The Golden Age of the Gramophone 1907-1945

The 42 Best-Loved Popular Classical Recordings.

Here is a classical treasure-chest that unlocks to reveal 42 of the most priceless gems of the 78 era, truly a golden age of great artists. Opening with the record that effectively started the whole record industry - Caruso’s Vesti la giubba, all the best-loved singers are here, through Peter Dawson, John McCormack, Beniamino Gigli, Paul Robeson, Heddle Nash, Richard Tauber and many others, finally to close with Björling’s Nessun dorma.

All the greatest instrumentalists, too, play their party pieces: Casals, Landowska, Segovia, Heiftz, Schnabel, Rubinstein, Brain, and so many more.

In addition, Kreisler plays Kreisler, Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov, Grainger plays Grainger, Elgar conducts Elgar, Coates conducts Coates, and Gershwin plays his own Rhapsody in Blue.

But perhaps the most nostalgic quintessentials, and the purest diamonds in the treasure-chest, are Master Ernest Lough singing O for the Wings of a Dove, and that immortal gathering of 250 Manchester schoolchildren on 24th June 1929 singing Nymphs and Shepherds – voices “that will never grow old”.

Contents:
CD 1
- Enrico Caruso: Vesti La Giubba
- Amelita Galli-Curci: Lo, Here the Gentle Lark
- Pablo Casals: The Swan
- Peter Dawson: The Floral Dance
- Fritz Kreisler: Liebesfreud
- Feodor Chaliapin: The Song of the Flea
- Wanda Landowska: Rondo alla Turca
- Master Ernest Lough: O for the Wings of a Dove
- Andrés Segovia: Recuerdos De La Alhambra
- John Mccormack: I Hear You Calling Me
- George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
- Lawrence Tibbett: Toreador’s Song
- Percy Grainger: Country Gardens
- Cortot, Thibaud & Casals: Gypsy Rondo
- Manchester Children’s Choir: Nymphs and Shepherds
- Manchester Children’s Choir: Hansel & Gretel Dance Duet
- Sergey Rachmaninov: Prelude in C Sharp Minor
- Marian Anderson: Softly Awakes My Heart
- Dame Myra Hess: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
- Conchita Supervía: Clavelitos
- Jascha Heifetz: Hora Staccato

CD 2
- Arturo Toscanini: La Traviata - Prelude to Act 1
- Lauritz Melchior: The Prize Song
- Alfred Cortot: Waltz in C Sharp Minor (Chopin)
- Beniamino Gigli: Your Tiny Hand is Frozen
- Sir Edward Elgar: Salut D’amour
- Anni Frind: Nuns’ Chorus
- Walter Gieseking: Clair De Lune
- Paul Robeson: Ol’ Man River
- Artur Schnabel: Für Elise
- Heddle Nash: Serenade (The Fair Maid of Perth)
- Artur Rubinstein: “Heroic” Polonaise in A Flat (Chopin)
- Lehmann, Schumann & Olszewska: Final Trio (Der Rosenkavalier)
- Eric Coates: By The Sleepy Lagoon
- Richard Tauber: You Are My Heart’s Delight
- Sir Thomas Beecham: La Calinda
- Dame Maggie Teyte: Après un Rêve
- Eileen Joyce: Rustle of Spring
- Dame Joan Hammond: O My Beloved Father
- Dennis Brain: Rondo (Mozart: Horn Concerto No.4)
- Glasgow Orpheus Choir: All in the April Evening
- Jussi Björling: Nessun Dorma!