greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (09/22/84)
Those interested in hearing the excellent sounding RCA recordings made by Reiner and the Chicago Symphony (mostly made with simple two or three-mike setups in Symphony Hall) can now avoid searching through out-of-print bins or paying outrageous "collector's" prices for at least a few issues. I recently purchased at Tower Records, for $4.99 per disk, the following English RCA Victrola imports: VICS-2040 Respighi: Fountains of Rome/ Pines of Rome. VICS-2042 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition. These are superior to any other pressings I have heard, including the original Red Seal American RCA Victors. The sound is essentially the same as on these original pressings, but the surfaces are far quieter. They are a definite improvement over the much more expensive ".5" reissues. Others in this series which I have purchased, but don't have the numbers on hand, are the Bartok "Concerto for Orchestra" (a stunning recording and interpretation) and excerpts from Richard Strauss' "Elektra". Aside from the number, these can be identified in the following manner: (1) The bottom center of the back of the jacket has the British RCA address, RCA LTD RECORD DIVISION, 1 BEDFORD AVE, LONDON (2) The upper left hand corner of the back of the jacket has the logo "GERMAN PRESSING" (these are mastered in England and pressed by Teldec in West Germany). (3) The record labels themselves state "Made by Teldec". You have to be careful, because there is a series of German RCA Victrola records with the same selections, also pressed in Germany, but with different numbers and jacket configurations. These are superior to domestic Victrolas, far superior to domestic Gold Seal issues, but not as good as these English masterings. - Greg Paley