Caruso on red vinyl

[Nat]

Someone is listing a red vinyl RCA Caruso reprint on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Enrico-Caruso-Celes ... 2a12b9e19f

as "one sided" with some wildly inaccurate dates. But my question is: did RCA ever re-print one-siders on vinyl, as one-siders? Or has this guy just not looked at the other side of the record?

[OrthoSean]

That guy is surely a little "misguided" considering that's a late 40s RCA Victor pressing.

As far as commerical single sided issues that late in the game, I can't think of any, but I own a large number of single sided red vinyl RCA / Victor tests that belonged to an engineer that worked for Victor. Most of them are acoustic tests of operatic stuff being considered for release in the then new "Red Seal De-Luxe" Heritage Series which began in 1946 or 47, I beleive.

EDIT, here's a photo of one of these.

Sean

Caruso Vinyl Test.jpg (87.14 KiB) Viewed 1688 times

[Nat]

I like "misguided". Perhaps "lost" would fit better?

I'd love to acquire one of those test pressings. WHY are there so many cool things to spend money on?

[Wolfe]

I don't think that's a red vinyl re-press. Just an ordinary black shellac one. It has to have two sides as that one says side 1 on it.

I've never seen any one sided RCA 78's, except for the odd disc from a classical multi disc set that has one side program and the other embossed.

[bbphonoguy]

If this record was manufactured in 1906, that means that Victor already knew they were going to be bought, 29 years before it happened, by RCA, a company that didn't even exist yet! That is truly amazing! Someone should snap this up before it gets away!

[Wolfe]

It would surely be the 1911 (with recitative) version in any case. That's the one that got re-pressed ad infinitum, including the electrical re-recording with new orchestra accompaniment.

Caruso had six different versions of Celeste Aida out.

[Wolfe]

That guy is surely a little "misguided" considering that's a late 40s RCA Victor pressing.

As far as commerical single sided issues that late in the game, I can't think of any, but I own a large number of single sided red vinyl RCA / Victor tests that belonged to an engineer that worked for Victor. Most of them are acoustic tests of operatic stuff being considered for release in the then new "Red Seal De-Luxe" Heritage Series which began in 1946 or 47, I beleive.

EDIT, here's a photo of one of these.

Sean

Caruso Vinyl Test.jpg

That's interesting that they were considering those earlier non-Victor sides in that series. Or did some actually get out on red Heritage Series copies?

[transformingArt]

As "one sided" with some wildly inaccurate dates. But my question is: did RCA ever re-print one-siders on vinyl, as one-siders? Or has this guy just not looked at the other side of the record?

They surely DID made single sided records for some special cost until the early 50s, but all I've saw had a typewritten letters on a white batwing labels. I never knew they actually released these on red vinyl, but it is not that difficult to see a earlier recording pressed on a Red vinyl. For example, I used to have Toscanini Beethoven 1st Symphony on Red Vinyl. It is definitely a DOUBLE SIDED Record, as it has "Side A" designation on the label.

By the way, all of those later pressings of acoustic records had that "Acoustically Recorded on......" remark at the left side of the label, so I think this is actually a 1932 "Re-creation" issue. Also, they never commercially released the 1906 recording (as written on the eBay page), and I am aware of a "transcription" copy made in early 50s and pressed on "Victrolac" material.

As far as commerical single sided issues that late in the game, I can't think of any, but I own a large number of single sided red vinyl RCA / Victor tests that belonged to an engineer that worked for Victor. Most of them are acoustic tests of operatic stuff being considered for release in the then new "Red Seal De-Luxe" Heritage Series which began in 1946 or 47, I beleive.

EDIT, here's a photo of one of these.

Sean

Caruso Vinyl Test.jpg

Sean, That's very interesting - wish you could share some of those precious and superb sounding Red Vinyl copies on this forum in any time. I have a Jeanne Gerville-Reache and a Mattia Battistini on those Red vinyl tests which sounds really quiet yet very forwarding. By the way, I never knew that Victor actually had a master of that Mefistofele aria in their vault; as far as I know, it was never released by Victor, so I am somewhat surprised to see it.

[Wolfe]

By the way, all of those later pressings of acoustic records had that "Acoustically Recorded on......" remark at the left side of the label, so I think this is actually a 1932 "Re-creation" issue.

Not necessarily. My Caruso Metropolitan Revivals RCA Victor album is original acoustic masters with nothing indicating such on the label. Among my copies of his Celeste Aida that I've owned, I think I had the same record as in the e-bay auction at one time, and recall that it was acoustic, I got rid of it a long time ago. It doesn't say 'with symphony orchestra' or some such on the label, so I doubt it's an remake / dubbing.

[transformingArt]

Not necessarily. My Caruso Metropolitan Revivals RCA Victor album is original acoustic masters with nothing indicating such on the label. Among my copies of his Celeste Aida that I've owned, I think I had the same record as in the e-bay auction at one time, and recall that it was acoustic, I got rid of it a long time ago. It doesn't say 'with symphony orchestra' or some such on the label, so I doubt it's an remake / dubbing.

According to John Bolig's discography, Caruso Records (Mainspring Press, 2002), that record on eBay with 12-1014 catalog number is indeed the December 3, 1932 dubbing with Victor Symphony Orchestra (cond. Nat Shilkret)

Also, all of the recordings appeared on the RCA-Victor album, "Caruso - Metropolitan Revivals" were actually dubbings; they were NOT pressed from the original masters but made with "transcribed" masters which were electrically amplified.

Being more specific, the first pressings of this album (Which featured a photograph of Caruso listening his records sitting with his MET colleagues on its front cover) was pressed from original masters, but after about few pressings, the masters showed apparent signs of wear, so RCA Victor decided to press it with "transcribed masters", dubbed from the pressings they had in their archives. This second (transcribed and amplified) album features a caricature style drawing of Opera stage on its cover. The cover was later redesigned to show the record album itself on its cover - an Album inside an Album!

Edit: Here's the photo of the later pressing (POM) of 1917 Rigoletto Quartet. Note that "Acoustically Recorded..." remark. Sorry for the rather blurry quality.