"Largo al factotum" Barber of Seville (Barbiere di Siviglia) Emilio de Gogorza as "Francisco" (1901)<br /><br />"Largo al factotum" from The Barber of Seville (Barbiere di Siviglia)<br /><br />Emilio de Gogorza as "Sig. E. Francisco"<br /><br />Victor 3056<br /><br />1901<br /><br />Emilio de Gogorza was an outstanding baritone whose voice recorded "just right" in the early years of the industry--that is, some voices were ill-suited for the crude recording technology in the early years of the 20th century, but not in Gogorza's case.<br /><br />He excelled with Spanish songs.<br /><br />He was born Emilio Eduardo de Gogorza on May 29, 1872, in Brooklyn, New York.<br /><br />He was raised and trained musically in Spain. <br /><br />His near-sightedness prevented him from enjoying a successful career as an opera singer on a stage.<br /><br />Instead, he was known as a concert and recital artist.<br /><br />Many of his recordings were issued under aliases such as Carlos Francisco (or just Sig. Francisco) and Herbert Goddard. <br /><br />The nom-du-disque Sig. Francisco was taken from his mother's first name (Francisca).<br /><br />"Monsieur Fernand" is a name he used when recording French songs.<br /><br />He used such pseudonyms for records issued on Victor's lower priced black label.<br /><br />His real name was reserved for Victor's Red Seal label.<br /><br />De Gogorza was first married to Elsa Neumoegen.<br /><br />In 1911, De Gorgoza married Emma Eames, the American soprano. They recorded duets for Victor. I especially recommend their version of "The Swing Song" from Veronique by André Messager.<br /><br />The wife and husband were divorced in 1936.<br /><br />Duets he recorded a decade earlier with the Cuban singer Rosalia Chalia are also superb.<br /><br />De Gogorza and Caruso made one recording together--a Spanish song ("A la luz de la luna").<br /><br />The baritone died on May 10, 1949, in New York City, from lung cancer at the age of 74.
