Dorle J. Soria

Dorle Soria (14 Dec 1900—7 July 2002) was an American classical music impresario, publicist, and journalist from New York. She served as The New York Philharmonic Orchestra's publicity director for 24 years and co-founded several renowned labels with her husband, Dario Pellegrino Soria (1912–1980), including Angel Records and RCA Victor's Soria Series. After graduating from Columbia University, Dorle Jarmel worked as a journalist for several years before joining a prolific talent manager and CBS founder, Arthur Leon Judson (1881–1975). She became N.Y. Philharmonic's press manager in June 1929—months before it embarked on the historical European tour under the new maestro, Arturo Toscanini. (Essentially, Dorle was responsible for Toscanini's rapid growth to international superstardom). She worked for Judson's Columbia Artists Management until April 1953 and promoted many notable N.Y. Phil events, such as Leonard Bernstein's debut 1943 appearance or the '51 European tour. In 1942, Dorle Jarmel married Dario Soria, an Italian entrepreneur who recently immigrated to the United States. An avid opera aficionado, Dario founded Cetra-Soria label in 1948—perhaps, the first American record company to release full-length operas on LP. According to William F. Weaver, one of the most authoritative Italian operatic translators, Dorle personally insisted on including complete librettos both in Italian and English with each Cetra-Soria album. (This layout subsequently became standard for all US opera labels.) In 1953, Dorle and Dario, who just sold Cetra-Soria to Capitol Records, co-founded Angel Records in New York. EMI recently lost the North American distribution deal with Columbia Records, so the major label hired Sorias to direct a brand-new USA classical outlet. For branding, Dorle and Dario settled on the once-legendary 'Recording Angel' label (initially used by Gramophone Company in the early XX-century). They produced almost 500 albums in less than five years, with critics praising Angel's essential repertoire and unprecedented quality. The label, indeed, set new standards for the industry: flawless imported UK pressings, comprehensive liner notes, eloquent libretto translations, booklets with splendid full-color reproductions (printed in Europe), etc. Dorle organized several high-profile events to promote the label's roaster, such as Maria Callas opera balls with The Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 1958, after EMI merged Angel with Capitol Records and switched to domestic pressings, Sorias left. They assisted Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti in organizing the inaugural Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and soon returned to the United States. That same year, Dorle and Dario launched a new Soria Series for RCA Victor—essentially, an "ultra-deluxe" imprint within an already premium Red Seal catalog. Dorle received two Grammy Awards nominations in 1963 for best classical albums cover for Julian Bream's and Herbert Von Karajan's 2xLP in this series. In the seventies, Dorle Soria predominantly focused on her journalistic career, regularly contributing to High Fidelity Magazine, Opera News, and Musical America. In March 1980, her husband Dario—who retired as the Metropolitan Opera Guild's managing director in '77 but still occasionally consulted MET Opera on historical recordings—succumbed to a heart attack working at the Lincoln Center's Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives. To commemorate Dario's lifelong passion for opera, Dorle J. Soria revived the 'Soria Series' and produced Metropolitan Opera Historic Broadcasts collection. (One of the releases, 15367770 3xLP, received the "Historic Record of the Year" award from the Opus Magazine in Oct 1986.) She also authored 'The Metropolitan Opera Guide' historical monograph in 1982.