Charles Hackett
Bohemian Girl, "Then you'll remember me"; Don Giovanni, "Il Mio Tesoro"; Il Barbiere di Siviglia, "Ecco ridente in cielo"; Lucia di Lammermoor, "Veranno a te" (with Maria Barrientos); La Boheme, "Che Gelida Manina"; La Boheme, "Ah, Mimi, tu piu non torni" (with Riccardo Stracciari); Romeo et Juliette, "L'amour...Ah! leve-toi, soleil"; Manon, "Je suis seul...Ah, fuyez, douce image"; Manon, "Instant charmant...En fermant les yeux"; Mignon, "Ah! non credevi tu"; Faust "All Hail, Thou Dwelling" [Salut! demeure chaste et pure]; (Schubert), "Who is Sylvia" [An Sylvia, op. 106, no. 4]; (Tosti), "Parted"; (Tosti), "Could I" [Vorrei]; (Robinson), "The Snowy Breasted Pearl"; In A Persian Garden, "Ah, moon of my delight"; (Aylward-Hickey), "Beloved it is Morn"; (Coates-Barrie),"I Heard you Singing"; (McGill), "Duna"; (Wilmott); "I Look into your Garden"; Roberta, "The touch of your hand". [Marston 51005-2]

A successful concert singer turned opera star, Charles Hackett was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was one of the first American singers to enjoy an international in South America and Italy. He also had many successful seasons at the Metropolitan Opera until his untimely death in 1941. Hackett's handsome, aristocratic stage presence and beautiful lyric instrument made him a perfect interpreter of French and Italian "lyrico spinto" tenor roles. His superb coloratura technique is demonstrated in the arias from "Don Giovanni" and "The Barber of Seville." Hackett was a contemporary (and friend) of Caruso and can equal the Italian tenor's passion and velvet tones in the arias from "La Boheme". Hackett also had the requisite musical refinement and taste for Romeo and Lescaut and indeed the arias from "Manon" are splendid examples of his ravishing "mezza voce singing." No texts or translations are provided; however, the booklet is beautifully produced with many photographs of the singer including an excellent biography by Lawrence F. Holdrige and charming recollections from the tenor's son, Charles F. Hackett, Jr. Ward Marston's transfers are impeccably done. His audio restoration successfully captures the full range and beauty of this admirable tenor's vocal art.

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