Notes from MS 7338:

WOUND-UP OPERA PLAYED BY RARE ANTIQUE MUSIC BOXES
From the Rita Ford collection

Side l

VERDI: La Donna e mobile, from "RIGOLETTO"(:43) (Bremond Bell)
MOZART: Non pìu andrai, from "THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO"(1:08) (Regina)
VERDI: Sempre libera, from "LA TRAVIATA" (1:00) (Nicole Frères)
WAGNER: Pilgrims' Chorus, from "TANNHÄUSER" (1:15) (New Century)
ROSSINI: Una voce poco fà, from "THE BARBER OF SEVILLE" (1:52) (Malignon)
VERDI: Anvil Chorus, from "IL TROVATORE"(1:29) (Stella)
ROSSINI: Ecco ridente, from "THE BARBER OF SEVILLE" (1:45) (Ducommun Girod)
VERDI: Parigi o cara, from "LA TRAVIATA" (:58) (Nicole Frères)
THOMAS: Je suis Titania, from "MIGNON"(:47) (Baker Sublime Harmonie Timbres)
VERDI: Libiamo ne', from "LA TRAVIATA" (:49) (Nicole Frères)
ROSSINI: Overture, from "SEMIRAMIDE"(2:14) (Malignon)
MEYERBEER: Ombre legere, from "DINORAH"(:53) (Nicole Frères)
VERDI: Miserere, from "IL TROVATORE" (1:04) (Regina)
VERDI: Quartet, from "RIGOLETTO"(2:42) (Plerodiennique)
GOUNOD: Waltz, from "FAUST" (1:01) (Stella)

Side 2

BIZET: Toreador Song, from "CARMEN"(1:29) (Mandoline Oiseau Chantant)
MASCAGNI: Intermezzo, from "CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA"(2:36) (Regina)
VERDI: Di tale amor, from "IL TROVATORE" (:52) (Nicole Frères)
WAGNER: March, from "TANNHÄUSER" (2:36) (Regina)
VERDI: Stride la vampa, from "IL TROVATORE" 052) (Nicole Frères)
ROSSINI: Overture, from "THE BARBER OF SEVILLE" (1:58) (Malignon)
MOZART: Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen, from "THE MAGIC FLUTE" (1:02) (Regina)
GOUNOD: Soldiers' Chorus, from "FAUST" (:50) (Nicole Frères)
ROSSINI: Belo si celebri, from "SEMIRAMIDE"(1:54) (Malignon)
VERDI: Dell'invito, from "LA TRAVIATA" (:57) (Nicole Frères)
GOUNOD: Waltz, from "ROMEO AND JULIET" (2:41) (Regina)
ROSSINI: Overture, from "WILLIAM TELL" (1:45) (Nicole Frères)

The selections are in the public domain.

Most of us tend to think of the music box as a quaint relic of the age of powdered wigs and the minuet when elegant salons resounded with the latest melodies by Mozart or Haydn. Not so. While the music box did, indeed, come into prominence in the late 18th century, it did not reach its fullest development until the middle- and late-19th century, when it was the center of home entertainment for well-to-do families throughout Europe and America. From the music box's early cylinders and discs issued the best-loved music from the most popular entertainment mediums of the day, the music hall and the opera house.

The music box began modestly enough when Swiss watchmakers first added small musical cylinders to pocket watches and snuff boxes. Soon, the bright, cheerful sound of these early mechanisms was issuing from boxes of increasing size and elaborateness. Then, replaceable cylinders and discs began to find their way to market, with discs finally winning the greatest acceptance because they stored and shipped easier. (A half a century later, the recording industry repeated this same progression from cylinder to disc, for much the same reason.)

As the demand grew for music boxes, manufacturers vied with each other in refining and elaborating their product. Mechanical innovations, such as drum and bell attachments, imitations of bird calls and stringed instruments, further added to the appeal of new machines. The perfection of the metal disc even permitted the development of an automatic, self-changing player that was a true ancestor of today's juke box. In some instances, as with the Plerodiennique, mechanical intricacy restricted the number of boxes that could be produced, and only six Plerodienniques are known to exist today.

Curiously enough, the development of the music box from pocket watch to elaborate box coincides with the rise (and fall?) of grand opera. Just as the music box reached its peak during the 19th century, so did the great works of Rossini, Verdi and Wagner hold the operatic stages. Famous arias and overtures quickly found their way to cylinder or disc, and no home that aspired to culture or sophistication was without a collection of operatic gems. But, whereas today's opera buff can pluck an entire opera from his record collection, yesterday's music box opera aficionado had to content himself with brief statements of the basic melody of an aria or orchestral passage, because of time limits imposed by the size of the cylinder or disc involved. The "challenge" of time limitation placed upon the music box makers accounts for many of their imaginative-and often (unintentionally) amusing-"arrangements" of these opera classics. As a result, the average selection usually lasted about a minute-therefore, so many works are possible on this recording.

The popularity of the music box did not begin to wane until well into the 20th century, when the wax cylinders and discs of the new phonograph industry came into vogue. But the bright sounds and endearing charm of music boxes has not entirely disappeared. Indeed, Rita Ford, the nation's foremost entrepreneur of music boxes, has noted an increase in the demand for both antique and new mechanisms. Young people, especially-perhaps in an effort to experience a nostalgic return to a simpler day -are finding them increasingly attractive as gifts.

For this recording of operatic selections, Rita Ford has drawn upon her own collection and that of Mr. Murtogh Guinness, also a member of The International Music Box Society. Each box is identified after the timing in the list of selections. Among the several music boxes from Mr. Guinness's collection heard on this record are the unique all-Verdi box, made by Nicole Frères of Switzerland, and the incredible Mandoline Oiseau Chantant. The latter opens Side 2 with an unforgettable rendition of the Toreador Song from "Carmen," the principal melody of which is played by the cylinder while a counter melody is chirped by an extraordinary mechanical bird right inside the box!

Also, Rita Ford would like to call attention to one of the most unique and beautiful boxes from her collection-the rare Malignon, which contains an all-Rossini program.

By the way, listeners are warned not to be concerned with the strange sound that begins Side 2, for it is simply the sound of a music box being wound up. Other noises -occasional clicks and squeaks-have been deliberately kept because they are the genuine sounds of these magnificent antiques and an integral part of their charm.

Here, then, is an album to delight not only the hearts of music box collectors but also opera buffs who can now hear favorite operatic selections exactly as they were heard during the Golden Age of Grand Opera.

Engineering: Frank Laico, Edward T. Graham, Raymond Moore, Larry Keyes

Library of Congress catalog card number 76-750740 applies to MS 7338.