The following originally appeared as liner notes for the 1989 CD release:

Program:
Rossini: Una voce poco fa (Il Barbiere di Siviglia)
Verdi: Caro nome (Rigoletto)
Donizetti: Regnava nel silenzio (Lucia di Lammermoor)
Donizetti: Mad Scene (Lucia di Lammermoor)
Belini: Ah non credea (La Sonnambula)
Donizetti: O luce di quest anima (Linda di Chamonix)
Thomas: Polonaise (Mignon)
Mozart: Deh vieni (Nozze di Figaro)
Rossini: Selva opaca (Guillaume Tell)
Bizet: Brahma gran Dio (Pecheurs de Perles)
Bizet: Siccome un di (Pecheurs de Perles)
Verdi: Sul fil d'un soffio (Falstaff)
Donizetti: Lo dice ognun (Figlia del Regimento)
Donizetti: Convien partir (Figlia del Regimento)
Donizetti: La richezza ed il grado (Figlia del Regimento)
Bishop: Lo! Here the gentle Lark

Total Time: 71:20

The Venetian soprano Toti Dal Monte (1898-1975) was one of the first of a new breed of coloratura sopranos that began to make an appearance during the early 1920s, the lirico-leggiero or lyric coloratura.  Before that time it was generally the light, leggiero soprano that performed such operas as Lucia di Lammermoor, La Sonnambula and I Puritani.  Originally, however, when such roles were written they were often performed by the same voice that sang Fidelio and Norma.  With the emergence of Meyerbeer and French Grand Opera, vocal classifications became necessary and roles such as Lucia and Amina became the property of lighter voices capable of executing intricate fioriture and ornaments with more ease than heavier voices.  The 1920s saw the beginning of a balancing between the demands of certain roles and the voices capable of performing them.  It is interesting that by that time operas composed by Bellini and Donizetti were considered quaint, old-fashioned and not of the same musical quality as the new, very popular verismo operas.  (This situation was not corrected until the "bel canto" revival of the 1950s and 1960s headed by sopranos Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland.) Because of the powerful appeal of verismo opera, its popularity with singers and audiences, and the influence of the young conductor, Arturo Toscanini, the lighter-voiced soprano began to lose its importance.  The few florid roles remaining in the performing repertoire were undertaken by artists also capable of singing lyrical roles requiring more vocal heft.

Despite this powerful shift some traditional leggiero sopranos maintained their hold next to their heavier-voiced sisters: Amelita Galli-Curci, Maria Barrientos, Graziella Pareto, Elvira De Hidalgo, Lily Pons, etc.  Today, there are only a handful of true leggiero sopranos that recall earlier performing practices, the most prominent being the American, Beverly Hoch.  The trend which began with Toti Dal Monte was continued through the work of such artists as Margherita Carosio and Lina Pagliughi and continues to this day.  Priorities have shifted from virtuosity to lyricism and expressivity.

Toti Dal Monte was born in Venice on June 22, 1898 (some sources state 1895) as Antoinetta Meneghelli.  Originally she had intended to pursue a career as a concert pianist but a strained tendon in her left hand forced her to consider other musical outlets.  The problem was solved when her father took her to the famous singer, Barbara Marchiso, then living in retirement, but once the favored contralto of Rossini.  Marchiso felt that the young Meneghelli showed sufficient promise to persue a career in voice.

The soprano made her operatic debut at Milan's La Scala in 1916, in the small lyric role of Biancafiore in Zandonai's verismo masterpiece, Francesca da Rimini.  By this time the soprano had adopted "Toti Dal Monte" as her stage name.  Although her success was considerable few offers came to the young artist.  After hearing that the role of Lola had not yet been cast in a new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Dal Monte learned the part overnight, auditioned and was hired.

Soon other contracts began to surface.  It was in 1918, after performing various lyric roles in the Italian provinces that Dal Monte began to concentrate on the leggiero heroines of Lucia and Gilda.

While singing Gilda in Rome, in 1920, she was heard by Toscanini's wife who suggested the soprano for his performances of Rigoletto at La Scala.  Dal Monte was hired and La Scala quickly became her home theatre.  During the 1920s and 1930s she sang her most famous roles there: Lucia, Gilda, Marie (Fille du Regiment - in Italian), Norina (Don Pasquale), Adina (L'Elisir), Linda (Linda di Chamonix) and Mascagni's Lodoletta.

On December 5, 1924, the soprano made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Lucia di Lammermoor.  Her only other appearance at that house was as Gilda on February 23, 1935.  Lucia was also her debut role that year at the Chicgo Opera and London's Covent Garden.  (June 15, 1925).  Unfortunately, The London Times found the opera old-fashioned, Dal Monte's upper extension "hard" and took exception to her practice of employing long pauses between phrase of the cadenza with flute.

During the next decade the soprano sang in Paris, Rio, Naples, Rome (Butterfly, Boheme, Traviata) Vienna, Berlin, Madrid and Barcelona.  She appeared regularly at La Scala until 1939 (the year of her famous Madama Butterfly recording with Beniamino Gigli), and at the Rome Opera until 1942.  After the war, however, Dal Monte concentrated primarily on teaching.  Her two most illustrious pupils were Delores Wilson (creator of the title role of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe) and Gianna D'Angelo who, during the 1960s was a popular exponent of Dal Monte's roles of Rosina, Gilda and Lucia.

The 16 selections on this first issue of Dal Monte on CD date from the artist's prime (1924-1929) and offer examples of her interpretive thoughts on some of her most famous roles.

Considering her popularity, the soprano made relatively few recordings - less than 50 selections on 78 r.p.m. sides.  Of those a number of selections were of popular Italian songs as well as electrical versions of Lucia's Mad Scene and Benedict's Carnival of Venice Variations which were to replace previous, acoustical recordings.

During the years these recordings were made, Dal Monte's voice was praised for its artistic dexterity and clear, light brilliance.  It is this last quality which must have been so attractive and appealing to listeners in the opera house.  Her particular timbre - an unusual combination of darkness and light, combined with the acoustics of the theatre, must have provided audiences witrh some unusually clean and lovely sounds.  On recordings, however, without the assistance of acoustical properties of the theatre and distance from the singer, Dal Monte's upper octave often shows a metallic cutting edge that some may find grating.  Although E flat was obviously the top of the voice, it was a tone that Dal Monte could call upon for years with impressive results.

While it is true that Dal Monte's pyrotechnical work on recordings is often commanding and has a fascinating sense of daring (as in the arias of Philine and Linda) it is in the lyrical moments of Lucia, Mathilda (William Tell), Leila (Pearl Fishers), Gilda and Nanetta (Falstaff) that her best vocalism is heard.  It is in such pieces that one admires the long, lovely legato lines, sensitive phrasing and instinctive musicality which marked the soprano's work during her best years.  It is in comparing this musical diversity that one appreciates her artistry and appeal.

Almost three decades before the era of Maria Callas and the "new" dramatic approach to interpreting roles such as Lucia and Gilda, Toti Dal Monte insisted her coloratura technique was subsidiary to her true art as a lyrical operatic interpreter.  And although her florid technique does not astound the listener for its reckless nonchalance, one is impressed by the soprano's intelligent foresight, musical diversity, honesty and artistic integrity.