"VOICE MUSEUM."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9045, 11 March 1908, Page 7

"VOICE MUSEUM."

With the advent of the gramophone, which could register the voices of the world's greatest singers on imperishable discs, it was •quite natural that the idea should be suggested of keeping a record of these discs in some public institution, for the benefit of future generations. This idea has now been carried out, and the Paris Opera will hereafter contain a museum of the world's greatest voices. The basement of the Opera House contains vast halls, which have hitherto been of little practical use, and it was decided two years ago that these underground rooms should be set aside as a voice archives and public museum. The gramophone discs of all the great sirjcers, whether they were heard at ths Paris Opera or not, were to be carefully preserved here, and not opened until after at least one hundred years had elapsed. The preuaratory works having been executed, and special vaults prepared, M. Gailhard, the outgoing director, who has for twenty years been at the head of the Paris Opera, has had the privilege of presiding at the inaugural ceremony of this new museum. The ceremony (writes a Paris correspondent) was attended by delegates of the Minister of Fine Arts and a number of celebrities ; n the theatrical and musical world. Each gramopone disc was carefully placed in a sealed copper box, which is to prevent it from being deteriorated by the air or by humidity during its hundred years'sleep. A parchment accompanied each disc, describing the singer, the aria it contained, and also •jjflw the gramophone of 1907 was forked, on the supposition that the instrument of 2007 might be so perfected as to have caused the generations of a hundred years hence to forget how the gramophones of their great grandfathers were operated. In addition to singers' voices, some .discs containing operatic ensembles, orchestral passages, and choruses were also sealed up and deposited in the archives. The object of this voice museum is to record the qualities of twentieth century music, and what wa3 chiefly sung at the operas of the present day, as well as any improvements as time goes on in the instruments for recording the human voice. Among the discs piaced on record are the following:—Tamagno, "'The Death of Otello (Verdi), Caruso and Scotti. "The Power of Destiny," (Duo by Verdi). Planco, "Serenade from Faust" (Guoncd), Battistini and the choruses of the Scala in "Ernani" (Verdi); Mme. Patti in "Don Juan" (Mozart); Mme. Melba ;L"Caro Nome" from "Rigoletto" 7-{Verdi); Mme. Schumann-Heink in "Samson and Dalila" (Saint-Saens); Mme. Calve, the "Habanera," from "Carmen" (Bizet); orchestral passage march in the "Prophete" of Meyerbeer; M'ss'Lindsay, Waltz song '• in "Romeo and Juilet" (Gounod).