FIRST RECORDIN VIRGIL THOMSON GERTR STEIN FOUR SAINTs78

$

50

A series of great  classical orchestral and instrumental performances by major conductors, composers and instrumentalists.

RARE FIRST RECORDING Virgil Thomson's / Getrude Stein s famous Opera FOUR SAINTS in THREE ACTS

VIRGIL THOMSON CONDUCTS soloists, double chorus and orchestra

5x 12" Victor 78 rpm records with original album and  libretto.

  

Condition:

EXCELLENT, few faintest scratches

Four Saints in Three Acts is an opera by American composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein. Written in 1927-8, it contains about twenty saints, and is in at least four acts.

The subject was agreed on at Thomson's suggestion and the libretto as delivered can be read in Stein's collected works. The opera focuses on two sixteenth century Spanish saints—the former mercenary Ignatius of Loyola and the mystic Teresa of Avila—as well as their colleagues, real and imagined: St. Plan, St. Settlement, St Plot, St. Chavez etc. Thomson decided to divide St. Teresa's role between two singers, "St. Teresa I" and "St. Teresa II", and added the master and mistress of ceremonies (Compère and Commere- literally, the "godparents") to sing Stein's stage directions.

Synopsis
After the chorus sings a prelude, the first act takes place at the Ávila cathedral; it is titled "St. Teresa half indoors and half out of doors". Act two, "Might it be mountains if it were not Barcelona", involves a telescope and glimpses of a heavenly mansion. Act three, "St. Ignatius and one of two literally" is a picnic and contains Ignatius' famous aria "Pigeons on the grass alas". It ends with a tango-like ballet. The brief fourth act ("The sisters and saints reassembled and re-enacting why they went away to stay") is set at the garden of a monastery. Before the curtain falls the Compère announces "Last act" and the chorus replies "Which is a fact".

[edit] Cast
The cast of the original production included:

Edward Matthews as "St Ignatius"(baritone)
Beatrice Robinson-Wayne as "St Teresa I" (soprano)
Bruce Howard as "St Teresa I" (contralto)
Embry Bonner as "St. Chavez" (tenor)
"St. Settlement" (soprano) "St. Plan"

Abner Dorsey as "the Compère" (bass)
Altonnell Hines as "the Commere" (mezzo)
Ruby Greene
Inez Matthews (Edward Matthew's sister)
Charles Holland
The Eva Jessye Choir, lead by Eva Jessye

[edit] Productions
First staged at Hartford (Feb. 7, 1934),[1] Four Saints in Three Acts opened on Broadway on February 20, 1934. The opera was notable in that it defied many traditional aspects of opera. Stein's libretto focused more on an affinity for the sounds of words than on presenting a narrative. Thomson's music was unconventional in its very simplicity.

The fanciful sets of the first production , designed by artist Florine Stettheimer, included such things as cellophane backdrops, and the costumes (also Stettheimer's) were of colorful lace, silk and taffeta. Frederick Ashton provided the choreography (after Balanchine turned down the job). Also considered unusual was the portrayal of the European saints by an all-black cast, for which there was no precedent in American history. These unconventional elements led to a successful and well-received first production.[citation needed] While critics were divided, audiences accepted the fantasy world created by the singers who vividly conveyed the words and melodies given to their saintly characters.

The opera would be performed later as a concert oratorio

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A note to grading Victrola/ Pathe/ Shellac 78 rpm discs:

Pls note that I try to be extremely conservative and consistent in my grading. All records are graded with the same criteria, regardless of genre.

I noticed that my grading seems to be more conservative than what I have seen from other sellers, so here some notes.

Surface VISUAL GRADING:

EXCELLENT - clean and shiny, as new. E minus is the same, with light scuffing.

Very Good Plus - Clean, with a little more scuffing. Some grooves spots may have some light greying. Little if any distortion.

Very Good - a clean copy, some scuffing, some greying on a single groove or a few small groove bands. Enjoyable record, maybe light distortion on some top notes.

=> Everything up to here is a great and enjoyable record

Very Good Minus - May have areas of visible wear, may have some scuffing or dulled surface. Still a great record, but ticks, pops and some distortion.

Good Plus - a worn and scuffed copy. May have other defects separately stated. Plays well, but with noise, may require filtering.

All other defects (if any: Chips, cracks, scratches, lamination cracks, label damage, needle digs) will be stated SEPARATELY.

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