[78-L] Victor G series

Thu Mar 8 07:49:57 PST 2012

 From 3 or 4 years ago, from Joe Knox:

Greetings from FixitLand!

OKeh, as promised -- There are some Victor G- series album sets ("Black Label 
Classics") listed in the 1940-41 catalog:

G-1  (not listed)
G-2  (36251/6) Symphony No. 3, in E Flat Major (Beethoven, Op. 55); Symphony 
Orch. cond. by Coates
G-3  (36257/9) Symphony No. 4, in G Minor (Mozart); Chicago Symphony Orch., 
cond. by Stock
G-4  (36260/5) Symphony No. 5, in E Minor (Tschaikowsky, Op. 64); Chicago S. 
O., cond. by Stock
G-5  (36266/8) Nutcracker Suite (Tschaikowsky); London Philharmonic O., cond. 
by Goossens
G-6  (36269/72) Concerto in A Minor (Grieg, Op. 16); Arthur DeGreef-Royal 
Albert Hall O., cond. Sir Landon Ronald
G-7  (36273/8) Symphony No. 4, in E Minor (Brahms, Op. 98); London S. O., cond. 
by Abendroth
G-8  (36279/82) Symphony No. 4, in A Major (Mendelssohn, Op. 90); La Scala O., 
cond. by Panizza
G-9  (36248/50) Symphony No. 8, in B Minor (Schubert); Vienna Philharmonic O., 
cond. by Walter
G-10 (36293/5) Iberia (Debussy); Dance of the Nymphs (Roussel); Paris 
Conservatory O., cond. by Piero Coppola
G-11 (36296/8) Death and Transfiguration (R. Strauss, Op. 24); Prometheus 
Overture (Beethoven, Op. 43); London S. O., cond. by Albert Coates
G-12 (36319/21) Siegfried Idyll (Wagner), Vienna Philharmonic O., cond. by 
Walter; The Fairies--Overture (Wagner), London S. O., cond. by Coates
G-13 (36315/7) Lyric Suite (Grieg, Op. 54), London Philharmonic O., cond. by 
Ronald; Homage March (Grieg, Op. 56), S. O. cond. by Barbirolli
G-14 (36322/4) Prince Igor--Dances, Prince Igor--March, London Philharmonic O., 
cond. by Goossens; Polonaise from Eugen Onegin, B.B.C. S. O., cond. by Boult
G-15 (36329/32) "The Heart of the Symphony" - Victor Symphony Orch., cond. by 
Charles O'Connell
G-16 (36326/8) Variations on a Theme by Haydn (Brahms, Op. 56a); London S. O., 
cond. by Casals
G-17 (36333/5) Scenes de Balley (Glazounow, Op. 52); New S. O., cond. by Goossens
G-18 (36344/6) Tannhauser--Overture and Venusburg Music; Symphony O., cond. by 
Albert Coates
G-19 (36341/3) Hungarian Fantasia (Liszt), Moiseivitch (Piano), London 
Philharmonic O.; Mefisto Waltz No. 2 (Liszt), London Symphony O.
G-20 (36349/53) Symphony No. 6, in F Major ("Pastoral") (Beethoven, Op. 68); 
Vienna Philharmonic O., cond. by Walter
G-21 (36354/6) Isle of the Ceibos, The Country (Fabini); Victor Symphony O.
G-22 (36358/60) Story of Rhinegold - Robert Lawrence
G-23 (36361/3) Story of Valkyrie - Robert Lawrence
G-24 (36364/6) Story of Siegfried - Robert Lawrence
G-25 (36367/9) Story of Twilight of the Gods - Robert Lawrence
G-26 (26780/3 -- 10-inch!) Madrigals and Motets - Lee Jones Madrigal Singers
G-27 (36371/3) Concert Music by Ketelbey - London Palladium Orch.

G-18 and G-20 through -27 were listed in the "Recently Released" section (Oct. 
1940-Jan. 1941). G-1 should appear in the 1939 catalog; will check. Interesting 
to see the one ten-inch set (G-26) in this group...

Take care,
-- J. E. Knox "The Victor Freak"

dl

On 3/8/2012 10:44 AM, Sean Miller wrote:
> I picked up several of these in a collection a few years ago, all from old unsold stock.  The albums are much flimsier then standard red seal albums, thin covers etc.  Not sure which ones I have, but they're all on nice prewar pressings, some I remember have the circle VE in the dead wax.
>
> Sean (I'm back!)
>
> On Mar 08, 2012, at 07:39 AM, David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>  wrote:
>
>
> I'm not sure of the exact dates for this series, but it was probably just after
> the surprising success of the budget albums which Victor recorded and pressed
> but which were distributed by newspapers in 1938-39. Most of the albums were
> reissues of old recordings but the Nutcracker Suite (Goossens) and Unfinished
> Symphony (Walter) were only a couple of years old. There were also black label
> ten-inchers of singles by Galli Curci, Menuhin, Caruso (yep!) etc. Decca had
> been issuing low priced classical records on red label for a few years,
> absolutely bare bones (no albums), and some of them were superior to the
> European pressings (the Walton Symphony, for one). I'm pretty sure this whole
> enterprise predates Columbia's dropping of the price for classical 78s from
> $1.50 and $2 to a buck, a move met by Victor. Pressings and musical quality
> then went into the toilet. If it wasn't Tchaikowsky, the hell with it.
>
> dl
>
> On 3/8/2012 10:31 AM, neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com wrote:
>> Sorting thru the records, populating the new shelving. I've discovered
>> that I own a couple sets of Victor G series 78s, which I don't recall
>> even seeing before....that ever happen to anybody?
>>
>> G4 is Tchaikovsky Fifth, Stock/CSO.
>>
>> G7 is Brahms Fourth, LSO, Abendroth.
>>
>> The interesting thing to me is that even tho this is squarely classical
>> rep, not even light classical, it is released on black label records. I
>> suppose I am suffering from the delusion that Victor released classical
>> only on red seal, but that clearly is not the case.
>>
>> So my question is this, what was the intended market for G series
>> records and what else was released therein?
>
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