Album

If there is any reason to be glad for the resuscitated Nimbus label, which made a comeback after a number of years spent on receiver's index, it is Nimbus' Prima Voce volume for the magnificent baritone and recording pioneer Emilio de Gogorza. If any "historical" vocalist ever deserved a career survey and never really got one, not even on LPs, it was Gogorza. Two of Gogorza's LPs appeared on the obscure Cantilena label in Canada in the 1960s, and Pearl tried a single disc of Gogorza in the 1980s. While these were steps in the right direction, Gogorza was a singer active from 1901 to 1930 that made hundreds of recordings, so achieving a true career summary would be a great deal more difficult task than just putting together a number of his recordings that sound good. Ironically, Gogorza has appeared on CD quite a bit, but mostly in the context of his work with other singers—Gogorza's work with Enrico Caruso has been re-released many times, and to a lesser extent so have his recordings with his wife, soprano Emma Eames. Four of those are included here, as is an astounding duet with Marcella Sembrich from 1907. Other than that, all of the 35 selections in this two-disc set, Emilio de Gogorza: Prima Voce, are his alone.

Gogorza was one of the first recording artists in the disc era to make a lot of records; he began even earlier than Caruso or the all-time champion in terms of record singers in terms of sheer production, Henry Burr. Unlike Caruso, Gogorza lived to stay on records nearly as long as Burr. Gogorza needed the income, as his personal appearances were all in recital; his eyesight was so poor he could not perform in opera, and the one time Gogorza tried, it earned him a trip into the prompter's box. It was noted in contemporary reviews that Gogorza had a superb command of languages, particularly French and Spanish, and he recorded popular music under a number of pseudonyms, such as "Signor Francisco" in various languages. The first disc in this set consists of opera scenes and arias, and the second disc of songs, both classical and popular. It is a tremendously varied range of offerings, from Wagner's "Evening Star" from Tannhäuser (in German) to Sebastien Yradier's little ditty "La Paloma." Gogorza had an incredibly powerful voice—Marcella Sembrich goes into a near apoplectic fit trying to get ahead of him in their duet from Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, "Doute de la lumière"—but he used it to much deeper, expressive purposes than what was required of most "record singers" of his day. For a good example of this, sample his stunning "Promesse de mon avenir" from Massenet's opera La roi de Lahore.

Some have derided the Nimbus "Ambisonic" process—playing original records through a gigantic playback horn in a tiny, scale-model concert hall in Wyastone, England—as technical quackery, however, there are at least two very good things about it. It really does cut down on the amount of static coming from the record, a problem with every direct, electronic transfer of vintage shellac recordings; this makes the experience more palatable to the average listener than typical "honest" transfers of vintage acoustical records. The other thing is that the resultant echoing sound—the ambience of the "Ambisonic" hall—really isn't that different from what one gets from using a typical noise reduction program, except that the reverberation at Wyastone is natural and the one in a de-noising program is an electronic artifact. Generally, Nimbus process works less well on electrical records than on acoustic ones, although there is at least one electrical record here that sounds glorious, a 1928 Victor test of Debussy's "Voici que le printemps" that features genuinely human and moving singing in Gogorza's late voice.

Emilio de Gogorza: Prima Voce is a wonderful offering to anyone who cares about great, low-voiced male singers; however, one element indicates someone is asleep at the switch—Gogorza's death date is given as 1935 in the head note, but correctly as 1949 in the text. Hopefully, in a future edition the booklet can be corrected so that these two conflicting bits of information shake hands.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 2
Charles Gounod Composer Faust (opéra)...Act 2 Work Recorded 1903 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
1	3.Cavatina. Dio possente (Avant de quitter ces lieux)	2:23			$0.99
Ambroise Thomas Composer Hamlet (opera) Work Recorded 1907 8:04 Marcella Sembrich Soprano, Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
2	Doute de la lumière	4:18			$0.99
3	O vin dissipe la tristesse	3:46			$0.99
Jules Massenet Composer Le roi de Lahore (opera)...Act 4 Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
4	3b.Promesse de mon avenir (O casto fior)	3:52			$0.99
Jules Massenet Composer Hérodiade (opera)...Act 2 Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
5	2.Vision fugitive	4:12			$0.99
Emile Paladilhe Composer Patrie, opera Work Recorded 1911 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
6	Air du Sonneur	4:03			$0.99
Charles Gounod Composer Faust (opéra)...Act 2 Work Recorded 1907 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
7	3.Cavatina. Dio possente (Avant de quitter ces lieux)	4:24			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K.492 (opera buffa)...Act 3 Work Recorded 1909 Emma Eames Soprano, Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
8	2.Duetto: Crudel! Perché finora farmi languir così?	3:06			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Don Giovanni, K.527 (opera buffa)...Act 1 Work Recorded 1906 Emma Eames Soprano, Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
9	16.Duet: Là ci darem la mano	3:21			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Don Giovanni, K.527 (opera buffa) Work Recorded 1913 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
10	Serenata	1:56			$0.99
Hector Berlioz Composer La Damnation de Faust, Op.24 (légende dramatique)...Part 3 Work Recorded 1913 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
11	26.Sérénade de Méphistophélès: Devant la maison de celui qui t'adore	1:57			$0.99
Richard Wagner Composer Tannhäuser (opera), WWV 70...Scene 2 Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
12	7.O du mein holder Abendstern	3:40			$0.99
Giuseppe Verdi Composer Rigoletto (opera)...Act 1 Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
13	11.Sc.8: Pari siamo!	4:06			$0.99
Giuseppe Verdi Composer Il Trovatore (opera)...Act 4 Work Recorded 1909 Emma Eames Soprano, Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
14	9.Sc.2: Mira, di acerbe lagrime	3:47			$0.99
Giuseppe Verdi Composer Un ballo in maschera (opera)...Act 3 Work Recorded 1911 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
15	4.Eri tu, che macchiavi	4:40			$0.99
Eugeno Díaz de la Pena Composer Benvenuto Cellini, opera Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
16	De l'art splendour immortelle	4:10			$0.99
Ruggero Leoncavallo Composer Pagliacci (opera)...Act 1 Work Recorded 1916 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
17	1.Prologue: Introduzione	3:39			$0.99
Jacques Offenbach Composer La chanson de Fortunio (operetta) Work Recorded 1916 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
18	Si vous croyez	2:27			$0.99
CD 2 of 2
Sebastián Iradier Composer La Sevillana, habanera for voice & piano Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
1	La Sevillana, habanera for voice & piano	3:00			$0.99
Salvatore Scuderi Composer Dormi Pure, serenade for voice & piano Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
2	Dormi Pure, serenade for voice & piano	3:34			$0.99
Emile Paladilhe Composer Mandolinata, serenade for voice & piano Work Recorded 1910 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
3	Mandolinata, serenade for voice & piano	2:56			$0.99
Giuseppe detto Giordaniello Giordani Composer Caro mio ben (canzonetta) Work Recorded 1907 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
4	Caro mio ben (canzonetta)	3:35			$0.99
Sebastián Iradier Composer La paloma, for voice and piano (or orchestra) Work Recorded 1905 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
5	La paloma, for voice and piano (or orchestra)	4:06			$0.99
Luis Rigou / Gerardo di Giusto Composer Noche serena, song Work Recorded 1914 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
6	Noche serena, song	2:45			$0.99
Mexican Traditional Composer El Celoso, traditional song Work Recorded 1914 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
7	El Celoso, traditional song	2:14			$0.99
José Manuel Zapata Composer La luna, song Work Recorded 1918 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
8	La luna, song	3:03			$0.99
Tito Mattei Composer Non è ver', song for voice & piano Work Recorded 1916 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
9	Non è ver', song for voice & piano	4:28			$0.99
E.A. Mario (AKA Giovanni Gaeta) Composer Comme se canta a Napule, song Work Recorded 1910 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
10	Comme se canta a Napule, song	2:56			$0.99
Mexican Traditional Composer Teresita mia, traditional song Work Recorded 1920 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
11	Teresita mia, traditional song	2:59			$0.99
English Traditional Composer Drink to me only with thine eyes, folk song Work Recorded 1909 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
12	Drink to me only with thine eyes, folk song	3:12			$0.99
Sir Edward Elgar Composer The Pipes of Pan Work Recorded 1915 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
13	The Pipes of Pan	4:04			$0.99
Jean-Baptiste Fauré [baritone/composer] Composer Le Crucifix vous qui pleurez Work Recorded 1909 Emma Eames Soprano, Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
14	Crucifix	3:04			$0.99
André Joseph Exaudet Composer Menuet d'Exaudet Work Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
15	Menuet d'Exaudet	2:49			$0.99
Jean Baptiste Weckerlin Composer Bergere légère, folksong transcription for voice & piano Work Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
16	Bergere légère, folksong transcription for voice & piano	2:07			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Romance: Voici que le printemps, L.52 Work Recorded 1928 Emilio de Gogorza Tenor
17	Romance: Voici que le printemps, L.52	3:11			$0.99