Various classical music record labels

[jboger]

I've attached a number of record labels that I bought at an auction probably two years ago or so. There were quite literally thousands of 78s stacked on tables that either I or another fellow bought with little or no competition. In all that mix was a box of 12-inch records that sometime in the 1970's someone bought a large number of records from a record shop in New Jersey. I know that because I had the shipping box with the postmark on it. I have many more than those shown here. Anything special about these recordings or labels? Or do they simply reflect some fellows interest 45 years ago? They look to be in excellent shape. I have not played them, and will do so only with modern equipment that plays 78s.

[Wolfe]

They are all common (ish) labels of 1930's/40's vintage. None of the artists ring a bell for me as giving the records any extra monetary value. Some classical/opera things have extra worth if you can find the collector willing to pay for them. Alas, I don't think the 78 rpm classical/opera market is growing any these days.

[jboger]

Thanks for the info. Someone must have liked Schlusnus. Never heard of him. The labels interest me because they are non-US. I like The Gramophone Shop label.

[estott]

The Gramophone Shop label is a little unusual. They issued some original material, but here they seem to have arranged to have a selection from the Gramophone Company privately pressed.

[drh]

Thanks for the info. Someone must have liked Schlusnus. Never heard of him. The labels interest me because they are non-US. I like The Gramophone Shop label.

Schlusnus was a leading, perhaps the leading, German lieder baritone of his generation. He was also much celebrated in opera. Definitely a Big Name. If you are susceptible to either genre, you'll enjoy his recordings. The Gramophone Shop record probably was a repressing of masters from Danish HMV; Videro did a lot of records for that branch of the company. Among other noteworthy accomplishments, The Gramophone Shop licensed and issued for the US market L'Anthologie Sonore, a survey of early music, not then familiar to the public at large, that ran to at least 12 or 14 volumes of 10 records each. The fine Swiss tenor Max Meili made most of his records for that series, although to my ear his best records are a set of Renaissance lute songs recorded by HMV (I think) and issued in the United States as Victor set M 495.

Looking at a couple of back catalogues from Larry Holdridge's auctions (2013 and 2014), minimum bids for Schlusnus records seem to run from around $7-8 up to maybe $40 or so, with most being around $10-15. In the most recent one, the minimum bids were $12 for those not by Richard Strauss accompanied by the composer, $20 for those that were, so I guess Schlusnus records more or less have held their own for value over the past several years. By Holdridge standards, those are rather modest minimum bids, but naturally the actual sums realized by the more desirable ones probably were a good bit more than those figures.

I know there's a general perception of "oh, classical 78s--worthless and boring." Not necessarily so. To be honest, in post-Baroque literature I find on average the performances on classical 78s to be far more interesting than our "if it isn't exactly as written in the score and doesn't have a scholarly stamp of approval and deviates one whit from what everybody else is doing, it's forbidden" modern ones. (Pre-capital-C-Classical music is an entirely different matter.) My suggestion would be to do some judicious exploring of your lot. You may just be surprised by how much you like what you hear. /Soapbox mode./

[jboger]

So Schlusnus was the Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau of his day. It's logical to think I was asking about market value when I posted my original question. And I was. But not only that. These may be historical recordings of major talents of an earlier generation. There is value in that.

[Wolfe]

The Odeon label also had a historical reissue series. Odeon even repressed some old Fonotipia masters. The Parlophone 'Odeon Series' pressed some of those same Odeon issues for sale in the U.K. pressed by Parlophone.

I'd like to ever find some of those re-pressed Fonotipias.

[drh]

The Odeon label also had a historical reissue series. Odeon even repressed some old Fonotipia masters. The Parlophone 'Odeon Series' pressed some of those same Odeon issues for sale in the U.K. pressed by Parlophone.

I'd like to ever find some of those re-pressed Fonotipias.

The ones I've heard are beautiful--some of the best recording technique of the acoustic era presented in really to-notch, quiet shellac pressings. I actually got one or two from one our members right here on the forum through the "Yankee Trader"--good stuff.

[Wolfe]

^ That was my assumption. Fonotipia sound on better shellac.

[VanEpsFan1914]

If I had room I'd be looking for MORE records like these!

I traded with Gramophone-George for a Grafonola portable, the Viva-Tonal 202, so I could play my classical 78s safely (well, and my jazz, and my swing, and big band, and 1930s stuff, and all that )

But getting good classical in the middle of SC is kind of tough.