On the Air #1: Chesterfield Broadcasts 1934-36 [Import]

Rosa Ponselle (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 11, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Marston
• ASIN: B000042OHV
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #508,351 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #53 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Baroque (c.1600-1750) > Vocal & Song

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527: Batti, batti, o bel Masetto

2. I Love You Truly, for voice & piano

3. The Cuckoo, Swiss folk song

4. Homing, for voice & orchestra

5. Ave Maria, for voice & orchestra (adapted from Intermezzo of 'Cavalleria Rusticana')

6. In the Luxembourg Gardens, for voice & piano (from the song cycle Sketches of Paris)

7. Carmen, opera: Chanson bohème

8. Der Tapfere Soldat (The Chocolate Soldier), operetta: My Hero

9. An der schönen, blauen Donau (On the Beautiful, Blue Danube), waltz for orchestra (with chorus ad lib), Op. 314 (RV 314): Excerpt

10. La Golondrina, cançion for voice & piano

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Alceste (French version), opera in 3 acts, Wq. 44: Divinités du Styx

2. Maria Wiegenlied (Mary's Lullaby: 'Maria sitzt am Rosenhag'), song for voice & piano (or orchestra), Op. 76/52

3. The Big Brown Bear

4. Goodbye (Addio), for voice & piano or orchestra, C.S. 68

5. Work(s): Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt

6. Here's to Romance: I Carry You in My Pocket

7. Carmen, opera: Air des cartes

8. Carmen, opera: Séguedille

9. Erlkönig ('Wer reitet so spät'), song for voice & piano, D. 328 (Op. 1)

10. Londonderry Air (Danny Boy), folk song

See all 40 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A treat for Ponselle fans, February 15, 2000

By 

Stanley Hauer (Hattiesburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On the Air #1: Chesterfield Broadcasts 1934-36 (Audio CD)

This record shows us a side of Ponselle I've never known before. I now realize just how hurried her old 78's were. The pacing of the songs and arias here is breathtaking in its sweep. And how large the voice sounds! No Ponselle lover will want to miss this one. Sound quality isn't always great. But as a companion to her studio releases, this record is without peer.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Singer But, August 31, 2006

By 

John Ruggeri "Michelangeli Freak" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On the Air #1: Chesterfield Broadcasts 1934-36 (Audio CD)

Not 5 stars because at times Ponselle sound like she is in another room and some of the selections are real trash. But - the warmth, line and drama are magnificent and in a few spots the sheer size is amazing - no commercial recording does justice to the size of her voice.

Even Callas, not always the kindest or most objective observer of other sopranos, admitted that Ponselle was the greatest. Callas said that Tebaldi had a lovely voice but who cares? The thousands who went to hear sold out performances and the millions who purchased her recording are those who cares.

Back to Ponselle - her line breath and dramatic interpretations are amazing - I wish I could have heard her complete Norma on stage. I know the critics hated her Carmen they said it was too vulgar. Sounds amazingly intense and vocally impeccable to me, after all, Carmen was closer to a [..] than a debutante.