Dear friends and readers,
I am delighted to announce that you can now explore and purchase unique CDs of rare and forgotten opera singers directly from my new website: https://forgotten-opera-singers.com/.
Your support means a great deal to me.
With best regards,
— Ashot Arakelyan
EDITH ELLEN FURMEDGE
(LONDON, 27 MARCH, 1890 — LONDON, 9 OCTOBER, 1956)
After secondary school she attended Homerton College, Cambridge to
train as a teacher. While in attendance she took up singing and abandoned a
career in teaching. She studied with Dinh Gilly whom she eventually married on
2 June 1932.
The first mention of Furmedge in the Musical Times from 1921 speaks of
her as a participating soloist the Sheffield Amateur Musical Society.
Endowed with a powerful voice she obtained small parts in Der Ring des
Nibelungen at Covent Garden. She participated in early acoustic recordings of
excerpts from The Ring.
She sang regularly under Sir Henry Wood in London and at provincial
festivals.
By the 1930s she was appearing regularly as Erda and Fricka in The
Ring. In addition to Wood, she sang under Thomas Beecham, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm
Furtwängler, Albert Coates and others.
She was a member of the British National Opera Company. Her
participation in radio broadcasts helped raise her profile among the public. As
noted in her obituary, "her impressive voice and majestic sense of style
came over particularly well on the air."
After a hiatus she returned to singing the Wagnerian roles in 1948–49.
For many years she taught in the "music school" (actually
their studio) her husband Dinh Gilly, had established, and continued teaching
after his death in 1940.
Her obituary in Opera magazine noted her "refreshing sense of calm" that she imparted to others. Furmedge's self-effacing character provided a sense of ease to her students and the many who came in contact with her.
TRACKLIST
Aida (Verdi) Neath The Chances Of Battle (w. Stiles Allen) X 546 X
1840D Edison Bell
Aida (Verdi) Tremble, Thou Art Discovered (w. Stiles Allen) X 546 X
1841J Edison Bell
Caller Herrin'
(H. Miller - Lady Neirne) 1169 9863F Edison Bell
Madame Butterfly Flower Duet Shake The Cherry Tree part 1 (w. Stiles
Allen) A 5682 EB 1202 Edison Bell
Madame Butterfly Flower Duet Shake The Cherry Tree part 2 (w. Stiles
Allen) B 5682 EB 1203 Edison Bell
Maritana (Wallace)
Alas! those chimes 1169 9617K Edison Bell
Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) Disdain not the Master's ways (w.
chorus Trenton, Coltham, Glynne, Hubbard, Halland, B Jones, Radford & Peel)
D758 (3-0942) HMV, London 1922-12-18
Rheingold (Wagner) Alberich steals the gold (w. B Jones, Radford & Trenton) D677 (3-0814) HMV, London 1922-12-18
Rheingold (Wagner) The capture of Alberich & Closing, scene 3 (w. Radford)
D677 (3-0815) HMV, London 1922-12-18
JOVITA FLORES FUENTES
(CAPIZ (NOW ROXAS CITY), PHILIPPINES, FEBRUARY 15, 1895 – MANILA, PHILIPPINES, AUGUST
7, 1978)
At the beginning of the 20th century, she came to Europe and gave
guest performances in the title roles of G. Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and P. Mascagni’s Iris. At that time, the authentic representation of these roles
by Japanese and other Asian artists, following the example of the Japanese
soprano Tamaki Miura, came into fashion. She appeared with success in Holland,
France, England, and Germany. On German operatic stages, she also sang Salome
in R. Strauss’s opera of the same name.
In 1930, she performed at the Oper Frankfurt as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly and as Liù in G.
Puccini’s Turandot. In North
America, she appeared during the 1930s with the San Carlo Opera Company. She
was also active as a concert singer.
After her retirement, she opened an opera school in Manila and exerted
a major influence on the musical life of her native country, the Philippines.
She was honored with the title “First
Lady of Philippine Music.”
TRACKLIST
Aling Puso
(Molina) 16407 Parlophon
Arimunding
Munding Parlophon
Bohème
(Puccini) Sì, mi chiamano Mimì P9320 2-20907 Parlophon, Berlin 1928-09-11
Bohème
(Puccini) Wo ich selig von Glück (It) P9320 2-20908 Parlophon, Berlin
1928-09-11
El Canto del
Expatriado (Trapaga) 16407 Parlophon
Iris
(Mascagni) Spora malata P8531 2-21375 Parlophon, Berlin 1929-04-22
Kundiman
(Abdon) Parlophon
Madama
Butterfly (Puccini) L'ultima scena P9106 2-20126-2 Parlophon, Berlin 1929-04-22
Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Un bel dì P9106 2-20125-2 Parlophon, Berlin 1929-04-22
