Giovanni Parola Edison Amberol B174/30010

[Wagnerian]

Just a trawl for information, please.

Does anyone know anything about this tenor who sang "O Soave Fanciulla" from Puccini's La Boheme with Adelina Agostinelli on Wax Amberol Grand Opera B174/30010? This seems to be Parola's only recording, certainly for Edison and his name doesn't appear anywhere else.

Could this be an Edison mis-print for a Giovanni Paroli who's dates and career in the US certainly would match up with being able to record for Edison in March 1909?

Any information would be greatfully received.

Tim W-W

[tubaphone]

I love mysteries like this. The Edison cylinder of the duet from La Boheme that you were asking about is quite nice. Since no information can be found on Giovanni Parola it is quite possible that the name is a mistake. In the link listed below you will find a sound sample of the tenor Angelo Parola who's recorded output is apparently very small which is ashamed because he has a fine voice and sense of musicianship. To my ear the voice and style sounds very similar to the voice on Edison B-174, give it a listen and tell me what you think.

http://forgottenoperasingers.blogspot.c ... -1872.html

[Marco Gilardetti]

I would take for good that it is a mispell of Paroli. I see Italian names, titles and tempoes mispelled at an unbelievable rate on period american catalogues, record sleeves and so on. A bit less on labels. Reading a mispelled surname on a cylinder edge should also be less likely to happnen, but still it wouldn't take me by surprise.

Ironically, it could have been done by a man who spoke a bit of Italian, as "parola" has indeed a meaning (="word") while "paroli" hasn't. Perhaps he thought that Paroli was mispelled and "corrected" it to Parola.

[Wagnerian]

Thank you Tubaphone and Marco,

I've listened to the Angelo Parola recording but can't identify if it the same singer as on the Grand Opera cylinder. I will bow to Marco's obvious knowledge of Italian to suggest it is indeed a missprint. We may never know but it is still an impressive cylinder and one which is going to be reissued this year as part of the CLPGS indestructible "Masters Series" of operatic cylinders.

All the best and thanks for your thoughts.

Tim W-W

[tubaphone]

Good point Marco however, Giovanni Paroli's 40 year career was spent as a comprimario tenor with no recorded legacy. His name is certainly closer than Angelo Parola. Since we don't have any recordings of Giovanni Paroli's voice to compare with the Edison cylinder I'll have to agree with Marco on this one because of the closeness of the name.

[CDBPDX]

I had a collection of old Arabic 78s. These were recorded throughout Europe and North America. The spelling of the artists names were spelled phonetically correct for each country. This meant that a single artist could be listed with 3 or 4 different spellings, depending on whether they were recorded in England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, or the USA. Took a while to figure that out...

http://78records.cdbpdx.com/Arabic/

http://78records.cdbpdx.com/Arabic/ARAB ... DS110B.mp3

Cliff

[Marco Gilardetti]

Isn't it possible to track this cylinder on period Edison catalogues and check if perhaps the surname was spelled differently there?

By the way, I don't know wether this adds further confusion or clarifies anything, but this source seems to suggest that the cylinder was recorded in Milan and not in the USA:

https://books.google.it/books?id=EUT960 ... 10&f=false

[Wagnerian]

Thanks to all for the helpful and constructive comments; this is now becoming rather interesting.

I have checked in the Edison Phonograph Monthly for Nov. 1909 and the name is given as Parola and is also shown as such in the 1910 Britiah Amberola catalogue. Girard and Barnes claim that the recording was made in Milan in 1908 but they are not the most reliable of sources. Alan Sutton however in Edison Amerola Cylinders(1908-1913) claims the recording was made on 11 March 1909 in New York (the other Agostinelli titles are shown as recorded on 16 February 1909 also in New York). This would fit in with the dates of Giovanni Paroli performing in the US. Sutton gives the singers name as Parola, by the way.

The other alternative is that it is a complete pseudonym and it's really Billy Murray or someone of that ilk !

All the best and thanks

Tim W-W

[Wagnerian]

Whilst we may never know who Giovanni Parola is or was, we can at least listen to him making quite a good fist of the Act 1 duet.
This is one of the latest of two new Edison Grand Opera Amberol cylinders issued in an indestructible format by the City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society (CLPGS)the other issue being La Mamma Morta from Andrea Chenier sung by Carment Mellis. These cylinders are manufactured exclusively for us by Vulcan Cylinder Record Company in Sheffield so you know they will be of the best quality.
You can listen to the two issues on You-Tube
MS 5 La Boheme (from wax Grand Opera Amberol B174/30010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNXWw_46GCI
MS 6 Andrea Chenier (from wax Grand Opera Amberol 40027)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKIR4lMTgvk

These cylinders are available at £45.00 each (only £35.00 to CLPGS members)plus postage and will be sent worldwide. To order or for more information, simply click on the link
http://www.clpgs.org.uk/masters-series.html

Best wishes

Tim W-W