My apologies for the less than professional sound of most of these presentations. I am not a sound engineer or a serious audiophile. My hearing is rotten. Nor do I have the patience to work at removing most of the imperfections in these transcriptions that I can hear. I welcome the downloading of these songs for personal use and the improvement of quality.

Stars of the San Francisco Opera. Taped from the Southern California Gas Company's Evening Concerts, October 1967. They were transferred to computer disk in September 2008. Sadly, I somehow missed taping Volume 5, mentioned by the narrator as upcoming at the end of Volume 4.

I will appreciate any messages regarding errors in transferring the arias or the table of contents. I believe that these songs are in the public domain, and I hope visitors will find this presentation both enjoyable and useful.

Volume 1:  1923 to 1927 inclusive

• Giovanni Martinelli — Que gelida manina, from La Boheme, by Puccini.
• Beniamino Gigli — Un Di Al Azuro Spazio, from Andrea Chenier, by Giordano.
• Beniamino Gigli, Giuseppe de Luca, Amelita Galli-Curci, Louise Homer — Quartet , from Rigoletto, by Verdi.
• Narrator.
• Claudia Muzio — Addio del passato, from La Traviata, by Verdi.
• Giuseppe de Luca — Di Provenza, from La Traviata, by Verdi.
• Beniamino Gigli — E Lucevan le Stelle, from Tosca, by Puccini.
• Tito Schippa and Mafalda Favero — Cherry Duet, from L'Amico Fritz, by Mascagni.
• Riccardo Stracciari — Largo al Factotum, from The Barber of Seville, by Rossini.
• Antonio Cortis — Recondita Armonia, from Tosca, by Puccini.
• Marcel Journet — Mephistopheles Serenade, from Faust, by Gounod.
• Claudia Muzio — Tacea la Notte, from Il Trovatore, by Verdi.
• Enrico Caruso, Louise Homer, Marcel Journet — Trio, from Samson and Delilah, by Saint-Saëns.
• Antonio Scotti — Cantabile de Scarpia, from Tosca, by Puccini.
• Ann Roselle — In Questa Reggia, from Turandot, by Puccini.
• Enrico Caruso and Giovanni Martinelli — Temple Scene, from Aida, by Verdi.

Volume 2:  1928 to 1932 inclusive

• Lawrence Tibbet — Va Tosca, from Tosca, by Puccini.
• Elisabeth Rethberg — Ritorna Vincitor, from Aida, by Verdi.
• Maria Jeritza — Seguidilla, from Carmen, by Bizet.
• Ezio Pinza — Le Veau d'Or, from Faust, by Gounod.
• Narrator
• Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and Elisabeth Rethberg — Nile Duet, from Aida, by Verdi.
• Tito Schipa — Com E Gentil, from Don Pasquale, by Donizetti.
• John Charles Thomas — Salome! Salome!, from Herodiade, by Massenet.
• Beniamino Gigli — Dei Mie Bollente Spiriti, from La Traviata, by Verdi.
• Elisabeth Rethberg — Dich Teure Halle, from Tannhauser, by Wagner.
• Narrator
• Friedrich Schorr — Wahn Monologue, from Die Meistersinger, by Wagner.
• Ezio Pinza — Vecchia Zimarra, from La Boheme, by Puccini.
• Narrator
• Lili Pons — Caro Nome, from Rigoletto, by Verdi.
• Dino Borgioli — Ella Mi Fu Rapita and Parmi Veder Le Lagrime, from Rigoletto, by Verdi.
• Ezio Pinza — Possenti Numi, from The Magic Flute, by Mozart.
• Ezio Pinza — Qui Sdegno Non S Accende, from The Magic Flute, by Mozart.

Volume 3:  1933 to 1937 inclusive

• Lucrezia Bori — Gavotte, from Manon, by Massenet
• Lawrence Tibbett — Standin' in the Need of Prayer, from The Emperor Jones, by Gruenberg
• Narrator
• Richard Crooks — A Fuyez Douce Image , from Manon, by Massenet
• Lauritz Melchoir — Hymn to Venus , from Tannhauser, by Wagner
• Kirsten Flagstad — Yo-To-Ho , from Die Walküre, by Wagner
• Lauritz Melchior — Forging Song , from Siegfried, by Wagner
• Kirsten Flagstad — Liebestod , from Tristan and Isolde, by Wagner
• Bruna Castagna — My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice , from Samson and Delilah, by Saint-Saëns
• Lawrence Tibbett and Giovanni Martinelli — Si Pel Ciel , from Otello, by Verdi
• Narrator
• Gina Cigna — Casta Diva, from Norma, by Bellini
• Lili Pons — Bel Song , from Lakmé, by Delibes
• Lauritz Melchior — In Fernam Land, from Lohengrin, by Wagner
• Kirsten Flagstad — Komm Hoffnung , from Fidelio, by Beethoven
• Rene Maison — Florestan's Aria , from Fidelio, by Beethoven

Volume 4:  1938 to 1942 inclusive

• Elisabeth Rethberg and Ezio Pinza — La Ci Darem La Mano, from Don Giovanni, by Mozart
• Mafalda Favero and Allesandro Ziliani — Love Duet, from Madame Butterfly, by Puccini
• Galliano Massini and Carlo Tagliabue — Solenne In Quest'Ora, from La Forza del Destino, by Verdi
• Narrator
• Bidu Sayao — Adieu Notre Petite Table, from Manon, by Massenet
• Marjorie Lawrence — Closing Scene from Salomé, from Salomé, by Richard Strauss
• Nino Martini — Questa O Quella, from Rigoletto, by Verdi
• Dusolina Giannini and Beniamino Gigli — Santuzzo-Turiddu Duet, from Cavalleria Rusticana, by Mascagni
• Elisabeth Rethberg and Ezio Pinza — Se A Caso Madama, from The Marriage of Figaro, by Mozart
• Jussi Bjoerling — Di Tu Se Fidele, from A Masked Ball, by Verdi
• Robert Weede — Pari Siamo, from Rigoletto, by Verdi
• Lili Pons — Chacun Le Sait, from Daughter of the Regiment, by Donizetti
• Gladys Swarthout — Habanera, from Carmen, by Bizet
• Lawrence Tibbett — Ah! Figlia Tal Nome Palpita, from Simon Boccanegra, by Verdi.       (This song is a duet, but the narrator does not identify, or even mention, the soprano.)
• Robert Weede — Toreador Song, from Carmen, by Bizet
• Jan Peerce — La Donna e Mobile, from Rigoletto, by Verdi
• Narrator

Die Erste Walpurgis Nacht.     Great choral piece by Mendelssohn. Poem by Goethe. Driuds vs. Christians.
Die Erste Walpurgis Nacht—lyrics.     Goethe's German and English translation. PDF file.

Leontine Pryce, Volumes I & II — 1965.

Volume 1:  : Great Soprano Arias from Purcell to Barber

• When I am laid in earth — from Dido and Aeneas, by Purcell.
• Dove sono — from Le Nozze di Figaro, by Mozart.
• Addio del passato — from La Traviata, by Verdi.
• Sur mes genoux — from L´Africaine, by Meyerbeer.
• Adieu notre petite table — from Manon, by Massenet.
• Willow Song — from Otello, by Verdi.
• Io son l'umile ancella — from Adriana Lecouvreur, by Ciléa.
• De puis le jour — from Louise, by Charpentier.
• Do not utter a word, Anatole — from Vanessa, by Barber.

Volume 2:  Great Soprano Arias from Handel to Puccini

• Care selve — from Atalanta, by Handel.
• Or sai chi l'onore — from Don Giovanni, by Mozart.
• Leise, Leise — from Der Freischutz, by Weber.
• Sleepwalking Scene — from Macbeth, by Verdi.
• L'altra notte in fondo al mar — from Mefistofele, by Boito.
• Air de lia — from L'enfant prodigue, by Debussy.
• La mama morta — from Andrea Chenier, by Girodano.
• Paolo, date mi pace — from Francesca da Rimini, by Zandonai.
• Senza mamma tu sei morto — from Suor Angeleica, by Puccini .

Claudia Muzio — 19__.

• Ah! non credea mirarti — from La Sonnambula, by Bellini.
• Casta diva — from Norma, by Bellini.
• Tacea la notte placida — from Il Trovatore, by Verdi.
• Addio, del passato — from La Traviata, by Verdi.
• Pace, pace mio dio — from La Forza del Destino, by Verdi.
• L'altra notte in fondo — from Mefistofele, by Boito.
• Voi lo sapete, o mamma — from Cavalleria Rusticana, by Mascagni.
• Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì — from La Bohème, by Puccini.
• Donde lieta uscì — from La Bohème, by Puccini.
• Vissi d'Arte — from Tosca, by Puccini.
• La mamma morta — from Andrea Chénier, by Giordano.
• Esser madre è un inferno — from L'Arlesiana, by Cilèa.
• Poveri fiori — from Adriana Lecouvreur, by Cilèa.