Described by Maria Callas as‘the greatest singer of us all’, the American-born Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) is acknowledged as one of the outstanding dramatic sopranos of the twentieth century. Without any previous experience of the operatic stage, she made her Metropolitan début in Verdi’s La forza del destino opposite Caruso in 1918. Following her enormous success, she became the Metropolitan’s leading soprano, appearing in twenty-one rôles throughout her career. This second disc of Ponselle’s 1923-1929 American recordings features two of her loveliest performances, In grembo a me from L’Africaine and Suicidio! from La Gioconda, as well as three of her first electrical recordings, The Little Old Garden, Carry Me Back to Old Virginny and My Old Kentucky Home, made on the 1st and 2nd June, 1925.