Sarah Bernhardt — Racine, Phèdre. Recorded 1903, His Master's Voice. Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.
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1903–1930 · Gramophone, La Voix de son Maître
Bernhardt and the French Tragedians
The Divine Sarah, at speed, on wax
Bernhardt recorded for the Gramophone Company in Paris in 1903, at fifty-eight, already the most famous performer alive. The results startle a modern listener: the tempo is ferocious, the phrasing sung rather than spoken, the vowels held like notes. This is the declamatory tradition of the Conservatoire, the manner Sarah learned in the 1860s and never abandoned, and these discs are the primary evidence that it existed at all. Around her sit the tragedians who inherited it — Segond-Weber in Racine, and Sacha Guitry, who did something quite different with the same equipment.
8 broadcasts · 5 seasons held · Paris
19032
Sarah Bernhardt — Rostand, La Samaritaine. Recorded 1903, His Master's Voice. Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.
19161
Sarah Bernhardt — Louis Payen. Recorded 1916, Historical. Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.
19261
Sacha Guitry — Guitry and Hahn, Mozart. Recorded 1926, Disque "Gramophone". Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.
19292
Bernhardt and the French Tragedians
Acte II, scène 5 — “Un songe…” — Mme Segond-Weber
1 Jan 1929 · 3 min
Mme Segond-Weber — Racine, Athalie. Recorded 1929, La Voix de Son Maitre. Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.
Bernhardt and the French Tragedians
Acte II, scène 7 — “Comment vous nommez-vous?” — Mme Segond-Weber and Berthe Bovy
1 Jan 1929 · 4 min
Mme Segond-Weber and Berthe Bovy — Racine, Athalie. Recorded 1929, La Voix de Son Maitre. Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.
19302
George de Warfaz — Alfred de Musset. Recorded 1930, Linguaphone. Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.
George de Warfaz — La Fontaine. Recorded 1930, Linguaphone. Disc digitised by the Great 78 Project; public domain.