The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Playing one of my Tito Schipa acoustic Victors tonight, I was once again struck by how well he recorded on acoustic records (having his electrical records to compare to of course.)

Who else do you think recorded especially well acoustically? Assuming you can make a judgement from having heard them electrically, or even in person!

Although not blessed with a big voice, Schipa produced a beautiful sound. I particularly like him in the Neapolitan song repertoire.

As to other singers whose voices suited the acoustic process, I would suggest McCormack and Galli-Curci to name but two. Both made the transition to electrical recording, but with diminishing vocal powers, although McCormack's sheer musicianship did much to compensate for the ravages of time.

My Grandparents heard McCormack in concert several times, but while they were still alive I never thought to ask them what he sounded like. Such is the folly of youth.......

The Harry Lauder blue amberols are among the best vocal recordings made on cylinder. Most (if not all) were directly recorded on early catalog numbers, so they were not dubs. The voice is natural sounding and presents the best sibilants that I've ever heard from acoustic recordings.

Peter Dawson. I have quite a few acoustics of his, as well as electrics, and the fundamental sound of the voice is c0nstant through both. Perhaps it's because it's a mid-range voice? And I agree re: Galli-Curci! She seems to me to have made better acoustics than almost any other soprano.

Dawson recorded amazingly well acoustically as did another HMV artist Tudor Davies. His acoustics and electrics display the same quality. Schumann-Heink was another Victor artist that recorded very well indeed...as did Louise Homer. Brunswick's star Florence Easton is another whose acoustics and electrics are very similar, although the electrics show how big her voice was. Easton could sing everything from Mozart to Wagner.
And of the Edison gang..Anna Case and Margaret Matzenauer display the same voice on their electric Victors and Columbias.
JRT

Galli-Curci for sure; a remarkable musician, both technically and expressively. I'm amazed no one has yet mentioned Caruso in this thread! Why do you think he sold a kazillion records for Victor?

Gigli wasn't bad either. I don't like his typical Neapolitan style of singing, but his late acoustic records are quite good technically.
A Dutch artist, Albert Bol, made superb sounding records as early as 1908. He sang vaudeville and had a quite nasal but far reaching voice. He actually was standing behind the band and still you can hear each vowel and syllable.

Henry wrote:I'm amazed no one has yet mentioned Caruso in this thread!

I dunno, more than once I've heard it said by folks that heard him in the theater that the records were a shadow of the real thing. I've never had a problem with them though.

Among pop singers, Henry Burr seemed to record well. This was mentioned in another recent thread here. Also Eddie Morton.

Wolfe wrote:

Henry wrote:I'm amazed no one has yet mentioned Caruso in this thread!

I dunno, more than once I've heard it said by folks that heard him in the theater that the records were a shadow of the real thing. I've never had a problem with them though.

Me neither. I guarantee you that no one ever heard Caruso in the theater like they and we can hear him on those early 1900s recordings. Hearing his Victor-recorded performance of "Celeste Aida" on my XI is like sitting ten feet in front of a real live singer. Never mind the compressed frequency response and all the rest; the sheer power of the voice is stunning!

I think Wolfe's intention when starting this topic was to mention singers who recorded both acoustically and electrically, which Caruso did not.

Caruso is of course in a class of his own, and we can only imagine what he would have sounded like with the benefit of later recording techniques.