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The Mapleson Cylinders - Program Notes
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Jean de Reszke
(1850-1925), Polish singer from Warsaw, was
originally a baritone but became the great romantic tenor idol of the late
nineteenth century. He made his New York debut as Roméo on the opening
night, December 14, of the Met's 1891-92 season, with Eames as Juliette
and his brother Edouard as Frère Laurent, following out-of-town
performances in Chicago and Louisville. He quickly established a standard for
musical and theatrical elegance by which his successors were persistently
measured. He also became the most consistently well-paid singer at the
Metropolitan Opera, receiving during the 1890s not only a salary, but a
percentage of the gross receipts. During 1900-01, the last of his eight
Met seasons. De Reskze surveyed many of the operas that secured his fame (see
Side 10/Band 1). For thirty-two performances (an additional seven had been
scheduled but cancelled because of illness), he was paid $73,728. On
April 22, 1905, after his retirement, De Reszke is known to have recorded for
Fonotipia in Paris two selections: "Salut, tombeau" from Roméo (record number 39000), and "O souverain" from
Le Cid (39001). These fourteen-inch discs were
advertised at the time in French journals; however, despite rumors of copies
hidden in a Paris bank vault, a secluded Havana estate, or the collection of
the British royal family, none has ever surfaced, and the only evidence
surviving today of De Reszke's singing is found on the Mapleson cylinders. AFRICAINE (Vasco Da Gama): Side 3/Bands 1, 3
LE CID (Rodrigue): Side 3/Band 6
HUGUENOTS (Raoul): Side 2/Bands 6-8
LOHENGRIN (Lohengrin): Side 10/Bands 1, 2
SIEGFRIED (Siegfried): Side 11/Bands 1, 3
TRISTAN (Tristan): Side 9/Band 5; Side 12/Bands 8, 9
