Скачать или смотреть Maria Galvany (soprano) - Air and Variations (Proch) (1907)

Facts are sparse about the Spanish soprano Maria Galvany, and although it appears that she was probably born in 1878 (or thereabouts) no-one is sure when she died, although it could well have been 1918.

Desmond Shawe-Taylor writing in 'The Record Year' (1952) wrote, 'Coloratura sopranos are often described as acrobatic, but Maria Galvany suggests a conjurer. The incredible speed and adroitness with which she negotiates repeated notes in alt, wide skips and chromatic scales, is like sleight-of-hand; it also resembles figure skating, or an old silent film in which everything happens at an immensely accelerated pace.'

Recorded in Milan in 1907, Galvany's verion of Proch's 'Air and Variations' will come as something of a surprise to those familiar with Galli-Curci's well-known version. An extraordinary tour de force, but nonetheless a rendition that might have benefited from a little more restraint!