[78-L] Wartime importing (Was: Skokiaan was: London -- Made in England?)

[David Lennick]

If you were buying those operas when they were new, the complete sets would 
have cost you $36 (Aida) and $26 (La Boheme), per the Gramophone Shop's 1931 
catalog. By the way, it's entirely possible that I have spare parts for those 
sets. Both were recorded in Milan.

dl

On 8/21/2011 9:42 PM, bradc944 at comcast.net wrote:
> How timely a topic this is! I just got home from the thrift store, laden down with a couple of operatic albums, both on Columbia blue-label, and, both, I believe, pre-WW2. The sets are the first part of Aida (3-A), and the second part of La Boheme (5-B). These are in black albums, with the metal bolts holding the things together, and paste-on labels in black with silver print on the front and spine.
>
> The discs in Aida are the Columbia large block letters with the magic notes, and the words MASTER WORKS on the label. Matrix numbers (as best I can tell, there's a bunch of stuff on the runout) are around BX422 with an encircled W.
>
> The La Boheme discs are an earlier-style label, Magic Notes, but no mention of master works on the label. matrix numbers are around BX477, also with the encircled W on the runout.
>
> My guess is that these are either Italian or UK masters, pressed in the US from imported metal, and that the recording dates would be early 1930s? They're in really good condition, and eventually I'd love to have the other part of both sets somehow :)
>
> Transfers will be going up somewhere in the near future.
>
> Brad
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Julian Vein<julianvein at blueyonder.co.uk>
> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:20:11 -0000 (UTC)
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Wartime importing (Was: Skokiaan was: London -- Made in England?)
>
> On 21/08/11 19:42, Mark Bardenwerper wrote:
>>
>> Talk about a stumble...
>> Without getting too far afield (or should I say minefield), I was
>> pondering just a while ago whether the issues by Paul Specht on British
>> and U.S. Columbia  were recorded here or overseas. Was only one or
>> perhaps 2 common to both labels?
>> Further, were Specht's final issues on British or American Columbias?
>> ================
> Col 3306, 3315, 3316, 3323, 3324 3356 were recorded in London, the rest
> in NYC. From the new ADBD.
>
>        Julian Vein
>