[78-L] Question 1812 Overture

Sat Apr 2 13:22:14 PDT 2011

A lot of those MMS recordings were pretty decent, although they economized by 
making exceptionally long ten-inch sides. Much of that same material was also 
on full price twelve-inch Concert Hall Society. And some were even on 78s! 
Vivaldi's "4 Seasons" was recorded in late 1947. (And boy, if there was ever a 
composition I could happily never hear again, that's it. Louis Kaufman, see 
what you started?)

dl

On 4/2/2011 4:16 PM, Dan Van Landingham wrote:
> When I was around 14 years old,which would have been back in 1965,my mother
> picked up some classical music LPs for me and a couple were on Remington.What I
> recall is that the selections were
> recorded in Europe and were pressed here using the Complete Audio Range
> Recording process what-
> ever that was.I believe a man named Don Gabor was the producer.I guess they date
> from the early '50s.
> The sound quality was not very good from what I remember of the recordings Any
> idea who did the
> original European recordings.The other classical music recordings I remember
> being given were some
> 10 inch LPs issued on a blue label called the "Musical Masterpiece Society".The
> one recording that
>
> sticks out in my mind was Schubert's Quintet in A Major,Opus 114.I believe it
> was the Winterthur Str-
> ing Quartet who made the recording on MMS.These recordings were bought back in
> March of 1965.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Sat, April 2, 2011 12:57:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>
> The budget lp industry was going almost as soon as lp technology became
> available. Remington and Solitaire were among the first, and customers were
> just so happy not to have to flip records or stack them on a changer, quality
> was overlooked. Remington and Varsity/Royale relied mostly on European tapes
> liberated at the end of the war, although both companies also had lots of 78s
> to transfer from. Solitaire remains a mystery, with a lot of small 78 label
> sources, broadcast transcriptions, stolen tapes and who knows what else as
> source material.
>
> dl
>
> On 4/2/2011 3:47 PM, Dan Van Landingham wrote:
>> I've never  owned any of those Mercury LPs save those which were in the
> "Living
>> Presence" series which,if I'm not mistaken,were produced by a woman named
>> Cozart.As for Obie and Varsity,did he
>> own the Wright Record Company?I have a couple of Louis Prima 78s of his on
>> Varsity.As for the
>>
>> quality of '40s and '50s,I had a number of Godawful classical music LPs issued
>> on the Plymouth label
>> as well as some on Royale,Halo and even a few Columbias that were just as
>> bad.The latter must have
>> been from the late '40s.Those I had were dubbed from 78s.The sound quality was
>> just horrible.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> Sent: Sat, April 2, 2011 9:20:29 AM
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>
>> Okay, folks..comparing Varsity and Mercury LP transfers of the 1812 Overture,
>> which are clearly the same recording. I've played up to the end of side 1
>> (clearly audible since the last note is repeated intact on the Varsity and
>> partially on the Mercury).
>>
>> Varsity LP 31, VLP 6050, LP 6925 (all from same stampers): I've heard much
>> worse. Some scuffs and clicks audible on the original 78s. Very little wow. EQ
>> not great. LP surface noise, but I didn't hear hiss from the original 78s.
>>
>> Mercury MG 15000: Better EQ and presence. Much wow and speed flux not
>> associated with 78RPM playback. LP surface quieter but a bit gritty..hey, both
>> issues are over 60 years old.
>>
>> Unscientific test since I sampled only the first 4'05" of each disc.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> On 4/1/2011 11:49 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>> Well I've never owned any of the Oberstein label 78's. Nothing on one yet
> that
>>> I
>>> wanted to buy, keep&   play. On the other hand my experience with  Varsity&
>>> most
>>> other 50's era budget LP's is that they all used lower quality vinyl&   many
>>> I've
>>> found have a lot of background hiss while the record is played. Oh&   what was
>>> that Varsity LP like as far as sound quality? Good, fair or what? Was there
>>> much
>>> hiss in it that didn't come from the 78's they were dubbed from?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>> Sent: Fri, April 1, 2011 9:47:32 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>>
>>> The LP. I don't have proof that the Mengelberg 1812 Overture appeared on an
>>> Oberstein 78 issue (more likely on Royale, as well as Masterpiece,
>> Philharmonic
>>> and other budget labels) since WERM goes to "etc." after listing the known
>>> major recordings, but the LP label refers to "Parts 1-4". Actually I don't
>> find
>>> the surfaces so terrible on Obie's 78s in the early 40s. Certainly better
> than
>>> Decca.
>>>
>>> dl
>>>
>>> On 4/1/2011 8:34 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>>> So did you sample a Varsity 78 or a Varsity LP? Oh&   whats the shellac
>> quality
>>>> of Varsity 78's like? More noisy than Victor&   Columbia 78's I'm sure.....
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>>>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>>> Sent: Fri, April 1, 2011 6:54:23 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>>>
>>>> I think I sampled it once to confirm that it was the same recording, but
>>>> Varsity had more direct access to Telefunken 78s going back to the early
> 40s.
>>>> So they wouldn't have lifted the Mercury transfer.
>>>>
>>>> dl
>>>>
>>>> On 4/1/2011 7:29 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>>>> Yes I know the vinyl (on Varsity LP issues) is lousy. I just wanted to know
>>> if
>>>>> they used the Mercury transfer with the wow problem in it.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>>>>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>>>> Sent: Fri, April 1, 2011 4:53:51 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>>>>
>>>>> What, me listen to a Varsity issue?
>>>>>
>>>>> dl
>>>>>
>>>>> On 4/1/2011 4:57 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>>>>> But does the wow in the recording show up in the Varsity&   related labels?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>>>>>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>>>>> Sent: Thu, March 31, 2011 5:35:34 PM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mercury Classics dubs from Czech Masters almost ALWAYS wowed. What a
> waste.
>>>>> And
>>>>>> then they'd dub THOSE to lp rather than work from the originals again.
>>>>> Although
>>>>>> I remember the ten inch Mercury lp of the 1812 as sounding pretty
>>>> decent..they
>>>>>> didn't bother to eliminate the repeated notes between sides 2&   3 though.
>>>> That
>>>>>> same Mengelberg set turns up on Varsity and related labels.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> dl
>>>>