pianists

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Jan_Paderewski

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"Sally Hamlin (born Sarah Emery Hamlin, Dec. 23 1902, Brooklyn, New York, USA, died July 4, 1987, Bar Harbor, Maine) was a child actor and recording artist. She is a shadowy figure today, and would probably be completely forgotten were it not for a series of 78rpm spoken word recordings she made for children in the 1910s and 1920s. Sally recorded primarily for Victor, but also recorded a few 7" discs for Emerson Records. These records were readings of poetry by such authors as Eugene Field and James Whitcomb Riley, classic stories such as Cinderella and Rumpelstilskin, and even excerpts from Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Hamlin Listen here: archive.org/details/SallyHamlin

Thanks Art Siegel. We will add some biographical details to the record.

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Sophie Braslau (1892-1935) was a contralto prominent in United States opera, starting with her debut in New York City's Metropolitan Opera in 1913 when she was just 21 years of age. [1] In her obituary The New York Times wrote, "The singer considered as her greatest triumph an experience during a rehearsal for a concert at Richmond, Va., where she had been sent to substitute for Mme. Louise Homer. After an introduction to the musicians in the empty auditorium, she sang an aria for rehearsal."

"I finished and there came a dead silence," she recalled later, "quickly followed by the strangest sound I had ever heard.  The musicians tapped their music stands with their bows or clapped their hands." In a few seconds it seemed as if pandemonium had let loose, and how happy I was! It was really the finest moment of my life. My mother was there, and it seemed to me that this was her triumph, for the evening concert was a great success and this was the first big joy she had experienced after her many years of devoted supervision."

(Many photographs of Mme. Homer can be seen in the LOC Bain Collection here.) There are currently nine photographs of Sophie Braslau in the LOC Bain Collection from c.1910-1915 here.)