The specialty wax cylinders produced in New York City in the mid- to late-1890s by the Bettini Phonograph Laboratory – which included some of the opera greats of the time – are particularly rare and sought after.   Only a few dozen of these recordings are known to have survived.

I personally have preserved just 17, including this month's treasured selection: excerpts from the final act, scene, and aria of Verdi's great Aida – where condemned Radames, locked in a crypt which is to be his tomb, realizes he will not die alone: For his love, Aida, has voluntarily and secretly hid herself in the crypt in order to die with her lover in his arms.   A scene that has produced many handkerchiefs in audiences since it premiered in 1871.

Rosalia Chalia was listed as the soprano for this selection in the Bettini catalogs (1898 through 1900), however the recording identifies the soprano as Signora Morali.   Due to this change and other clues, this may possibly be a late-1899 or 1900 recording.