Best Classical LP Labels??

[ClaudeJ1]

I just inherited about 500 Classical LP's. Some of the recordings go back to the 50's all the way up to 80's. Before this, I only had about 6 Classical LP's and 12 Telarc CD's.

Before I start going though these, what are the best labels in terms of recording quality and performance? London, RCA, Time/Life, what???

Signed:

Clueless

[DoubleJ]

Claude:

I'm not an expert but Decca and Gramophone/EMI/Deutsche Grammophon come to mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Grammophon

My library of Classical Music is small, but the copies I have from those 2 labels are better then the Time Life and the newer RCA releases I own.

Hopefully LarryC catches wind of this thread!!!

Thanks

JJ

[garymd]

I pulled this from an AK thread. It looks to be pretty accurate from my experience. Again, LarryC is the resident expert when it comes to all things classical.

RCA was an all-out audiophile label in the early days of stereo, with some of the greatest musical artists in the world on their roster. They offered stereo open-reel tapes starting in 1954 and stereo records starting in 1957 or 1958. The earliest stereo LPs have the dog-and-gramophone logo surrounded by red shading. These so-called "Shaded Dogs" generally command the highest prices in the used market. Later issues, including the "No Dog" and "Late Dog" pressings from the 1970s, can sound nearly as good at far lower prices. From an audiophile perspective, RCA made a major blunder in the mid-1960s. They introduced a process called "Dynagroove" that supposedly made their records sound better on cheap phonographs. The process included dynamic range compression, static equalization, and pre-distortion of the signal to counteract the distortion that a typical ceramic cartridge would introduce in playback. Dynagroove pressings sound pretty bad on a quality system and are best avoided. Thankfully RCA abandoned Dynagroove after a few years and went back to making un-gimmicked records. RCA also made "Dynaflex" records in the early 1970s that contained less vinyl than their earlier issues. These tend to warp easily, but can sound just fine if you use a record clamp or weight in playing them.

Victrola was RCA's budget classical label, where recordings from the back catalog were reissued at bargain prices. Many of these are excellent. The earliest issues had plum-colored labels. Later pressings used a pink label.

Mercury was also an audiophile label. Their early pressings can sound amazing, though J. Gordon Holt noted that the cutters had a high-frequency response peak that unfortunately lined up with a response peak in the company's favorite microphones. As a result, the highs on these LPs can be somewhat aggressive. The "Golden Imports" reissues from the 1970s, re-cut and pressed by Philips in the Netherlands, have less of the HF peak, but the re-equalization that Philips applied may not be to everyone's taste. The best-sounding Mercury reissues I've heard have been the CDs that Wilma Cozart Fine transferred for the company. Mercury issued some back catalog items on a budget label called Wing.

Angel, a division of Capitol, pressed and marketed EMI recordings in North America. Capitol made some remarkable classical recordings of their own in the late 1950s, but left that business to concentrate on popular music in the 1960s. Many collectors claim that the British EMI pressings sound better than the U.S.-pressed Angels. I would tend to agree, though I have quite a few Angel records that sound very good. Angel also released some fine recordings from the Soviet recording company, Melodiya, in the 1970s. Angel's budget label, Seraphim, could be a mixed bag sonically, but offered many fine performances on LP.

Columbia, like RCA, had some great artists on its roster. The earliest stereo Columbias sounded quite good. By the mid-1960s, Columbia had adopted a house sound with a boosted treble and a rolled-off bass, and most of their recordings of that era had that house sound. Columbia's Epic label was home to the Cleveland Orchestra and a number of other top-flight classical musicians. Their budget label, Odyssey, made the Columbia and Epic back catalogs available to collectors at low prices.

London was the North American distribution arm of British Decca. There are rumors, never definitively confirmed but often circulated, that the London issues were equalized for more "boom and tizz" than the home-market issues on the Decca label. Decca specialized in opera recordings, but also had some top-flight orchestras and soloists on its roster. London's budget label was called Stereo Treasury.

Many of the early Everest recordings, issued before Harry Belock lost control of the company he founded, are musically and sonically superb. By the 1970s, Everest's pressing quality was so-so at best.

The major European labels were Deutsche Grammophon and Philips. Both were known for silent pressings and good sound quality, and both had noted artists such as Von Karajan (DG) and Haitink (Philips) on their rosters.

[LarryC]

I very much like Gary's AK summary. A few things to add: Any Decca or London will be good, so I'd look for those first (London is more common here). RCA issued many classics over time, as did Columbia to a lesser extent, but budget labels like Odyssey, Victrola, and (especially) Melodiya usually don't sound as good IMO.

DG and Phillips are excellent. Angel can vary greatly in surface noise, but has many great recordings.

Mercury recordings are very bright, many excessively so in my experience. If you have Mercury's, look for the Antal Dorati Recording of the Saint-Saëns organ symphony, No. 3.

You might start by sorting out better brands to listen to first, I suggest in something like this order: Decca/London, RCA, Columbia, DG, Phillips, Angel.

However, there were many almost completely unknown brands that issued very good records here and there, like MHS. If you have a bunch of that type of labels, I'd be glad to give impressions on those that I recognize. PM your phone no. if it would be easier to discuss.

Larry

[Chris A]

In the 70s and 80s, DG, Philips, London, Decca, and Archiv were the labels that I found to be good bets, almost without exception.

I've found a great deal of difference in recording philosophy in LPs of this time period: European companies typically used much lower average signal levels than equivalent U.S. companies and used more auditorium ambiance in general. DG in particular was synonymous with lower average LP signal levels.

Chris

[TheEvan]

Are they all vintage? (50s-70s) More recent LPs by harmonia mundi & Erato sound amazing. I have a harmonia mundi sampler LP that sounds as good as anything I've ever heard.

For my taste, the old RCAs sound great...just about any of them. Lots of good performances there. Though they're not much admired, some of the 60s and 70s Columbia LPs can sound good. Philips & DG LPs from the 70s are all quite nice with good vinyl quality. I agree with the assessment of old Mercury Living Presence LPs. Heavily hyped, but I find them brash, saturated and lacking a sense of any space. There are some great performances on the label, though. That said, their solo works (Janos Starker on cello) can be very ncie.

[garyrc]

I agree with what has been said so far, but would add:

WESTMINSTER and SUPRAPHON and CRYSTAL CLEAR RECORDINGS

If you have the the Westiminster Classical Sampler play it! It had great balance and dynamics, and sounded like an orchestra (all except for the first band, which is a tad harsh).

If you have a Crystal Clear Recordings' direct to disk named something like Sonic Spectaculars, look for Fanfare for the Common Man by Copeland on it. It is the best version ever, and one of the great demos.

I heard that the first couple of modern (1960s) direct to disk Lps are worth about a grand each, but I don't know which ones they are.

Believe it or not, the Readers Digest's The Nine Beethoven Symphonies are amazingly good on stereo Lp. They did not transfer too well to CD, even though a great company (Chesky) did the transfer. I believe RCA made the Lps for Readers Digest, and the original recordings were made by K. E. Wilkenson, one of the greatest recording engineers of all time.

You might want to transfer your favorites to the best possible lossless digital format to preserve them. I believe that copyright of the recordings themselves (not the music) did not exist until about 1974, and would probably be marked with a "P" with a circle around it, and any music that is truly classical, or from the romantic era, etc., and a good deal of other orchestral music would be in the public domain.

[TheEvan]

Another great label is Nonesuch.

Also, many issues by Musical Heritage Society (MHS) are nice.

[Wrinkles]

I am not an Opera fan, but there is a label I have run across that apparently is something to be aware of.

If you have any "SORIA Series" albums, they actually may have some value. Some actually alot. So do not get rid of them until you know of their value.

The album presentation boxes (really top dollar quality in most) and often included artwork helps to bring the values up.