Amateur recording on the phonograph in fin-de-siècle Barcelona: practices, repertoires and performers in the Regordosa-Turull wax cylinder collection

Moreda Rodriguez, E. (2020) Amateur recording on the phonograph in fin-de-siècle Barcelona: practices, repertoires and performers in the Regordosa-Turull wax cylinder collection. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 145(2), pp. 385-415. (doi: 10.1017/rma.2020.17)

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Abstract

The Regordosa-Turull wax cylinder collection, held at the Biblioteca de Catalunya, Barcelona, is unique among early recording collections. It contains 358 cylinders recorded by the textile industrialist Ruperto Regordosa, mostly at his Barcelona home, featuring prominent Spanish and non-Spanish singers of opera and zarzuela, as well as the composer Isaac Albéniz. This article aims to establish the significance of the collection for the study both of the amateur recording culture that existed alongside commercial phonograph recordings and of performance practices in opera and zarzuela. By examining the broader characteristics of the collection and textual sources from the period, and by closely analysing some of the cylinders, this article explores how Regordosa adopted (and in some cases adapted) certain generic conventions employed in commercial recordings of the time, and what the implications of this are when considering these early recordings as documents of performance practice.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Moreda Rodriguez, Dr Eva
Authors: Moreda Rodriguez, E.
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Music
Journal Name:Journal of the Royal Musical Association
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
ISSN:0269-0403
ISSN (Online):1471-6933
Published Online:30 November 2020
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2020 The Author
First Published:First published in Journal of the Royal Musical Association 145(2): 285-415
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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