L'Incognita - Mystery Singer

Discussions on Records, Recording, & Artists
Post Reply
CarlosV
Victor IV
Posts: 1835
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:18 am
Location: Luxembourg

L'Incognita - Mystery Singer

Post by CarlosV »

This record arrived with a pile I just bought. Played by L'Incognita, whom I presume had reasons to remain unamed. Her voice sounds good, a real soprano, not a mezzo. Any guesses? The handwritten note indicates "purchased June (?) 18, 1912".
Attachments
L'Incognita.JPG
L'Incognita.JPG (108.63 KiB) Viewed 712 times

User avatar
Wolfe
Victor V
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:52 pm

Re: L'Incognita - Mystery Singer

Post by Wolfe »


CarlosV
Victor IV
Posts: 1835
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:18 am
Location: Luxembourg

Re: L'Incognita - Mystery Singer

Post by CarlosV »

Nice to find more info on the singer, thanks!

Menophanes
Victor II
Posts: 429
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:52 am
Location: Redruth, Cornwall, U.K.

Re: L'Incognita - Mystery Singer

Post by Menophanes »

Violet Mount seems to have had a very considerable coloratura technique. I suspect that a difficulty with Italian may have had something to do with her failure to establish herself in opera; at any rate, her pronunciation in a Zonophone Grand Opera recording of 'Sempre libera' from Traviata seems very odd, with many words ending in a sound like the English word 'ear' – a sound which, I believe, does not exist in Italian. I like her best in a late English-language version of an aria ('None can gainsay') from Donizetti's Fille du régiment where she shows a real sense of humour; unfortunately I forget where I heard this.

Somewhere on the Internet, I once came across an Australian newspaper article of about 1906 which described Mount as Australia's best soprano (an extraordinary statement when Melba, though far from young, was still only in the afternoon of her career) and stated that her forthcoming trip to England for study would be financed by either the provincial or the national government.

Late in her career she worked with the distinguished flautist John Amadio.

Oliver Mundy.

CarlosV
Victor IV
Posts: 1835
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:18 am
Location: Luxembourg

Re: L'Incognita - Mystery Singer

Post by CarlosV »

Thanks for the additional information, Oliver, very interesting. This being the only record I own (and heard) of her, it is difficult to share the opinion of the Australian newspaper that she was the best Australian singer of her time. Melba sounds much better to my ears.

Post Reply