Summary
e start our antiques year with a real star piece - the piano that once belonged to Dame Emma Albani, one of the greatest international opera divas of the 19th century. To give you just a hint of just how big a star Dame Emma was: Think Maria Callas crossed with Beatles- Stones. She packed the great opera houses and concert halls of the world to the point of standing room only.
Queen Victoria was a great fan, regularly inviting Albani to give private performances at Windsor Castle. She was also the soloist chosen to sing at the Queen's funeral in 1901, as well as at Edward VII's coronation. Dame Emma's misfortune - and the reason that such a critically acclaimed talent is almost forgotten today - was the fact that her voice was at its peak between 1870 and 1890, when systems of voice recording were just being invented (phonograph 1877, gramophone record 1887).See the full content of this document
Extract
A Grand Start to the Year
She recorded very little and the quality of those early recordings was so awful that it is hard enough to make out the words, let alone the quality of the singer's voice.
I have to admit that I kn...See the full content of this document
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