Cantori della Cappella Sistina : 25 Gramophone recordings (Vatican, 1902-1904) including the complete recordings of Alessandro Moreschi (soprano castrato) (1858-1922)
Cantori della Cappella Sistina (male voices), Rudolph Kanzler or Dom Lorenzo Perosi, conductors ; Alessandro Moreschi, castrato (soloist, occasional conductor) ; unidentified organist(s) & pianist(s) ; Banda del Vaticano (first & last tracks)
Chiefly sacred songs & choruses. Moreschi, the only castrato to record, sang in the Sistine choir.
Compact disc. "Compilation, discographical research, and digital audio restoration ... [by] Christian Zwerg"--Insert.
Originally issued on G & T 78 rpm discs (matrix numbers on insert).
[Recorded in 1902] : Laudate pueri Dominum / Gaetano Capocci (Antonio Comandini, soloist, with chorus & piano) (3:18).
[Recorded in 1904] : Inno pontificio / [anon.] (Banda da Vaticano) (2:17).
Recorded (acoustically) by Fred Gaisberg at the Vatican, Apr. 3-5, 1902 & by William Sinkler Darby in mid. Apr., 1904.
[Recorded in 1904] : Trombe d'argento / [anon.] (Banda del Vaticano) (2:21) -- Incipit lamentatio / Gregorian chant (Moreschi, solo voice) (2:57) -- Ave Maria [now attrib. to Bassano] (3:33) ; Sicut cervus (3:21) /; La cruda mia nemica : madrigal a 4 (3:03) / Palestrina -- Improperia : Popule meus : [from Officium Hebdomadae Santae / Vittoria [Victoria] (2:30) -- Filiae Jerusalem [a 4 ; 1576] / Andrea Gabrielli 2:44) -- Exultate justi / Ludovico Grossi da Viadana (2:27)
[Recorded in 1902] : Ave verum corpus, K 618 / Mozart [sung by quartet] (2:44) -- Petite messe solennelle. Crucifixus [1902 rec.] ; [1904 rec.] (Moreschi, soloist with piano, organ (3:04) ; / Rossini -- Et incarnatus est & Crucifixus / Luigi Pratesi (2:49) -- Ave verum / Salvatore Meluzzi (2:36) -- Tui sunt coeli / Gustavo E. Stehle (2:27) -- Domine salvum fac pontificem nostrum Leonem / Giovanni Aldega (2:45)
[Recorded 1904] : Dies Irae. Pie Jesu (versetto) / Leibach (Moreschi, solo voice, with organ, piano) (3 min.) -- Hostias et preces / Eugenio Terziani (2:49)
[Recorded in 1904] : Messa di San Bonaventura. Gloria in excelsisi Deo / Capocci (Moreschi, soloist & conductor, with Cesare Boezi & Annando Dadò, with organ & piano) (8:49) -- Oremus pro pontifice / Emilio Calzanera (Moreschi, soloist & conductor) (4:07) -- Ave Maria / J.S. Bach ; arr. Gounod (Moreschi, soloist, with instruments) (3:11) -- Romanza : Preghiera ("Alla mente confusa") / Tosti (Moreschi, soloist, with piano) (3:09)
[Recorded in 1902] : Les pêcheurs de perles. Romanza di Nadir : Mi par d'udir ancora (Primo Vitti, soloist, with piano) (2:26) -- Romanza : Ideale / Tosti (Moreschi, solo, with piano) (2:29)