1907 ELLEN BEACH YAW SWISS ECHO SONG high G 78

$

33

WEEK 2 or 3 weeks of great auctions, I am happy to hold your winnings and bill you at the end of the cycle.

IMPORTANT: I AM HAPPY COMBINE MULTIPLE SHIPMENTS.

IF YOU WIN MULTIPLE ITEMS DO NOT USE EBAY CHECK OUT to get low combined postage. Send me an invoice request instead.

A series of great early Opera performances: From 1902 G&Ts to 40s wartime German records:

ELLEN BEACH YAW - Marchesi Student and characterful and excentric singer, was famous for her HIGH G, which was something unique at her time. She never fails to interpolate it in her recordings

There is a great mystique about Beach Yaw for her high notes, and here - supported on record - ability to trill in thirds and even fourths

Eckerts SWISS ECHO SONG

10" original GRAND PRIZE record

78 rpm record

Condition:

VERY GOOD PLUS PLUS, basically no wear, surface has some rubbing few faintest scratches. Needle runs on label

Ellen Beach Yaw (September 14, 1869 û September 9, 1947) was an American coloratura soprano, best known for her concert singing career. She had an extraordinary vocal range and could produce unusually high notes. Known as "Lark Ellen" or "The California Nightingale," she was reportedly the only known soprano of her era who could sing and sustain the D above high D. She was also able to trill in major thirds or fifths (trills usually involve rapidly alternating notes over an interval of a minor or major second).[1]

Life and career
Yaw was born in the small town of Boston, near Buffalo, New York (not Boston, Massachusetts, as is often stated),[2] the daughter of Ambrose Yaw, who manufactured cow and sheep bells. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was very young, but her father died when she was a small child, and the family was very poor. Yaw began singing and composing songs as a child. She studied singing in America, first with her mother; then with Mrs. Torpadie, the wife of tenor Theodore Bjorksten; and then with Ernesto delle Salle.[3] Yaw sang in concerts, beginning as a child in the 1880s, to make money to pay for singing lessons. Tours of the southern United States, California, England, Switzerland, and Germany followed, and on her return to America she gave a concert in Carnegie Hall in 1896. Yaw raised enough money through these concerts to study in Paris with Mathilde Marchesi and later coached with Alberto Randegger. She also sang several opera roles in the late 1890s, including Ophelia in Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet in Nice in 1897.[3]

[edit] The Rose of Persia
In 1898 and 1899, Yaw was singing in private concerts in London, and at one of these, at the home of Mrs. Fanny Ronalds, she so impressed Sir Arthur Sullivan that he prevailed upon the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to cast her as the Sultana Zubedyah in his comic opera The Rose of Persia, which opened on November 29, 1899 at the Savoy Theatre in London. Sullivan went so far as to write a special high cadenza for her song "'Neath My Lattice," a cadenza that only she could sing. Yaw's first two nights were shaky, though the reviews were mixed,[4] and both the music director, Francois Cellier, and Mrs. Carte advocated for her replacement. Sullivan at first agreed, writing in his diary on 2nd December, "I told [Cellier] I was afraid [that Yaw] would not improve, that she hadnÆt got it in her.... I donÆt quite see what itÆs all about ù Miss Yaw is not keeping people out of the theatre as Cellier and the Cartes imply."[5]

By December 10th, however, he wrote in his diary that Yaw was "improving rapidly" and "sang the song really superbly: brilliant. So I wrote again to Mrs. Carte saying that I thought if we let Miss Yaw go it would be another mistake."[5] It was too late, however, and the next day Yaw stopped at Sullivan's flat to tell him that she had been dismissed summarily by Mrs. Carte (ostensibly on account of illness). She was replaced by Isabel Jay.

[edit] Opera and concert career
Yaw made some grand opera appearances thereafter in Monte Carlo, including as Ophelia in Thomas' Hamlet in 1902 (her favorite role); Rome, where she sang the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor in 1905 (under the name of Elena Elvanna at the Quirinal Theatre - she was the first American singer to make a successful operatic debut in Rome); Naples; Catalonia; and Milan. Yaw sang Gilda in Rigoletto in London in 1905 and gave a single performance of Lucia di Lammermoor at New York's Metropolitan Opera on March 21, 1908 (after which she was described by the Met's manager as "the worldÆs greatest coloratura soprano).[5] She sang a total of about 18 operatic roles.[6] However, she mostly devoted herself to the concert hall, where she had a long and successful career, singing for many of the crowned heads of Europe and for U.S. President William McKinley.[6] In 1904, the Los Angeles Daily Times wrote, "Miss Yaw's voice is high soprano of crystalline lightness and purity and of a range so extreme in altitude that... it was the wonder of the European continent."[7]

Yaw was much in demand as a recording artist, and her first records were made in May 1899. She made many recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company. In order to display her voice to its best effect, she wrote several songs of her own with titles such as "The Skylark," "The Cuckoo," and "The Firefly." News dispatches from Paris in 1902 reported that the Shah of Persia had engaged Yaw to sing her repertoire into his phonograph. A few of her recordings are still available.[8] Some of her rare KeenoPhone and unpublished Edison and Victor recordings are preserved on a recording that is narrated by her pupil, the tenor Antonio Altamirano.[9] Thomas Edison, inventor of the phonograph, recorded her voice for mechanical experiments on a visit to his Orange, New Jersey laboratories. She sang various songs throughout her range into several machines. Afterwards, Edison said of her voice, "I can see no defects of any kind in this voice. Sweet on lower notes, and mellow. Best high tones yet for the disc machine."

[edit] Later life and charitable activities
 
1913 class at the Lark Ellen SchoolYaw resided in Covina, California, for the last thirty years of her life. She taught singing, gave concerts (continuing her tours in Europe until World War I and throughout North America until about 1931), and devoted herself to charitable pursuits -- often her concerts were in aid of these charities. According to her student, Antonio Altimirano, she sang the witch in a production of Hansel und Gretel in later years. She established the "Lark Ellen League" to give concerts in hospitals, homes, and jails; and the "Lark Ellen School for Boys" (she did this early in her career, in the 1890s), later taken over by the Lions Club. Yaw is memorialized in Covina by Lark Ellen Elementary School and Lark Ellen Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in the town.

She reportedly wrote her memoirs, The Song of the Lark, which Mr. Altimirano reported were finished in 1983, but they were never published. Altimirano died in 1986, and the memoirs have not been found.[6]

Yaw died in Covina, California, just shy of her 78th birthday.

Pls check my other auctions for more great records and phonograph items:

** Note: a few items may come on-line Thursday March 31 **

http://shop.ebay.com/carsten_sf/m.html

http://shop.ebay.com/carsten_sf/m.html

====

This is WEEK 2 of three consecutive weeks of auctions.

I am happy to hold your items and bill you at the end of the auction cycle (April 10).

Pls send me a note if you would like me to hold records

Multiple item shipping: I am happy to combine items for shipment in one parcel.

If you win multiple items, pls send me an INVOICE REQUEST to calculate the correct postage. Ebay check out will not give you the multiple item discount!

Records will be packed safely between corrugated cardboard in a sturdy box with plenty of padding for safe shipment.

Shipment is usually Media Mail, unless another service is requested. Shipping is at your risk, I will be happy to insure items at your cost.

I charge actual postage plus a small fee for packing materials

As always, I guarantee your satisfaction. If you don't like the item, just return it, and I will refund the full purchase price.

If you are in the San Francisco area, I encourage pick-up in person.

US Domestic Shipping:

Here is a rough guideline for US Media Mail Shipping:

Prices below are for regular 78 rpm records. Up to about 5 records, I will ship Edison Discs for the same rates. Above that and for international shipments, it will be actual weight plus a small packing charge (1-2$)

1 record: 4$

2 records: 5$

5 records: 6$

10 records: 8$

International Buyers:

I am very happy to ship records worldwide.

Prices below are for regular 78 rpm records. For Edison Discs in  international shipments, it will charge for the actual weight plus a small packing charge (1-2$) - for small quantities, it will not be much different from the charge for regular 78s.

Pls contact me for a shipping estimate, or send me an invoice request after close of auction.

Be aware that US Postal Rates can be high. Here are some examples.

Your best bet is the Large Priority box, everything that fits into a 12"x12"x5 1/2" box up to 20 pounds ships for 60$ (35$ Canada) worldwide.

However, I can get competitive rates from FedEx and the US Postal service for any kind of parcel weight

Germany (is pretty much the same for most countries, incl Japan and Western Europe)

1 record = 2 lbs 20$
4 lbs = 35$
20 lbs in 12x12" box 60$

Canada

1 record = 2 lbs 10$
4 lbs = 18$
20 lbs in 12x12" box ((12" albums won't fit)= 35$
I may be able to get some slightly better FedEx rates.
Pls email with your address for an estimate.

To estimate your shipment, pls go to

http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/welcome.htm?from=home_header&page=calculatepostage

My zip code is 94107.

Assume 1 pound per record plus 1 pound for packing.

AND AGAIN -THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST

As you can see from my feedback, I take great care in presenting, grading and shipping your items. I really want you to be happy with the purchase. If you feel that anything is wrong with the item or the shipping, contact me and we will work it out !!!

Pls contact me with your country, home town and postal code before bidding for an estimate.

=====

As always, I would appreciate any suggestions and corrections from you, pls contact me with any question.

Thank you very much, and good luck bidding !!!