Editing Metropolitan Opera (section)

====''Mapleson Cylinders''====
{{main|Mapleson Cylinders}}
From 1900 to 1904, Lionel Mapleson (1865–1937) made a series of sound recordings at the Met. Mapleson, the nephew of the opera impresario [[James Henry Mapleson]], was employed by the Met as a violinist and music librarian.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026294|title=Recorded Sound|website=Oxford Music Online|year=2001|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26294|last1=Ord-Hume|first1=Arthur W.J.G.|last2=Weber|first2=Jerome F.|last3=Borwick|first3=John|last4=Shorter|first4=D.E.L.|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0|access-date=October 16, 2019|archive-date=March 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319192800/http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026294|url-status=live}}</ref> He used an Edison [[Phonograph cylinder|cylinder]] [[phonograph]] set-up near the stage to capture short, one- to five-minute recordings of the soloists, chorus and orchestra during performances. These unique acoustic documents, known as the [[Mapleson Cylinders]], preserve an audio picture of the early Met, and are the only known extant recordings of some performers, including the tenor Jean de Reszke and the dramatic soprano Milka Ternina. The recordings were later issued on a series of LPs and, in 2002, were included in the [[National Recording Registry]].{{efn|1=While many of the cylinders became greatly worn over the years, some remain comparatively clear, particularly those of the waltz and "Soldier's Chorus" from ''Faust'' and the triumphal scene from act 2 of ''Aida''. Mapleson placed his machine in various locations, including the prompter's box, the side of the stage, and in the "flies", which enabled him to record the singers and musicians, as well as the audience's applause.{{Citation needed|reason=Claim with no source|date=September 2019}} Many of the original cylinders are preserved in the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at the [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]].}}<ref>{{cite web| title=About This Program| url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/about-this-program/| publisher=Library of Congress| access-date=January 17, 2018| archive-date=February 8, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208170650/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-2002reg.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=The Mapleson Cylinders| url=https://www.nypl.org/node/90326| publisher=New York Public Library| access-date=January 17, 2018| archive-date=October 23, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023230540/https://www.nypl.org/node/90326| url-status=live}}</ref>