Edison Grand Opera cylinders

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marcapra
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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by marcapra »

When I said you can find much better opera on Victor, I didn't mean that Slezak, Urlus, Goritz, etc. were not great opera singers. I actually was trying to say that playing Victor opera records is more practical from a money and a durability standpoint, as well as a rarity standpoint! Only a few collectors get to enjoy Urlus, Slezak, and Goritz who were very great singers for sure. By the way, Leo Slezak's son was the Hollywood character actor, Walter Slezak, who played the German submarine commander in the 1944 Hitchcock film, Lifeboat.
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Wolfe
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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by Wolfe »

Jacques Urlus is on Diamond Disc too.

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Wolfe
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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by Wolfe »

drh wrote:
marcapra wrote:why are they prized? It's mainly rarity and collected by Edison fans. These cylinders are very fragile and easily broken. You can only play them about 20 times before they start to wear out. You can buy much better opera on Victor/Victrola records for $1 Or $2 each.
Agreed about rarity, but I'll take a bit of issue about "much better opera." Some terrific singers can be found in the cylinder format. Slezak (seen in the original post) is one, and in fact one of his cylinders offers my favorite account of "E Lucevan le Stelle"; others include the likes of Jacques Urlus, Selma Kurz, Antonio Scotti (yes, the same one who partnered Caruso on Victor), and Heinrich Knote, to name a few off the top of my head. Many others had significant careers but were either known primarily in Europe or not commonly found on Victor records and hence not beneficiaries of the Victor publicity machine, a particular handicap, from the point of view of posterity, for those who recorded only on vertical cut records, which lapsed into unplayability for decades after the demise of Edison's company. So I'd say there are sound musical reasons going well beyond "Edison worship."
There's an interesting CD issue on Marston covering a chunk of the cylinders Edison recorded in Europe in 1912-13, in a quest to find new operatic talent to issue. Several hundred cylinders of some known and some not so known singers were recorded, all of them ultimately rejected by Edison.

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rgordon939
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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by rgordon939 »

I would much rather own the original cylinder rather than a resin copy. I would play it once and record it. Then I could listen to the recording any time I wished. Having a resin copy or two I can understand but as a collector I want originals for my collection.

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eighteenbelow
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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by eighteenbelow »

I recently saw an empty case for a 2-minute Edison Grand Opera cylinder; I'd never seen one before. Are these (cylinders, not cases) more or less rare than the 4-minute Grand Opera Amberols? Do they typically command higher or lower prices?

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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by 52089 »

eighteenbelow wrote:I recently saw an empty case for a 2-minute Edison Grand Opera cylinder; I'd never seen one before. Are these (cylinders, not cases) more or less rare than the 4-minute Grand Opera Amberols? Do they typically command higher or lower prices?
As with so many things, "it depends". IMHO the 2 minute cylinders are harder to find than the 4 minute ones. However, a lot of collectors don't want to hear 2 minute excerpts of operas. Nonetheless, a clean 2 minute B series with the correct box and lid will rarely sell below $100.

Also be aware that there are at least 2 different 2 minute Grand Opera boxes, so keep your eyes open for them.

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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by Wagnerian »

epigramophone wrote:The CLPGS is re-manufacturing some Edison Grand Opera titles in modern materials, which can be played without anxiety.

http://www.clpgs.org.uk/masters-series.html
Just to let you know; all the CLPGS Masters Series cylinders have now sold out and it is not the intention to manufacture any more. We still hold all the record moulds and should there prove to be sufficient demand we can still produce titles as required.

All the best

Tim W-W

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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by eighteenbelow »

52089 wrote: Also be aware that there are at least 2 different 2 minute Grand Opera boxes, so keep your eyes open for them.
The one I saw looked like this. What do the other types of 2-minute Grand Opera cylinder cases look like?
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52089
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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by 52089 »

eighteenbelow wrote:
52089 wrote: Also be aware that there are at least 2 different 2 minute Grand Opera boxes, so keep your eyes open for them.
The one I saw looked like this. What do the other types of 2-minute Grand Opera cylinder cases look like?
Here's an example of the other style I am aware of, but there may be more. Note the difference in the words "Grand Opera" among other things:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=43623&hilit=grand+opera+box

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Re: Edison Grand Opera cylinders

Post by eighteenbelow »

Interesting. Any idea which style is older?

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