Eduardo Cazano

The company for which Cazano recorded was Pagode, but his discs were also issued on Galfadisc, the label of the famous Paris warehouse Galéries Lafayette – and warehouse music it is, indeed, as far as the "orchestra" is concerned. Our tenor is not that bad, as long as he limits himself to lyrical singing (I have also a Faust record of him that's less commendable).

What can be said with utmost certainty is that no Eduardo Cazano ever made any kind of career, not in opera, not in operetta, not in café-concert. A record tenor? Exclusively at an ephemeral and anyway tiny label like Pagode? Hardly. Which leaves us with three possibilities: one, a strong-voiced chorister (cf. Tom Johns); two, a gifted amateur (cf. Voisin and possibly even Orliac); three, an alias of someone (but who?) having a contract with another record company.

And the mystery deepens... on Colisée, yet another budget record label, the same tenor appeared as Édouard Chandal, a name that is pure fantasy (which may very well be true for both names!). Colisée, a Polydor affiliate, issued all artists under pseudonyms; they typically had a contract with Polydor, where their recordings were published under their real names. Not so Monsieur Cazano, or "Chandal": I've checked all tenors associated with Polydor in France and Belgium in the 1920s and 1930s, none of them is Cazano. But I also fail to recognize any other tenor voice that I know. Anyone can help, please?

Anton Bieber has contributed the Bohème and "Chandal" recordings and label scans: thank you!