This recording is no coincidence – neither that Alarcón's partner is Emilio Sagi-Barba, nor that they
sing Viennese operetta. Sagi-Barba, the great Catalan baritone, had his own touring operetta company, and Alarcón, a
native of Valencia, was one of that company's tenors. Sagi-Barba hired him in 1909, and he stayed with the troupe until at least
1913; they toured both Spain and Latin America extensively, and beyond zarzuela, they staged a lot of Viennese operetta –
their most successful production was a double pack of Dollarprinzessin and Lustige Witwe.
As far as the above recording, this is a special version of that duet: while normally, the tenor is the lead singer, and
the baritone takes the supporting part, it's significantly different here (appropriately, in the light of the respective
importance of the two singers involved). Sagi-Barba almost sings the selection as a solo (and hence a half-note down), with a
much reduced supporting line for the tenor.
And as far as Alarcón, the (Valencian) newspaper that reported on his engagement with Sagi-Barba said he had been "very
well-known" already before that, although I don't find further references to him.
Reference 1: El Pueblo, 27 February 1909; reference 2: El Imparcial, 5 November 1910; reference 3: Youtube channel
"Mi Zarzuela"; reference 4 and picture source: Paginas Illustradas, 17 August 1911
