James Moore (1946-84), whose edition of La Dafne was recorded by Musica Pacifica, took these photographs during the recording sessions in June and July of 1975 at Western Recorders, Studio 1, Hollywood. They were copied from his archive at the University of Chicago. After learning that Paul Vorwerk, the conductor of Musica Pacifica, had died in 2023, these photographs, unknown to me until now (May 2025), surfaced on the internet. The recording received the Record World Magazine’s Critics Award for best Classical recording, as well as a Grammy nomination.

“Opera was invented int he late sixteenth century by a group of intellectuals in Florence, who thought they were reviving the traditions of Greek drama. Much of the work the first operatic composers has been lost, but Marco da Gagliano’s “La Dafne” (1608) has survived in sufficiently complete form to be performed today. It is much to the credit of ABC Records that a recording of “La Dafne,” edited by James H. Moore, now exists (ABC Classics AB-67012; four sides). The libretto, by the once famous Ottavio Rinuccini, follows the Greek legend in which Dafne is pursued by Apollo, who has just slain a dragon, and turns herself into a tree as a means of escape. Ovid, from whose “Metamorphoses” the story is taken, appears in the opera as a narrator. The work is performed by an organization called Musica Pacifica, the conductor is Paul Vorwek, and the principal singers are Robert White (Apollo), Maurita Thornbugh (Venus), Su Harmon (Cupid), Mary Rawcliffe (Dafne), Dale Terbeek (Thyrsis), Myron Myers (Ovid), and a few others. Ancient instruments are used in the orchestra, although not all of them are as ancient as the opera itself. The musical idiom is a but archaic for modern ears, but nevertheless expressive and enjoyable; the performance is remarkably clean in intonation, and it sounds authentic.” (The New Yorker)

“The performance, conducted by Paul Vorwerk, can only elicit positive responses: admiration for a high level of achievement from a first-rate singing cast and its thoroughly integrated instrumental counterpart; and wonder that this work, one of abundant beauties, unexpected contrasts and poignant details, is so little known.” (Daniel Cariaga, LA Times, 1975)