Promesse de mon avenir

Speed adjusted from 78 to 77.22 rpm

Baritone Emilio de Gogorza (1874-1949) / Promesse de mon avenir / Le roi de Lahore (Massenet) / Recorded: April 3, 1906 --

Emilio Eduardo de Gogorza (May 29, 1874 -- May 10, 1949) American baritone of Spanish parentage. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, but brought up and trained musically in Spain. He returned to the USA in his early 20s. He sang in many languages, including French, Italian and English, as well as Spanish. Owing to pronounced near-sightedness, he did not appear on the operatic stage but became a renowned concert and recital artist instead. De Gogorza made many gramophone recordings which display the intelligence and sensitivity of his singing and his polished vocal technique. He was one of the first professional musicians to make commercial recordings, not only under his own name but under various aliases such as Carlos Francisco. He probably used this alias when recording on Victor's lower end Black Label instead of the top of the line Red Label for which he normally recorded. In addition to recording he was apparently also used by the Victor company as an early A&R man, helping to persuade other well-known opera singers to record for them. During this time he also was a professor of voice and music for the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Among his students was Wilbur Evans who in December of 1927 won the first Atwater Kent National Radio Audition, winning first prize out of 50,000 contestants. Evans would become a well known baritone on Broadway and radio, as well as co-starring in London's South Pacific opposite Mary Martin. De Gogorza also taught in retirement; among his pupils were the American composer Samuel Barber and the noted Philadelphia music critic, Max de Schauensee, who left many affectionate reminiscences of him. De Gorgoza was married for a time to the celebrated American soprano Emma Eames, with whom he toured and also made discs of duets for the Victor Talking Machine. Their marriage ended in divorce. He died in 1949 in New York City, from lung cancer.
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