Men of Empire is a cross-indexed collection of some 276 recordings by 38 male singers of the British Empire who were born in the 19th century. The most extensively represented is Peter Dawson with 70 titles. Some singers are heard in only one or two selections, where the objective is simply to give an audio example of a name you may encounter in reading but for which you have no other audible reference.

Men of Empire began the Audio Encyclopedia project, planned to extend to a comprehensive treatment of the audio record of the past century. The oldest singer on the disc is Sir Charles Santley, born in 1834 and Gounod's inspiration for "Even bravest heart may swell." The youngest is John Brownlee, barely under the wire with a birth date in 1900, but represented by two French selections which show a very different aspect of his talent from the readily available recordings. In between are artists you know and some you will feel you need to know - and others whose fame will be even more mysterious after you hear them. One unique element is sixty recordings of John McCormack as his art was solidifying: most of his titles for Odeon made between 1906 and 1909.

Men of Empire is a professional product shipped in a shrink-wrapped jewel case. We are also seeking commercial distribution after Internet requests are satisfied. The Audio Encyclopedia took a year for a team to produce: Harold Byrnes to select and pitch the bulk of the recordings and to generate the documentation, others for the material on Fraser Gange, and me for editing and production. We are all excited about the result and trust that you will be as well.

This CD-ROM is available from the distributor, http://www.operamogul.com/ and from some dealers. Please note that the recordings on this disc are in WAV format, so cannot be heard on MP3 players.

Mail me at operas@mrichter.com