Speculates that Caruso’s phonograph records reduced his ability to sway audiences in performance but that this cost is worth the preservation of his voice for generations to come.  Also, the phonograph has “realized what is perhaps the most significant achievement in the history of music. I has developed a condition that will lead to national opera..” (54). Shop girls and lay workers are educating themselves musically and in Latin languages by way of phonogrash. “It will be from just such a start [as Mr. Mildenberg’s municipal opera company] that grand opera will be popularized for the masses.”
Edison on future of sound film, especially making opera available to working class (121).