Legendary Singers in Rare Live Broadcast Performances

Featuring

Margarete Matzenauer
Rudy Vallée
Adrienne Matzenauer
Oswald Kabasta
Maria Jeritza
Ernestine Schumann-Heink

Milton Cross
Piet Dieckers
Joseph Schmidt
Marian Anderson
Armand Tokatyan
Ben Grauer
Erna Sack
Lauritz Melchior
Richard Tauber
Edwin McArthur
Kirsten Flagstad
Fleischmann Hour Orchestra
Wiener Philharmoniker
Holland Symphony Orchestra
Magic Key Orchestra
Unknown ensemble
NBC Symphony Orchestra
Camille Saint-Saëns
Cole Porter
Carrie Jacobs-Bond
Franz Lehár
Miscellaneous
Johann Strauss II (Jr.)
Hans May
Gaetano Donizetti
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Richard Wagner
Edvard Grieg
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Did you know?

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Performer Biography

Joseph Schmidt, a popular radio and film tenor of the 1930s, was forced to leave Germany in 1933 because he was Jewish and later died in a Swiss internment camp for refugees.

Recording & Production

This album features rare live performances, mostly culled from shortwave broadcasts from Europe and radio theme programs between 1934 and 1940.

Performer Biography

Maria Jeritza, a prima donna at the Metropolitan Opera, was known for her public disputes with tenor Benjamino Gigli, once telling an audience, "Gigli not nice to me."

Performer Biography

Ernestine Schumann-Heink, a German-born singer who became an American household name, had her family divided during World War I, with sons fighting in both the German and American armies.

Performer Biography

Lauritz Melchior, the Danish Helden Tenor, started his career as a baritone before becoming a leading Wagnerian Tenor at Bayreuth, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Performer Biography

Kirsten Flagstad, the Norwegian Soprano, sang mostly in operettas until 1933, after which she was recognized as possessing one of the greatest soprano voices of the century.