Fonotipia Records
| Fonotipia Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Founded | 1904 |
| Founder | Baron Frederic d'Erlanger |
| Status | Defunct |
| Genre | Classical Music, opera |
| Country of origin | Italy |
Fonotipia Records, or Dischi Fonotipia, was an Italian gramophone record label established in 1904 with a charter to record the art of leading opera singers and some other celebrity musicians, chiefly violinists. Fonotipia continued to operate into the electrical recording era, which commenced in 1925–26, by which time the company had been absorbed into Odeon records. The records made by Fonotipia are prized by collectors and musicologists for their high technical quality, and for the high artistic merit and interest of much of what was captured for posterity.
The Fonotipia catalogues were reconstructed, so far as then possible, by the discophiles J.R. Bennett and James Dennis in 1953, and published in a limited edition. Fifty years later, a complete discography with accurate recording-session dates was compiled and made available to the public, following the rediscovery of key company documents. Fonotipia is not to be confused with the Phonotype record label which was active for part of the same period.
Fonotipia records was established in 1904 by the Anglo-French composer Baron Frederic d'Erlanger (1868–1943), as the Società Italiana di Fonotipia, Milano expressly for recording celebrities, principally opera singers. (A recent re-issue of some titles states that it was formed as part of the International Talking Machine Company of Berlin.) The records were lateral needle-cut of the usual kind, starting at the outer edge, and playing at speeds at or near 78 rpm.
Fonotipia's output was issued in various record sizes. The original series of one thousand titles (numbered 39000-39999) was issued in the 27cm or ten and three-quarter inch format. (Disc xPH 1, issued as 39003, was cut in 1904 by the great La Scala baritone Giuseppe Pacini, who sings the operatic aria "Il balen" from Verdi's Il Trovatore). Unlike the Gramophone Company's more refined numbering system, Fonotipia's system agglomerated male, female and ensemble artists, with piano accompaniments, on an indiscriminate basis. This original series was complete by 1907 when a new 27cm series, 62000, was begun, also with piano accompaniment. From late 1907, it ran in tandem with the 27cm 92000 series, which had orchestral accompaniments.
In 1905, the 69000 series was introduced. It featured a large disc of 35cm (13 and three-quarter inches); but it ran to only 22 titles before being discontinued as unpopular with the consumer market, owing to the format. However this short series had the distinction of including the only known commercial records by the great Polish tenor Jean de Reszke, namely the titles 69000, "Scene du tombeau" (from Roméo et Juliette, by Gounod), and 69001, "Ô Souverain, Ô Juge, Ô Père" (from Le Cid, by Massenet). Unfortunately, the record was never officially issued, and although there have long been rumours of the existence of a test pressing or two, no copy is certainly known to exist. It appears that de Reszke had the pressings destroyed because he was disappointed with the results. Nonetheless, this fabled relic has become a 'holy grail' of operatic record collectors, who must fall back on the faint and scratchy Mapleson Cylinders, cut during live performances at the New York Metropolitan Opera, in order to hear a dim echo of de Reszke's voice.
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Wikipedia