Album Description
On December 24, 1907, 48 gramophone records of the greatest singers of the day were buried in the basement of the Paris Opéra, with instructions to leave them there for 100 years. In 2007, the records were unearthed and restored with painstaking care with the help of EMI Classics technicians. Now the contents of the so-called “Urnes de l’Opéra” are being released by EMI Classics in partnership with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Opéra National de Paris,… More >>
Ideas Product
#1 by Raoul M. Kosti on June 5, 2010 - 11:36 pm
Horrible!
Remastered? Couldn’t they get rid of the needle scratching?
Raul Kostin
Santiago, Chile
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by G. ferguson on June 6, 2010 - 1:40 am
As a collector of operatic 78s — nothing special here!!!! The transfers were A+ — the selections were run-of-the-mill — As for the orchestral items — can’t say, as I know nothing about such. For someone not knowing about the singers of the AC period and just want a sampling of a few of the GREATS – well worth the money — for the rest of us, we already have these records (78s or LPs or CDs).
Rating: 4 / 5
#3 by John H. Borders on June 6, 2010 - 2:20 am
.. any reissue with Affre, Renaud, Note, Patti, Dufranne, Scotti, Tetrazzini et. al. has GREAT potential. The CD times (78+, 78+ & 63+) are generous, in this 3-CD set .. and it’s a VERY-fine addition to the recorded legacies of remarkable singers .. IMHO.
Rating: 4 / 5
#4 by L. Ackerman on June 6, 2010 - 2:40 am
There are no doubts about the significance of this release. Recordings buried in 1907, resurfaced (as per instructions) 100 years later. However, the historical pleasure one can get from it is totally obliterated by EMI’s decision to include a booklet in FRENCH only. I do not want to sound xenophobic here (btw: English is NOT my first language) but every international label (e.g., German, Dutch, Mexican…) acknowledges that our common language, nowadays, is English; not the French, no (but, are you surprised?) That such an historically significant label like EMI would do this just tells us of the depressing stage of the business. I regret that no serious label (and there are many independent ones in the classical business!) was enganged in this enterprise.
Rating: 3 / 5
#5 by Michael J. Doherty on June 6, 2010 - 4:26 am
Very well done, cosidering the technology of the early 1900’s which had to be overcome. Still I was surprised at the amount of ‘hiss’ which was unable to be filtered out. Mayor disappointment was the liner notes; sure wish they were in ENGLISH, as this is being sold here in the USA. I’m sure they are very interesting but not everyone can read French. Considering the 4 most used languages use at an international level are English, German, Italian, and French; at least the liner notes could have been in all 4 languages, just as the instructions for my CD and DVD players are.
Rating: 4 / 5