CLPGS: Next London Meeting - Tuesday 20 January at 19:00 hrs

[Wagnerian]

The next London meeting of the City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society will be held on Tuesday 20th January at 19:00 hrs in the Bertrand Russell Room of the Conway Halls, 25 Red Lion Square London EC1 4RL. (Nearest Tube: Holborn).

The topic will be "Operatic 4-Minute Cylinders" played "live" on an Amberola 30. The Edison catalogue has been scoured for operatic selections from Faust, La Boheme, I Pagliacci and Lohengrin in what promises to be a fascinating evening, especially for opera lovers.

Admission is free and all, members and non-members alike, are very welcome.

All the best

Tim W-W

[RefSeries]

Yesterday's presentation was a really good one. Not only was Tim's delivery spot on but the music was just great. Anybody who says opera can only be heard well on Round Flat Things has never heard music like this! Superb.

Keith

[swarf007]

This was one of those rare presentations which was clever but modest, and serious but hilarious. Tim's pithy plot summaries, which helped us catch up with the action between the cylinders of each opera, were delightfully down-to-earth and off-the-cuff, mocking the idiocies of libretto logic. On the serious side it was fascinating to hear Francesco Daddi sing Beppe's 'Serenata D'Arlecchino' from I Pagliacci -- a role which Daddi himself created in 1892 (BA 22413). Guido Gialdini's whistling of Musetta's Waltz Song from La Boheme caused much hilarity ... but it soon sank in that he had considerable lung power, wonderfully long-breathed phrasing, and a surprisingly varied and nuanced tone. The most surprisingly voice of the evening was good old Charles Harrison singing Rodolpho's 'Your Tiny Hand is Frozen' La Boheme. It was a well-rounded sound, and a pleasingly forward recording ... and just a main sequence Blue Amberol (2184). But the star of the evening was the baby Amberola 30 - which filled the room effortlessly especially after Frank Andrews suggested putting the lid down during play for a bit more resonance. I learned a lot -- perhaps there's more to Gounod's Faust than I thought (not much, but a few redeeming moments!).

Simon