Prima Voce Sampler

The early story of recording is more than just the history of an invention and an industry. Although the pioneers and entrepreneurs played important and fascinating roles, their work would hold little interest for us today had it not coincided with the unique artistry of Caruso and Melba, Chaliapin and Ponselle. It was the Golden Age of Singing and Prima Voce preserves this archive of great voices from the first half of the century in transfers which capture the immediacy of the original performances.

Prima Voce puts the performance first. Our aim in transferring 78s to compact disc is simple: to allow the full musical enjoyment of these recordings without the distraction of intrusive surface noise between the performer and the listener. This is achieved by a process which re-records rather than remasters the original sound, a combination of the best of the latest and earliest in sound reproduction.