Apollo Granforte – El Matrero excerpts [Boero] - 1929

In my quest to put together the complete discography of Apollo Granforte, I never saw these recordings mentioned. El Matrero is an opera by Argentinian composer Felipe Boero. It premiered in July, 1929. Originally scheduled for three performances, it caused such a sensation that another three performances were added for the following month, when these recordings were made with the original cast. 1929 had also been Granforte’s debut at Teatro Colón; his performances of Scarpia, Gerard, Tonio, Rigoletto, and Telramund that season brought him enormous acclaim and popularity. Victor Records capitalized on this with these six sides of Matrero. They were issued only in Argentina, but they quickly became best sellers there. The recording is also notable for work of conductor Ettore Panizza, himself an Italian Argentinian. He had worked at the Rome Opera, at La Scala along with Toscanini, and at Covent Garden. He would go on to succeed Tullio Serafin as principal conductor of Italian repertoi