Adelina Patti ~ Casta Diva ~ ( Restored by MARSTON )

My hat is off to Mr. Ward Marston, who did the restoration of Patti’s voice. He has restored this recording in the key of E. It is very likely that this is a reasonable indication of what Patti’s voice may in fact have sounded like! There is so much magic that comes from the recording. It helps make it possible to render an educated guess as to why she was sometimes treated better than the Queen. It also helps explain why she was beloved and praised by every major composer and singer of her time! Patti’s recording of “Casta diva,“ although she did not sing Norma on stage, is a link in a chain leading back directly to Bellini and Giuditta Pasta. She studied it with Maurice Strakosch, accompanist to Giuditta Pasta, who created Norma; the embellishments she employs are almost certainly those of Pasta. Patti is of course not in her prime here, and she does take breaths in places where she probably should not, but what more could one ask for at age 63? Many singers’ prime lasts on