The Fonotipia record label has left a legacy that is still recognised today by music lovers for its artistic as well as technical value. From 1904 on, Fonotipia engineers recorded famous singers, soloists, famous orchestras, an extraordinary repertoire that could then be heard all over the world.  With more than 700 Fonotipia recordings in its collection, the Audiovisual Departement of the BnF invites you to (re)discover the label’s rich legacy.

Discs from the Italian label Fonotipia, on famous voices and musicians from the beginning of 20th century

Founded in 1904 by Alfred Michaelis, previously a representative, in Milan, of the Carl Lindström Company, the Societa Italiana di Fonotipia ambitioned to constitute a roster of famous singers and soloists. A French branch appeared in December of that same year, under the aegis of Baron Frédéric d’Erlanger, a banker and a philanthropist who was also part-time composer. It was located in Paris.

From 1904 to 1911, Fonotipia published three successive series known by their catalogue reference numbers as the “39000” series (October 1904-January 1907), the “62000” series (January 1907-March 1911) and the “92000” series (October 1907-October 1909). The first two series were recordings of singers (soloists or choirs) with piano accompaniment, while the third series introduced orchestral accompaniments, sometimes from such well-known orchestras as the Scala Theatre Orchestra or the Royal Italian Marine Band. All those were 10 ¾ in. records.

A large number of famous, and sometimes less famous, singers were thus recorded on Fonotipia records. Sopranos such as Maria Barrientos, Elvira de Hidalgo or Salomea Krushelnytska, mezzos such as Armida Parsi-Petinella, basses such as Jean-François Delmas and Adamo Didur, barytones such as Riccardo Stracciari and Victor Maurel and tenors such as Léon Escalaïs, Alessandro Bonci, Emile Scaremberg or Giuseppe Anselmi, to name but a few. Contemporaries were impressed by the artistic merits of a number of Fonotipia recordings. On an advertising leaflet about Fonotipia record 39347, containing the famous “Miserere” from Il Trovatore sung by tenor Longobardi and soprano Amélie Talexis accompanied by the orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan, one could read that “This is a disc that is typical of all other Fonotipia Records, and one that has helped to make the Fonotipia name famous.  The perfect beauty of the orchestral accompaniment, the liquid flow of the singers’ voices, the faultless harmonising of the chorus, the solemn tolling of the bell – all go to make up a record before which criticism is silent.  To those who have not previously heard Fonotipias, it is a revelation and an education.” (Quoted in “A Fonotipia Fragmentia” by H. Frank Andrews, 1977).

Recording of Jean-François Delmas, 1904 : Patrie. Air de Rysoor (Émile Paladilhe, comp.). Série originale des “39000”- Jean-François Delmas dans Patrie, 1907 (d’après un cliché Du Guy, 1908).

From April 1905 to July 1909, Fonotipia introduced a new “69000” series with a new 13 ¾ in. format. Probably because it was not very practical, it was not a success (with only 22 recordings) and the whole series was republished from 1913 to 1923 on 10 ¾ in. records. There’s a long standing rumor that famous Polish tenor Jean de Reszke would have been recorded at this time but would have been dissatisfied with the result and then destroyed all elements.

Notable among Fonotipia recordings are those of then famous violinists such as Jan Kubelik, Franz von Vecsay, Jacques Thibaud or Gino Nastrucci. They can be found either in the “39000” or “62000” series as well as the “74000” series published from October 1905 to 1926 on 12 in. records. The first hundred records in this series featured orchestras and violinists. As it is always the case, there could be tensions between labels and artists: in 1911, Jan Kubelik was taken to court by Fonotipia on the basis that he had recorded for the Gramophone Company in contravention to his 1905 30-year Fonotipia contract.

Recordings of Jan Kubelík : Faust. Ballata di Mefistofele (Gounod, comp.)
Portrait of Jan Kubelík (Agence Rol, 1921)

While the overwhelming output of Fonotipia records consisted of recorded music, one can point a few exceptions, such as French playwright Victorien Sardou reading extracts from some of his works Patrie, La Haine and La Famille Benoîton. In an article in Le Temps, journalist Jules Clarétie did not fail to mention how important and significant thoses recordings were, though Fonotipia would not issue any further playwright recordings: “Americans, I’m told, will be able to listen, not only to our actors but also to our playwrights. This Fonotipia record abolishes distance and time. As Théophile Gautier had said: “Maybe, someday, we can lock words in a bottle. To listen to them, we’ll just have to unlock it”. This is what Sardou does. Those recordings give us his voice, his accent, the vibrancy of his word. (…) While the Parisians admired actors reciting Sardou’s Patrie or La Haine, with Fonotipia, the master himself speaks. “Sardou in a bottle”, as Gautier would have said”.

Recording of Victorien Sardou : Patrie. Scène du 3e acte : Dolorès et le duc d’Albe
Portrait of Victorien Sardou, photographié par Nadar.

The Fonotipia label went dormant during WWI and became a partner of the Odeon label in 1922. In 1925-26, it succeeded in its transition to electrical recording before the final merger with Odéon: the last Fonotipia catalogue had been published in 1925. That’s why you can find, in this corpus, some records from that particular time with the mention “Odéon for Fonotipia” on the center label. Later on, the Fonotipia mention was abandoned and the recordings were reissued on the Odeon label.

Fonotipia Odéon, double face (affiche de Ferdinand-Léon Ménétrier)

And here you can find more than 700 recorded pieces.

We have divided them into thematic sections: “Artistes lyriques (singers, by range), “Musicians”, “Works (opera, operetta, ballet…)”, “Composers”, Orchestras an chorus”, “Songs (from Napoly, Sicily, Spain…)” and “Spoken word”.

by Audrey Viault et Lionel Michaux, via