MAURICE RENAUD sings Berlioz - 1901 record

£ 66

$ 87

£ 66 Sold For

Mar 25, 2011 Sold Date

Mar 18, 2011 Start Date

6 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

eBay Auctioned at

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Description

MAURICE RENAUD, baritone (1861?-1933)
1901 record of the Serenade, 'Voici des roses', from La Damnation de Faust (Berlioz), with piano accompaniment
Gramophone & Typewriter record no. G.C.32077, matrix 712G

10-inch single-sided record with Gramophone & Typewriter red label. Back of record blank except for etched logo and 'Reproduced in Hanover' stamp.

The record is in unusually good condition, with only slight wear and a few short radial scratches which do not affect playing.. This copy probably dates from 1902-3.

Maurice Renaud (né Croneau) ranks as one of the greatest French singers ever to make records. Born in Bordeaux, he studied in Paris and Brussels, making his first appearance in the latter city in 1883. He developed an international career, reaching London's Royal Opera House in 1897 and New York (Manhattan Opera House) in 1906, although contractual difficulties delayed his début at the Metropolitan until 1910. He was an outstandingly elegant singer whose style is often contrasted with the more forcible and overtly dramatic techniques which developed in the early 1900s, although at the same time he was very far from being a merely lyric artist; his outstanding roles included Rigoletto, Scarpia and the Flying Dutchman as well as Mozart's Don Giovanni. He created the part of Boniface the cook in Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame (1902).

This record - only the second item in Renaud's first recording session, held in Paris toward the end of 1901 - is the first of his three recordings of the Serenade. (Berlioz was then still a highly controversial composer, much more favoured in Britain and Germany than in France; however, Renaud seems to have had a liking for La Damnation and recorded several other items from it, besides appearing in a staged version of the complete work in 1902 under the baton of Toscanini.) The record was at first issued with a black label before being transferred to the more prestigious Red Label range, which had only recently been created. However, several details - the large label, the hand-written catalogue and matrix numbers, and the absence of a raised rim to the record - show that this is still an early copy.

Records of this period usually play rather below 78rpm. I do not know the exact figure, but there is an authoritative CD transfer of Renaud's G&T records, issued by Marston Records, which includes this item and should be a reliable guide to the correct playing speed..

On 22-Mar-11 at 11:23:02 GMT, seller added the following information:

ADDENDUM 22nd March 2011: shipping costs on multiple purchases

As some bidders are showing an interest in both the records I have on sale, I should explain that I am (of course) willing to adjust the shipping cost for a buyer who takes both items. I have tried to set up a combined-postage scheme through eBay's own facility, but the necessary screens do not display properly on my computer. If the situation arises, therefore, I shall advise the buyer in a message and shall raise the invoice manually. For carriage within the U.K. the cost will be the same for two records as for one, namely £4.00 by first-class Recorded Delivery (packet); for overseas buyers the shipping cost (GBP12.00 for one record) becomes GBP14.00 for two.

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