Bellini: Norma: Casta Diva by Rosa Raisa

[melvind]

I mentioned in another post yesterday how I did not like this record of Casta Diva. I may have been a bit harsh, but it is not my favorite. Anyway, Rosa Raisa is a very important singer that had a terrific career and was known for the power in her voice. This one I am guessing is from about 1920. As she goes very high and loud at the end of each verse of the aria there is quite dramatic blasting. Too bad. She probably needed to back off from the acoustic recording horn.

(Double-click the video above or click this link to watch the video on YouTube in HD.)

https://youtu.be/ensL3HNZGMQ

[Governor Flyball]

I liked this recording. To the modern ear it seems odd with the lack of theater acoustic and particularly the constrained vibrato. To my ears, this is how it should be sung.

As for the blasting, is it the record? It sounds almost like it has been clipped electronically. If it is the record, I find the choice of needle is very important as the needle size may be chosen to minimize the distortion.

[drh]

I tried my own transfer and got nearly clean playback of the peaks with a 2.8 mil truncated elliptical (Shure V15Vx-MR cartridge, Graham Slee Accession phono preamp set for true flat playback). A standard elliptical (same preamp, Shure V15III with VN78E stock "78" stylus--I think 2.5 mil, if memory serves) was just a tad cleaner on the big peaks but less so on the smaller ones at the end of the record--quite possibly a matter of alignment, as the cartridge wasn't set up for this turntable. I spot checked with a 3.0 mil conical and got much more blasting, something akin to that in the video, and results with a 4.0 mil truncated elliptical in the V15V fell somewhere between those with the 2.8 and the V15III. If you'd like to hear the results of the 2.8 truncated elliptical (download, not streaming), they can be found here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/t6i35u9i7fx4l/

That said, I couldn't begin to produce as beautiful, finished a video as Melvin gave us. That took a lot of work. Thanks for sharing it!

[melvind]

Thanks for the nice transfer. I used a 3mil stylus when I did mine. I kind of think my record is just worn in the loud spots, but I do not have many options with styli. I have a 2.5 and a 3. I didn't try the 2.5 as it is usually terrible with 78 records.

[melvind]

I liked this recording. To the modern ear it seems odd with the lack of theater acoustic and particularly the constrained vibrato. To my ears, this is how it should be sung..

My problem with this recording is the lack of legato singing at the beginning. Bel Canto singing is all about legato and she starts very notey or choppy. It does improve as it moves forward. Perhaps it is just how I hear it and the fact that when ever I hear this aria I have Joan Sutherland in my head. I think she may have recorded the best version of this aria ever sung.

[drh]

Thanks for the nice transfer. I used a 3mil stylus when I did mine. I kind of think my record is just worn in the loud spots, but I do not have many options with styli. I have a 2.5 and a 3. I didn't try the 2.5 as it is usually terrible with 78 records.

Glad to oblige! Raisa also recorded "Casta Diva" for Pathé; I have it as grey paper label 60055 A. Just for fun, I did a transfer of that record and put it in the same download sharing folder:

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/t6i35u9i7fx4l/

The contrast is interesting. For starters, whereas for Vocalion she sang only the slow first movement of the aria, for Pathé she sang one verse and then the faster second movement. (I long thought these were "cavatina" and "cabaletta," respectively, but double checking on line left a trail of linguistic mud about the definitions of those terms). In any event, the more striking difference is the vocal quality--these records really could be of two different singers, with the voice on Pathé having far, far more body and that on Vocalion sounding almost girlish by comparison. Could she have taken the aria down some on Vocalion, making the voice sound thin when played at pitch (78 RPM)? Or did Vocalion just do a poor recording job? I have the impression Vocalion recorded her more closely; perhaps room resonance enters into it? Hers was reputedly a huge voice; perhaps for lateral recording she was forced to crank it down so much it lost its character, whereas no limit on dynamics was necessary for vertical cut? A conundrum, to say the least. Aside from some extra bass cut that I imposed on the Pathé (see below) and the substitution of a Shure M44-7 with Pathé stylus for the V15Vx with truncated elliptical, the electronics and software were the same for both dubs.

A word of warning is in order if you download the Pathé for audition. It has horrific rumble; I was forced to taper down everything below 100 Hz, and even so it sounds as if a constant roll of thunder is going on underneath.

[melvind]

Yes, this is how it should sound. Good singing and a much larger sounding voice. I will have to look for that record and make a video of it one day. And, I love that is has the cabaletta portion at the end instead of the two verses. It is too long for one record with it all there. Lots of musical sacrifices to the short times on early records. Thanks for the transfer. It was fun to listen to.

I have noticed on other Pathé records I have transferred they all have a terrible rumble as you mentioned. I think it was the way them produced their records from the original masters. It was a noisy process.

[Nat]

She sounds like a thinner-voice Rosa Ponselle; same placement, less voice.

[Wolfe]

Ponselle mentioned Raisa in her autobio. IIRC, favorably, and that being close in age and being named Rosa they were sometimes compared.

I like Ponselle's Columbia acoustical version better than the Raisa disc. It's sung with much more aplomb, and at that tempo too. It would not really be fair to compare Ponselle's electrical recording.

(Double-click the video above or click this link to go to the video on YouTube.)

[Governor Flyball]

Thank you for the Pathé version. It appears the Pathé technicians were more sympathetic to the singers. Curious to find out more about the early Vocalian technicians: perhaps they were more accustomed to popular performers?

The knack of getting a good acoustical recording was a hit and miss process.