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I have been going through my classical stuff and have found many records from relatively obscure labels. I have some from "Period" records, Odeon, Counterpoint/Esoteric, Parliament, Music Appreciation, Oiseau-lyre, Chandos, Hungaroton, Music guild, and more well know ones like Vox, Nonesuch, Westminster. and there are others I have already forgotten between my basement where the records are, and this computer on the 1st floor. Anyway can anyone comment on the general quality of some of these labels. I tend to always grab early London and Deccas, RCAs and some epics, and DGs, Well hopefully you get my drift. Any recommendations ? Thanks Norm
Follow Ups:
The Italian Quartetto has some great recordings etc.
It really surprises me that French labels like Valois and Arion are not held in higher regard.
....Hyperion, Chandos, French Harmonia Mundi, Lyrita, Astree, Valois, Pierre Vernay, Bedivere, Unicorn, and Bis.Some of these are quite expensive, particularly the HP list LPs.
and I quite liked the sound. Not too bad at all. It was in that photo I posted yesterday. I'll add it to this post again (it's the Schubert one in the middle)
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You mentioned Oiseau-lyre. This is really not a small label at all. It is French Decca and usually sound very good, if the music is to your taste. Unfortunately for me, the music on the label is generally of less interest. The performances are usually excellent, however.Chandos can also be quite good, but are often digitals so they can have that distortion that makes your teeth hurt. Perfomances are usually excellent.
My limited experience with the other labels is either poor sound or poor performances or both.
Enjoy!
lesser known albums I have are old ( from the 50s' I never know if the recording curve is different than the RIAA. Norm
Rudy Van Gelder of blue note fame and later CTI, also was the engineer on the amphions, and many of the vox LPs I have. Norm
You mentioned Odeon. I just gave away an Odeon import (German) of early Beatles songs. The sound quality is noticeably inferior to EMI's Capital and Parlaphone.
Odeon is label used to export any emi or hmv lps from germany, england, france or italy to usa because of licensing issue. It should be same as any emi or hmv.
that;s odd, all my odeon pressings of beatles are vbetter than my capitol ones.
Generally, the labels you have mentioned are more desirable for specific performances than for any type of specific "audiophile" qualities, though Oiseau-lyre and Hungaroton are nice. Many wonderful performances by the likes of specific artists such as Starker, Haendel, Janigro, Wlach, Olevsky, Barylli, Morini, etc. are only available on some of those labels, and if they were reissued on CD, are long OOP. The music remains available only in them old grooves.
"I always play jazz records backwards, they sound better that way"
-Thomas Edison
They were merely gobbled up by the REALLY big guys like RCA and Columbia. Why were they gobbled? Because they did good work!Some of the names you mentioned are reissue companies created by the larger companies...I think Parliament was London's, for instance (I could be dead wrong, but I'm too lazy to go look.).
Anyway, don't be stupid like someone I know that got rid of all of his LPs with Ormandy because he didn't like some of the performances Ormandy had done. The stupid jerk pulled every Ormandy record out of his collection and gave them away!
What a maroon!
I won't tell you who it was, though...he'd be embarrassed as he's supposed to know better.
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If I had more money I'd soon be broke...but I'd have more LPs!
As I'm sure you woukd say Mike, more for me!
ME! But you knew that, didn't you?
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If I had more money I'd soon be broke...but I'd have more LPs!
L'oiseau-Lyre was a subsidiary of Decca. They used the same engineers and pressing plant, so quality is on par with Decca's of the same period.Chandos is also a quality label. Hungaroton is usually outstanding, although I have had a few records with noisy surfaces that no amount of cleaning can clear up. Performance wise, they are also very good.
Three quick recomendations would be Argo(also a Decca sub label), Hyperion and Supraphon.
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