Luryier Diamond Opera Collection, 1908-1994

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Summary

Creators:
Diamond, Luryier, 1914-
Abstract:
Unpublished live performances of opera on open reel tape, from the collection of Luryier Diamond.
Extent:
51 boxes : 1850 7" open reel tapes
Language:
Multiple languages
Preferred citation:

Luryier Diamond Opera Collection, ARS-0083. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

Opera enthusiast Luryier Diamond (b. 1914) is a photographer, teacher and photo archivist at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii. His collection consists of live audio recordings on tape of opera from the 1930s through the 1990s. The collection is particularly strong in the works of Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, Donizetti, Rossini, Puccini, Mozart, Massenet, Berlioz, and Bellini, but many more obscure composers and performances are also included. There are recordings from Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro la Fenice, and the San Francisco Opera. The collection also contains unusual items such as Maria Callas' "Rome Walk Out" during the premier of Norma in 1958, and a transfer of a circa 1908 set of Carmen in German (considered the first complete issued opera recording.)

Diamond was almost certainly part of the collector circuit and copied and traded recordings among his peers. Most of these tapes are an unknown generation, but, unlike many such collections, the original source is frequently noted: i.e. in-house, from radio and television broadcasts, or taped from transcriptions or lacquers. In some cases recordings appear to be one generation from masters. A few are commercial releases, or copies of commercial releases.

The collection is entirely tape recordings on seven-inch reels, numbered 1 through 1787 (plus an "E" series). All tapes are well-labeled, and accompanying the tapes are files for clippings, programs, and notes removed from tape boxes. There are also files arranged alphabetically by composer which include information on personnel, location, date, means of recording and source (i.e. "taped from network acetates.") For full content listing, please contact the Archive.

Acquisition information:
The Luryier Diamond Opera Collection was donated to the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound by Luryier Diamond in 2008.
Processing information:

This finding aid was produced with generous financial support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Rules or conventions:
Prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Live sound recordings
Operas

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive for assistance.

Terms of access:

Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.

Preferred citation:

Luryier Diamond Opera Collection, ARS-0083. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Braun Music Center, 541 Lasuen Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-3076, US
Contact:
(650) 723-9312
soundarchive@stanford.edu
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