At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe is living in peace and prosperity. The “Belle Époque” is an outgrowth of previous important historical events and developments. The networks that are created and which evolve funnel both people and their products, tangible and intangible. It is within this multi-layered world that sound recording and sound reproduction is invented. Early record labels send mobile crews literally all over the world to record local musicians. The range of the repertoire is endless. Cosmopolitanism in large urban centers favors polystylisms and polymorphisms. Colonialism, revolutions, conflicts, refugee flows; the theater, cinema, radio, photography, orchestras’ tours, but also circulations in all kinds of commercial channels in a world that evolves dynamically and anisotropically, form a complex network of “centers” and “peripheries” in alternating roles setting musical idioms in motion, both literally and figuratively. The networks in which the Greek-speaking musics participate, constantly conversing with their co-tenants, are magnificent. Discography has already provided important tools in understanding the relationships that developed between “national” repertoires. The result of this ongoing research is “Cosmopolitanism in Greek Historical Discography”.

There was no previous management model in the early period of discography. Each company creates their own networks, something that will allow them to take a dynamic lead in the market. New specialties and professions are created and new conditions emerge, or the need to update older facts, with the most serious being intellectual property. The latter, until then, concerned mostly printed commercial musical scores and the publishers’ rights. Discography is not only embedded in this context, but also plays a key role in its transformation. This time, the network is adjusted in a programmatic manner, under different terms and via new paths. The circulation of musics is already a reality before the 20th century with theatrical and musical performances tours, but also with the networks of music publishing houses. Although popular repertoires play a very important part in the vital issue of the movement of musical tunes from place to place, and in their appropriation, recording and often complete incorporation into the repertoires of other ethno-cultural groups, scholar musical forms also participate in this transportation network: symphonic or soloistic pieces, arias, duets and trios from all kinds of operas, but also songs by composers such as Schubert, are translated and recorded in other languages, often with diversified orchestral ensembles. “Classical” music, originating mainly from the German-speaking, Italian-speaking, French-speaking and Russian-speaking world, through the new diffusion tools offered by discography, seek not only to penetrate international markets as a new medium, but to enter, in fact, into people’s own homes.

This recording comes from the fourth act of the four-act French comic opera "La poupée", set to music by Edmond Audran and libretto by Maurice Ordonneau. It includes Νο 22 "Duo de la caresse" (Incipit: "On dirait comme une caresse") arranged with Greek lyrics. In the play it is performed by the monk Lancelot and Alésia, daughter of the doll-maker Hilarius (see the plot here).

The libretto is based on German writer and composer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann's short story "Der Sandmann", which is included in his book of stories "Die Nachtstücke" published in 1816 in Berin.

The musical score for voice and piano was released in 1896, in Paris, by Choudens Fils publishing house (see here).

The opera premiered at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris on October 21, 1896. About four months later, on February 24, 1897, was staged at London's Prince of Wales Theatre (see here), completing 576 performances. On October 21, 1897 was staged at New York's Olympia Τheatre: Lyric (see here), on January 7, 1899, under the title "Die puppe", at Berlin's Central-Theater, the last fourteen days of 1899 Carnaval at Rome's Teatro Drammatico Nazionale by Compagnia di Operette Italiane, Opere Comiche e Fèerie di Luigi Maresca (see here) and on November 25, 1903 under the title "La muñeca" premiered at Madrid's Teatro-Circo di Price (see here).

The opera was staged by the Athenian troupe "Megali Opereta" of Alexandos Kyparissis - Melpomeni Kolyva at the Variete Theatre of Constantinople (Istanbul), in May 1914, translated by Vasilios Vekiarellis and conducted by Fonfos Tiveris (see here).

Excerpts from "La poupée" began to be recorded from the end of the 19th century, specifically in 1898, by the Gramophone record company.

One of the earliest recordings of the duet, entitled "Poupée: Duo de la caresse", was made in Paris in 1909 by Louis Berthaud and Leo Démoulin (Pathé 2342 & 2682). Also, the duet included in the recording "La Poupée: Selection, pt 2" (see here from 04′ 44″ to 07′ 05″), made by the Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards conducted by John Mackenzie-Rogan on January 12, 1910 in London (Gramophone 3994-f - 0286 και 030659 C206 W90).

At about the same time as the appearance of discography, the network of promotion and dissemination of music expanded with the use of another invention, also new at the time: the cinema. In 1900, the director Marguerite Vrignault directed for the La Société Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre the film "La Poupée", which includes the Trio "Je sais entrer dans un salon" (No 7 Air de la poupée) from the second act, with the Belgian soprano Mariette Sully, who performed the role of Alésia in the premiere of the opera, and the tenors Paul Fougère, who also participated in the first cast as Lancelot, and M. Soums, as Hilarius (for more see here).

The opera was the basis for two films: the Lumière brothers' French ""Les Poupées", which was filmed by Gaston Velle in Lyon in 1902-1903, and the German "Die Puppe", directed by Ernst Lubitsch, which opened in Berlin cinemas on December 5, 1919 (see the film here).

In this recording, Nikos Afentakis (1885 - October 22, 1935) and Soso Kandili sing.

According to the database that emerged from Alan Kelly's research, the recording took place in Smyrna (Izmir); however, according to Hugo Strötbaum's archive, it was made in Athens.

The sound engineer Fred Gaisberg probably with Hugh Murtagh were responsible for the recording.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis