 72-page booklet containing translations and extensive historical and biographical notes.
In 2000, David Hamilton and Seth Winner gave a lecture-demonstration to determine if any more sound information could be retrieved from the cylinders using the most modern technology then available. Their verdict was that the cylinders were then too deteriorated to retrieve much more information than previous dubbings.
A number of the cylinders have been reissued on CD by the Romophone and Marston record labels as part of wider anthologies devoted to individual singers. A comprehensive but unauthorized CD transfer of the cylinders was issued in 1987 by the British company Symposium Records (catalogue number: Symposium 1284). For its reissue, Symposium used the IRCC 78 rpm recordings.
Artists
Singers included on existing Mapleson Cylinders are:Suzanne Adams
Suzanne Adams
Suzanne Adams was an American lyric coloratura soprano. Known for her agile and pure voice, Adams first became well known in France before establishing herself as one of the Metropolitan Opera's leading sopranos at the beginning of the twentieth century.-Biography:Adams was born in Cambridge,...
, Albert Alvarez, Georg Anthes, Jacques Bars, Mathilde Bauermeister
Mathilde Bauermeister
Mathilde Bauermeister was an opera singer who for decades held the record for most performances by a female artist at the Metropolitan Opera, a record now held by Thelma Votipka....
, Bernard Bégué, David Bispham
David Bispham
David Scull Bispham was the first American–born operatic baritone to win an international reputation.- Early life and family:...
, Robert Blass, Lucienne Bréval, Carrie Bridewell, Alois Burgstaller
Alois Burgstaller
Alois Burgstaller was a German operatic tenor.Burgstaller was born in Holzkirchen. A trained watchmaker, he always loved to sing and his vocal talent was discovered during an amateur theatre performance in church...
, Emma Calvé
Emma Calvé
Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet , was a French operatic soprano.Calvé was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque. Hers was an international career, and she sang regularly and to considerable acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, and the Royal Opera...
, Giuseppe Campanari
Giuseppe Campanari
Giuseppe Campanari Cooke gives his date of birth as 17 November 1858 but this is unlikely given the d.o.b. of his brother Leandro. was an Italian-born operatic baritone and cellist...
, Carlo Dani, Emilio de Marchi
Emilio de Marchi
Emilio De Marchi was an Italian operatic tenor. He had a significant career during the late 19th century and early 20th century, appearing at major theatres on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1900, he entered the annals of musical history as the creator of the role of Cavaradossi in Giacomo...
, Edouard de Reszke
Edouard de Reszke
Édouard de Reszke, originally Edward, was a Polish bass from Warsaw. Born with an impressive natural voice and equipped with compelling histrionic skills, he became one of the most illustrious opera singers active in Europe and America during the late-Victorian Era.-Career:Édouard de Reszke was...
, Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
, Andreas Dippel, Emma Eames
Emma Eames
Emma Eames was an American soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice. She sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York, London and Paris during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.-Early life:The daughter of...
, Johanna Gadski
Johanna Gadski
Johanna Gadski was a German soprano blessed with a secure, powerful, ringing voice, fine musicianship and an excellent technique. These attributes enabled her to enjoy a top-flight career in New York City and London, performing heavy dramatic roles in the German and Italian repertoires.-Life &...
, Emil Gerhäuser, Charles Gilibert, Louise Homer
Louise Homer
Louise Homer was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer in New England, she made her professional opera debut in France in 1898...
, Marcel Journet
Marcel Journet
Marcel Journet , was a French, bass, operatic singer. He enjoyed a prominent career in England, France and Italy, and appeared at the foremost American opera houses in New York City and Chicago....
, Marguerite Marilly, Aristide Masiero, Marie Maurer, Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
, Adolph Mühlmann, Lillian Nordica
Lillian Nordica
Lillian Nordica was an American opera singer who had a major stage career in Europe and her native country....
, Pol Plançon
Pol Plançon
Pol-Henri Plançon was a distinguished French operatic bass . He was one of the most acclaimed singers active during the 1880s, 1890s and early 20th century—a period often referred to as the "Golden Age of Opera".In addition to being among the earliest international opera stars to have made...
, Albert Reiss
Albert Reiss
Albert Reiss was a German operatic tenor who had a prolific career in Europe and the United States during the first third of the twentieth century. He spent much of his career performing at the Metropolitan Opera where he sang in more than 1,000 performances, including several premieres, between...
, Luise Reuss-Belce, Albert Saléza, Thomas Salignac, Fritzi Scheff
Fritzi Scheff
Fritzi Scheff was an American actress and vocalist.-Biography:Born in Vienna, Austria, she studied at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt and made her début in Munich in the title röle of Martha...
, Ernestine Schumann-Heink
Ernestine Schumann-Heink
Ernestine Schumann-Heink was a celebrated Austrian, later American, operatic contralto, noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice.- Early life:...
, Antonio Scotti
Antonio Scotti
Antonio Scotti was an Italian baritone. He was a principal artist of the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 33 seasons, but also sang with great success at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Milan's La Scala.-Life:Antonio Scotti was born in Naples, Italy...
, Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich was the stage name of the Polish coloratura soprano, Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska...
, Camille Seygard, Eugene Sizès, Milka Ternina
Milka Ternina
Milka Ternina was a Croatian dramatic soprano who enjoyed a high reputation in major American and European opera houses...
, Marie Van Cauteren, Anton van Rooy
Anton van Rooy
Anton van Rooy was a Dutch bass-baritone. He had a voice of enormous proportions and is most remembered for his association with the music dramas of Richard Wagner, especially the Ring Cycle, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg and Parsifal.Born in Rotterdam, van Rooy studied with the famous voice...
, Roberto Vanni, Lodovico Viviani, Alexander Von Bandrowski, and Adolph Von Hübbenet.
Conductors included on existing Mapleson Cylinders are:
Walter Damrosch, Phillippe Flon, Nahan Franko
Nahan Franko
Nahan Franko was an American violinist, conductor and concert promoter. His brother was violinist and conductor Sam Franko.Franko was born in New Orleans, and studied the violin in Europe with Joseph Joachim and August Wilhelmj...
, Alfred Hertz
Alfred Hertz
Alfred Hertz , a German conductor born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. As a child, he contracted infantile paralysis and walked with a cane after that....
, Luigi Mancinelli
Luigi Mancinelli
Luigi Mancinelli was a leading Italian orchestral conductor. He also composed music for the stage and concert hall and played the cello....
, Felix Mottl
Felix Mottl
Felix Josef von Mottl was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which Agnes Bernauer was the most successful, as well as a string quartet and numerous songs and other music...
, Armando Seppilli, and Artur Vigna.
External links
- The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at NYPL.
- The Mapleson Cylinders, digitized version of 72-page booklet accompanying six-LP set, with selected digitized examples.