The Lehmann RCA CD Story

by Gary Hickling

In 1986, as preparations were underway for the Lehmann Centennial, I wrote to all the companies which had recorded Lehmann to see if they were planning to celebrate her centennial. In March of '87 RCA Red Seal Executive Producer John Pfeiffer wrote: "I will certainly plan a CD of Miss Lehmann's recordings and would strongly consider any suggestions you may have for its content considering that I would like a program of between 65 and 72 minutes in length."

I immediately wrote to vocal experts William R. Moran & Philip Lieson Miller, who both responded with their suggestions. One of the elements that would make the release so exciting would be the first publication of some of Lehmann's songs recorded in the 1930's. Moran responded: "The matter of their existence is something else again...(Mr. Pfeiffer)...will have to check the vaults, see if (metal) parts exist for wanted titles...there is a long process here...un-released items sell records...but music be selected only if they are good...if they were not originally released because of vocal faults, then we do the artist a disservice by publishing them."

Eventually the metal masters were located and sent to Moran in California. Published 78rpm's existed in Moran's collection, often in perfect condition, and could be used for the CD. A few recordings of the 1940's were missing, however. Milwaukee vocal record collector Harold Huber agreed to send his 45rpm's (which also have quieter surfaces) for transfer. One of the rarest items was a test pressing of Schubert's Nacht und Träume which existed only in Frances Holden's collection. She graciously allowed its inclusion in this historic production. Moran's careful transfer hides the blemishes, surface noise and less than high quality pressing of this test.

On a search of their vaults, RCA came up with the metal masters for eight 10" 78rpm recordings which had never been released in any form. The metal masters for these recordings are mirror images of the familiar 78rpm recordings, i.e, instead of a groove normally tracked by the needle, the sound track is a ridge, and to be played, the metal master musc be played on a turntable which revolves in a counterclockwise direction, or backwards from the normal turntable. Useing specifically developed equipment and techniques, Moran produced tapes which were senc back to RCA for digital processing for final CD presentation.

Philip Miller wrote an informative three page evaluation of Lehmann which is translated into German, French and Italian. This was, after all, an international release.

What is the result? In my opinion, generally wonderful. As Friedman mentions elsewhere in this newsletter, Lehmann's French is surprisingly idiomatic. The English songs are effective and the German nothing less than Lehmann's high standard best. For me, the Nacht und Träume is especially moving. I'm not so thrilled with the two Italian songs and I'm disappointed that no translations are provided. But this is a mid-priced CD and cost was probably a factor. The transfers are superlative. Many thanks to William Moran for his dedication and to John Pfeiffer for his determination to produce this CD.