"BELL SONG - LAKME" Florence Foster Jenkins Mel-O-Tone Un# EE- 1944 IMMORTAL

$

135

WHAT is there left to say about the redoubtable FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS (1868 - 1944)?  The Diva of Dire, impervious to criticism, deaf to the demands of the recording studio! Her musical reputation had been secure for decades, way before the eponymous motion picture starring MERYL STREEP came out in 2016.  But now, more than ever, Madame Jenkins belongs to the Ages!  

Jenkins’ recorded operatic repertoire strongly featured coloratura arias of the "Don’t-Try-This-At-Home" persuasion, which only two or three sopranos in a given generation - say Lily Pons or Luisa Tetrazzini -could safely tackle.  But this never deterred Florence! ("People may say I can't sing," she famously asserted, "but no one can ever say I DIDN'T sing!")  

This very rare Mel-O-Tone record is proof: Leo Delibes' “THE BELL SONG FROM ‘LAKME’,” the sheerest vertical climb in all opera, is a monument to Jenkins’ drive, determination and chutzpah.  You must hear it to believe it.  On the flip side, Jenkins essays her own inimitable pieces, “MUSICAL SNUFF BOX” and “LIKE A BIRD.”  As always, she is accompanied at the piano by the hapless COSME McMOON.  

This original, 1944 twelve-inch, un-numbered Mel-O-Tone record is in solid EE- condition.  The pasted-on label of “Musical Snuff Box” is tattered.  

[n.b. – This “Mel-O-Tone,” a New York “Vanity” label, is not to be confused with the much better known “Melotone,” produced between 1930 and 1938 by the American Record Company.]   

PHOTOS:  1) FFJ in her "Angel" costume, ready for the stage! 2) a surprisingly handsome portrait of Mme. Jenkins.  

***** 

These records come from my private collection, which I have been accumulating since 1967, and now am downsizing!  My highest priority in these eBay auctions is to give you the best possible idea of a record’s true condition and aesthetic value.  I always post at least four clear images, showing the record fore and aft, a close-up of the label, and the whole disc, warts and all.  If my purple prose won’t cut it, the pictures will!  Shipping is done with expert care. Your record will brave Media Mail in a stout corregated box, between four sheets of cardboard and a couple of “packers.”  I hope you are amused by these descriptions, and by the quality of service being offered.