ABSTRACT
American soprano, born in Brooklyn. She made her debut at age 16, at the Academy of Music in Brooklyn. In 1885 she sang with the Boston Opera Co. She went to London in 1888, earning great acclaim for her magnetic Carmen. She sang at Windsor Castle and at other command performances, and at Covent Garden, mastering 31 roles. She performed with the Metropolitan Opera in 1894-1895, 1898, and 1899-1900. De Lussan’s “Habanera” was the first aria to be recorded on Victor (#2198; 17 May 1903). This session was only the second of Red Seal recording (the first was 30 Apr 1903). On the same day she did four songs and another aria, “Connais-tu le pays” from Mignon. In 1906 she made four discs for Beka Records GmbH. She died in London. [Potterton 1967.]
An American record established in 1943 by the Jules Braun family, with offices in Linden, New Jersey. The specializations were country and western, race records, and Latin-American music. In 1945 the label had more than 120 items available. Deluxe was taken over by the King label in 1947, but issues under the Deluxe name continued until ca. 1961. [Rotante 1973 includes a label list of the 5000 and 6000 series.]
A Victor Talking Machine Co. record of ca. 1903-1904. From March 1903, the records were 14 inches, styled Deluxe Special Record; 12-inch releases began in June of that year. About 150 of the 12-inch Deluxe Records were made. Although they gave three or four minutes of playing time, their content was basically the same as that of the sevenand 10-inch records that had preceded them, except that the performances went on a little longer. Takes of varying lengths were made in the same session, and releases were available in some cases for all three sizes. For example, “Love Thoughts” by Sousa’s Band was recorded on 8 May 1902 in a 10-inch and 12-inch version. Cal Stewart’s “Uncle Josh Weatherby in a Department Store” was recorded for all three sizes on 21 July 1902. The 14-inch record, which sold for $2, was made to play at 60 rpm. It thus carried between five and six minutes of material, and may be considered the first attempt to produce a long-playing record. The extra playing time was not well exploited, however, since the repertoire consisted primarily of “selections” and arrangements, rather than of complete versions of longer works. Fewer than 50 titles were offered. The
innovation was technically acceptable, but proved to be a commercial failure, and the series was dropped from the catalog by 1904. [Fagan 1983.]
A procedure in tape recorder player maintenance, used to counteract the buildup of residual magnetism in the tape heads and in the player’s metal parts. The device employed produces an alternate magnetic field that neutralizes polarities on the metal parts, creating a random alignment of the polarities instead of a dominant charge. This procedure, followed after every 40 hours or so of operation, will prevent unintentional signal erasure as tapes are played. Demagnetizer cassettes are available for use with cassette tape equipment.
