Mari Lyn "The Artistry of." ca. 1984. "Howard Salat conducting the Belgravia Philharmonia Symphonica Orchestra." "Philips 6514 979D". 12 inch LP.
Also: "The Best of Mari Lyn from the Golden Treasury of Song,” three LP discs, Philips 412999D2-1, with “der Quartetto D’oro, Howard Salat, Dirgent....co-production with VEB Deutsche Schallplatten....Ensembles, Coiffures & Makeup for MARI LYN designed exclusively for this Album by George Sakell.” Circa 1984.
The “Artisty of....”album consists of Verdi and Puccini arias, with the Lyn vocal track added to a background dubbed from Music-Minus-One records. The three-disc “Best of....” compilation contains twenty-nine selections recorded off the sound tracks of her various cable TV appearances. These albums are forgeries. The Philips logo and label were counterfeited, and a glowing (if fanciful, even absurd) biography of the artist made up for the sleeve note of the single disc, which also sports a bogus "Grand Prix - Academie du Disque Francais" sticker appended to the front. These productions, as their main value, show just what can be done with a lot of expensive airbrushing of photos, for they feature several truly fantastic photos of the dumpy, seventy-plus Diva, retouched to a fare-thee-well and making her into a slender, young glamorpuss.
Olive Middleton - "An Evening with: Operatic Arias in Stereo." Leo Lozito Records LL33. "The Art of." Golden Era ERA-1. "The Magnificent" Hysterical Recording Enterprises HRE 251-1. All 12 inch LP's.
Verdi: "A Masked Ball," complete; Plymouth Records P-12-101/3, with Vincenzo Marini conducting the Teatro Eliseo, Roma. With Giorgio Bardi, Guido Mazzini, Giuliana Dezi, and Josephine Guido. Also: Verdi: Il Trovatore, complete; Capitol PBR 8180, with Luigi Ricci conducting the Teatro del' Opera of Rome. With Stella Roman, Anna Marcangeli, Gino Sarri and Antonio Manca Serra. ( This was later issued on Allegro Records 1722/23) All 12 inch LP's with Sylvia Sawyer.
Mascagni: "Cavalleria Rusticana," complete; Remington Records R-199-74, with Erasmo Ghiglia conducting the Teatro Communale of the Maggio Fiorentino; with Eddy Ruhl, Lidia Malani, Ivan Petroff and Rina Benucci. Verdi: "Aida," excerpts; Ace Records 1009, with Emidio Tieri conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; with Elisabeth Wysor, Gino Sari and Ivan Petroff. Verdi: "Trovatore," complete; Ace Records A1, with Emidio Tieri conducting the Maggio Fiorentino; with Elena Nicolai, Eddy Ruhl, Ivan Petroff, Giuseppe Modesti. Also: "Petrova's Arias" - Ace Recording Company A 1007, with Erasmo Ghiglia conducting the Maggio Fiorentino Orchestra. All 12 inch LP's with Vassilka Petrova.
Also:
Edie Adams. “Music to Listen to Records By.” With orchestra conducted by Henry Mancini. MGM 5374. Ca. 1960. 12 inch LP. This rare document contains the diva’s little-known rendition of Sir Henry Bishop’s collaboration with Shakespeare, “Lo, Hear the Gentle Lark,” which would be included on this compendium, if we knew that Madame Adams were not still alive.
Leona Anderson: “Music to Suffer By.” Ca. 1955. Uncredited accompaniments. Unique LP 115. 12 inch LP.
Ethel Casey, Soprano."Vistas of Voice and Violin." Carolina Records U4RM 8468, with Wallace Grieves, violin and Bill Siddell, piano. "Classic and Rare Songs and Arias." Carolina Records S4RM 1713, with sextet; orchestrations by and conducted by Wallace Grieves. "Beloved Bird Songs and Arias." Carolina Records 712C5192, with the North Carolina Music Society Orchestra conducted by Wallace Grieves; Bill Siddell, piano. Ca. 1965. All 12 inch LPs
Mary Lou Fallis, “Primadonna.” “Primadonna on a Moose.” Opening Day ODR 9310. Canadian Popular Songs circa 1840 - 1920, arranged by John Greer, who conducts members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and The Victoria Scholars. 1997. Compact Disc.
Shura Gehrman: "The Male Alto Voice." ca. 1994. Adrian Farmer, accompanist. Nimbus NI 5395. Ca. 1988. Compact Disc.
Biruta Grunwald: "Sings in Ten Lnguages." c. 1984. Julie Lustman, accompanist. BG17, unnamed label, Ca. 1960. 12 inch LP.
Dora B. Krakower: “Trusting the Song that Sings Within.” ca. 1996. Azure ISBN 0-9643273-1-7. Ca. 1996. Compact Disc.
Ursula Mayer-Reinach: "Sings Music Around the Mediterranean." ca. 1990. John G. Papaioannou, accompanist. Gallo CD 605. Ca. 1990. Compact Disc. Also: "Great Artists Perform Music from Israel." Ca. 1975. Paul Ben-Haim accompanies the contralto at the piano in his "Three Poems by Matti Katz." Musical Heritage Society MHS 3241. 12 inch LP.
Mrs. Elva Miller: "Mrs. Miller’s Greatest Hits" Capitol ST 2494; “Will Success Spoil Mrs. Miller?” Capitol ST 2579; "The Country Soul of Mrs. Miller" Capitol ST 2734. ca. 1970. Arrangements by and musicians conducted by Fred Bock on all three. 12 inch LP's.
Florence Morrison: "Sings Puccini Arias." Giampaolo Bracali conducting the "New York Heritage Symphony Orchestra." Ca. 1982. Stereo 1521, unnamed 12 inch LP. In the 1980’s Madame Morrison herself would bring copies of this privately-produced disc, also once available on cassette, around to local New York stores, which would purchase a few to resell to the cognoscenti and fans of vocal sincerity and dedication. The recording has apparently not been transferred to compact disc, but in 1995 it was still featured each week by the diva on her local public access cable TV interview program, "The Florence Morrison-Richard Roffman Show," for which she always wore an extravagant hat; she introduced each segment with the same spiel: "We are the longest running talk show on cable TV - 23 years - I am a spinto soprano specializing in Verdi and Puccini roles - I recently performed the role of Leonora in 'Trovatore' at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Shell and sang 'Tosca' in Rome with the Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus, so we always start the show with a selection from my album, 'Florence Morrison Sings Puccini.'" In November 1997 she showed up at a lecture about American opera singers wearing a flamboyant, zany outfit, and during the question and answer period, asked the lecturer if he thought a diva with a voice of the beauty and size of Rosa Ponselle’s, “capable of filling the vast reaches of the Metropolitan Opera House,” would get anywhere today. She did not mention who the specific diva was, but revealed the name in a letter she later handed the lecturer. Beginning, “You stated...that determination was one of the traits that the great singers of the past had.” The letter goes on at length, chronicling her own difficulties in obtaining a Metroploitan Opera audition on the big stage, as “...the only way to fully hear the powerful projection and color of my voice, and my ability to carry over a full orchestra, and fill a hall as large as the Met.” Thus the mysterious diva with the soi-disant Ponselle voice was, according to her.... her! As of this writing, she has still not had her Met audition on the big stage.
Rosina Wolf: Sings with her son on "The World's Highest Tenor." Recorded in concert 1979 and 1980. AFBC-01. 12 inch LP.