Speaking Opera Intro
Hello and welcome to my podcast, Speaking Opera. My name is Howard Hart and I will be your host for a series of interviews that I did with renowned singers in the 1980s. The series will continue with current interviews, in either audio or video, with contemporary artists. The initial podcast audio interview will feature the great Czech soprano Lucia Popp. The interview took place at the Mayflower Hotel in New York on February 21st, 1981. By coincidence, this message is being sent to you exactly 38 years later. I hope that you can join me and listen to this wonderful singer discuss, among other things, her two roles in Mozart’s The Magic Flute where she began as the Queen of the Night and later, as she jokingly mentions, she became younger and performed role of her daughter Pamina. The interview will be in two parts with the first to be podcast on February 28th at noon. It will be available on both the podcast website at www.speakingopera.com and on YouTube. I hope that you will join us and, if you listen closely, you may be able to hear a bit of the interview we’re working on in the studio.
This interview was conducted in two segments. You may notice some ambient noise in the second part due to vehicular traffic outside the space where the interview took place. We have made an effort to ameliorate the sound but it was not possible to eliminate the noise entirely. The earlier segment is not affected.
Many of the early interviews were preserved originally on open-reel or cassette tapes and need to be transferred and processed into clearer sound via digital technology. Please listen in and enjoy a bit of history on February 28th.
Live Opera on Disc : A Brief History Part 1 of 3
Live opera on disc a brief history: Introduction of the LP, Eddie Smith,
transfer of pre-LP material, proliferation of various live labels,
introduction of public domain in Europe, spread of live labels to retail
stores, transition to CD, demise of brick-and-mortar stores, transition to
downloads and file shares, current status; also labels and their
personalities and Opera House labels. Both host Howard Hart and special
guest Bill DePeter have personal experience in the field of live opera
performances on disc (both LP & CD). Bill worked for 15 years coordinating
production of historical live performance recordings. Howard was a sales
representative for German News Company, a distributor of independent and
specialty recordings. They met and became friends in the 1980s. Now, 40
years later, they share their insights into this world. Their journey
starts with a detailed account by Bill of the early history of this topic
and will continue up to and including downloading and files shares, the
current status today.
Live Opera on Disc : A Brief History Part 2 of 3
Live opera on disc a brief history: Introduction of the LP, Eddie Smith,
transfer of pre-LP material, proliferation of various live labels,
introduction of public domain in Europe, spread of live labels to retail
stores, transition to CD, demise of brick-and-mortar stores, transition to
downloads and file shares, current status; also labels and their
personalities and Opera House labels. Both host Howard Hart and special
guest Bill DePeter have personal experience in the field of live opera
performances on disc (both LP & CD). Bill worked for 15 years coordinating
production of historical live performance recordings. Howard was a sales
representative for German News Company, a distributor of independent and
specialty recordings. They met and became friends in the 1980s. Now, 40
years later, they share their insights into this world. Their journey
starts with a detailed account by Bill of the early history of this topic
and will continue up to and including downloading and files shares, the
current status today.
Live Opera on Disc : A Brief History Part 3 of 3
Live opera on disc a brief history: Introduction of the LP, Eddie Smith,
transfer of pre-LP material, proliferation of various live labels,
introduction of public domain in Europe, spread of live labels to retail
stores, transition to CD, demise of brick-and-mortar stores, transition to
downloads and file shares, current status; also labels and their
personalities and Opera House labels. Both host Howard Hart and special
guest Bill DePeter have personal experience in the field of live opera
performances on disc (both LP & CD). Bill worked for 15 years coordinating
production of historical live performance recordings. Howard was a sales
representative for German News Company, a distributor of independent and
specialty recordings. They met and became friends in the 1980s. Now, 40
years later, they share their insights into this world. Their journey
starts with a detailed account by Bill of the early history of this topic
and will continue up to and including downloading and files shares, the
current status today.
Live Opera on Disc – Full Interview
Live opera on disc a brief history : Introduction of the LP, Eddie Smith, transfer of pre-LP material, proliferation of various live labels, introduction of public domain in Europe, spread of live labels to retail stores, transition to CD, demise of brick-and-mortar stores, transition to downloads and file shares, current status; also labels and their personalities and Opera House labels. Both host Howard Hart and special guest Bill DePeter have personal experience in the field of live opera performances on disc (both LP & CD). Bill worked for 15 years coordinating production of historical live performance recordings. Howard was a sales representative for German News Company, a distributor of independent and specialty recordings. They met and became friends in the 1980s. Now, 40 years later, they share their insights into this world. Their journey starts with a detailed account by Bill of the early history of this topic and will continue up to and including downloading and files shares, the current status today.
Lotte Lehmann – Ward Marston Podcast
Here is the podcast of my phone conversation with Archivist and Restoration Producer Ward Marston. This conversation with Ward focuses on his release of Lotte Lehmann’s Odeon Electric Recordings 1927-1933 and a brief history of his work in the field of audio restoration. You will also hear Lehmann singing Elsa’s Dream from Lohengrin, one of the selections from the Marston set that was released in December 2019.
Howard Hart
speakingopera.com 