In November 1922, the great German soprano Elisabeth Rethberg made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the title role of Aïda and easily conquered Manhattan with her strong, expressive, and intensely emotional singing. While for the remainder of the 1920s through about 1933, Rethberg traveled back and forth between America and Europe, after the rise of Nazi Germany she elected to stay in the United States, appearing as a Met regular through the end of her career in 1942. By coincidence, Rethberg's initial ...
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In November 1922, the great German soprano Elisabeth Rethberg made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the title role of Aïda and easily conquered Manhattan with her strong, expressive, and intensely emotional singing. While for the remainder of the 1920s through about 1933, Rethberg traveled back and forth between America and Europe, after the rise of Nazi Germany she elected to stay in the United States, appearing as a Met regular through the end of her career in 1942. By coincidence, Rethberg's initial arrival in New York came at about the same time as the American Brunswick label's efforts to upgrade its classical offerings through a new "Gold Label Series." Owing to its robust, jazzy popular music offerings, Brunswick was one of the top labels in the industry by the mid-'20s and would stay that way through 1927 when it changed hands. Subsequently, the label was mismanaged and in 1931 went bankrupt, having lost its stable of name artists and reduced to recording pseudonymous pickup...
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