Talk:RCA Red Seal Records

Living Stereo
Only some of the series is available. A careful perusal of in-print recordings, in contrast to the original series catalog will bear out the claim that only a limited number of the series' recordings are available. Dogru144 02:56, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

more composers, etc
david palmer, conductor, and the london symphony orchestra released "a classic case" playing jethro tull tunes on RCA red seal 72.189.47.138 (talk) 12:04, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Gold Seal
Perhaps mention should be made of Red Seal's sublabel, Gold Seal, which was for mid-priced recordings from Red Seal's back catalogue.THD3 (talk) 18:38, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Copyright claims
I've just been hit with a copyright claim on YouTube for using some public domain music. I don't know if this is worth adding to the page but it's clear that Sony is pulling a fast one here and trying to monetize work that has been recorded and then dedicated to the public domain with a CC0. 81.97.100.208 (talk) 19:01, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

Uncited material in need of citations
I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with inline citations of reliable, secondary sources, per WP:V, WP:NOR, WP:CS, WP:NOR, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 14:51, 23 July 2022 (UTC)

History
Early acoustical (non-electrical) recordings could be a surprisingly good medium for capturing the sound of singing voices, male voices especially, but while acceptable solo piano and violin recordings could be made, the acoustical process typically yielded only a flat, muffled, tinny echo of a symphony orchestra. The introduction of electrical recording (or "orthophonic recording", as Victor termed its version of the process) in 1925 allowed reproduction of instrumental and orchestral music with greatly improved fidelity. In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, thereafter becoming RCA Victor and, in 1968, RCA Records.

RCA Victor's Red Seal series continued as the pre-eminent classical music record label in America from 1903 through the 1960s due in large part to the recordings of three of the leading conductors of the time, Serge Koussevitzky, Leopold Stokowski, and Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini began his recording career in 1920 and nearly all of his recordings were issued on the Red Seal label, most of them with the NBC Symphony Orchestra (NBC was an RCA subsidiary until 1986). Conductor Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra spent nearly 35 years with RCA Victor and made many best-selling Red Seal recordings. Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra made Red Seal records exclusively from 1917 until 1940. Stokowski would continue to make many other Red Seal recordings with various orchestras, sporadically until 1975. Eugene Ormandy made his first recordings with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1934 and with the Philadelphia Orchestra beginning in 1936. Ormandy and the Philadelphians returned to RCA Victor in 1968, after spending 23 years (1944–67) with Columbia Records. Though best-known for his many recordings for Columbia and Deutsche Grammophon, Leonard Bernstein made his first recordings for RCA Victor.

In 1954, RCA Victor began experimenting with stereophonic recording. The first RCA Victor "Stereo Orthophonic" reel to reel tapes were issued in 1955. When stereo LP records first appeared in 1958, RCA Victor introduced their highly regarded "Living Stereo" recordings. During this period RCA was consistently seen as producing some of the finest-sounding recordings then available.

In 1968, RCA introduced a modern logo, de-emphasized the Victor name and "His Master's Voice" trademarks, and the label was now known as "RCA Red Seal". In 1976, RCA restored the "His Master's Voice" trademark to most of its record labels, including the Red Seal label. After General Electric absorbed the RCA Corporation in 1986 and sold its interest in RCA Records to the Bertelsmann Music Group, the Victor name was revived so the label once again became "RCA Victor Red Seal" for several years before eventually de-emphasizing the Victor and "His Master's Voice" trademarks again, and reverting to "RCA Red Seal" in the early 2000s due to the worldwide fragmented ownership of the "His Master's Voice" trademark.

Selected Red Seal recording artists
The following instrumentalists, vocalists, conductors and orchestras have all made recordings issued on the Red Seal label. Several recordings were made for other overseas record companies but were distributed in the United States and Canada on the Red Seal label. Many of these artists have also recorded or may be currently recording for other record labels. • Claudio Abbado, conductor

• Joaquin Achucarro, pianist

• Raymond Agoult, conductor

• Licia Albanese, soprano

• Christian Altenburger, violinist

• Marian Anderson, contralto

• Maurice André, trumpeter

• Martha Argerich, pianist

• Claudio Arrau, pianist

• Martina Arroyo, soprano

• Brian Asawa, countertenor

• Vladimir Ashkenazy, pianist

• Emanuel Ax, pianist

• Andrea Bacchetti, pianist

• Gina Bachauer, pianist

• Rose Bampton, soprano

• Fedora Barbieri, mezzo-soprano

• Daniel Barenboim, conductor

• Yuri Bashmet, violist

• Thomas Beecham, conductor

• Robert Russell Bennett, conductor

• Cathy Berberian, singer

• Carlo Bergonzi, tenor

• Luciano Berio, composer and conductor

• Leonard Bernstein, conductor

• E. Power Biggs, organist

• Jussi Björling, tenor

• Leo Blech, conductor

• Judith Blegen, soprano

• Sebastian Bohren, violinist

• Jorge Bolet, pianist

• Robert Bonfiglio, harmonica

• Boston Pops Orchestra

• Boston Symphony Orchestra

• Pierre Boulez, conductor

• Adrian Boult, conductor

• Rosario Bourdon, conductor

• David Bowie, vocalist

• Benjamin Bowman, violinist

• Alexander Brailowsky, pianist

• Julian Bream, guitarist and lutenist

• John Browning, pianist

• Rudolf Buchbinder, pianist

• Igor Buketoff, conductor

• Josef Bulva, pianist

• Fritz Busch, conductor

• Busch Quartet

• Montserrat Caballé, soprano

• Canadian Brass, brass quintet

• Maria Caniglia, soprano

• Guido Cantelli, conductor

• Pablo Casals, cellist

• José Carreras, tenor

• Rosanna Carteri, soprano

• Jean Casadesus, pianist

• Enrico Caruso, tenor

• Renato Cellini, conductor

• Feodor Chaliapin, bass

• Carlos Chavez, conductor

• Fausto Cleva, conductor

• Cleveland Quartet

• Fernando Corena, bass

• Alfred Cortot, pianist

• Fiorenza Cossotto, mezzo-soprano

• Richard Crooks, tenor

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra

• Van Cliburn, pianist

• Phyllis Curtin, soprano

• Michel Dalberto, pianist

• Colin Davis, conductor

• Antonio de Almeida, conductor

• Alicia de Larrocha, pianist

• Giuseppe De Luca, baritone

• Victoria de los Ángeles, soprano

• Lisa Della Casa, soprano

• Vladimir de Pachmann, pianist

• Désiré Defauw, conductor

• Alfred Deller, countertenor

• Misha Dichter, pianist

• Giuseppe Di Stefano, tenor

• Helen Donath, soprano

• Plácido Domingo, tenor

• Ania Dorfmann, pianist

• Barry Douglas, pianist

• Nelson Eddy, baritone

• Rosalind Elias, mezzo-soprano

• Mischa Elman, violinist

• Christoph Eschenbach, conductor

• Geraldine Farrar, soprano

• Eileen Farrell, soprano

• Franco Ferrara, conductor

• Emanuel Feuermann, cellist

• Janina Fialkowska, pianist

• Arthur Fiedler, conductor

• Edwin Fischer, pianist

• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone

• Anatole Fistoulari, conductor

• Ezio Flagello, bass

• Kirsten Flagstad, soprano

• Renée Fleming, soprano

• Flonzaley Quartet

• Claus Peter Flor, conductor

• Eugene Fodor, violinist

• Maureen Forrester, contralto

• Pierre Fournier, cellist

• Virgil Fox, organist

• Sergio Franchi, tenor

• Claude Frank, pianist

• Erick Friedman, violinist

• Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor

• Sol Gabetta, cellist

• Ossip Gabrilowitsch, conductor

• Amelita Galli-Curci, soprano

• James Galway, flautist

• Daniele Gatti, conductor

• Charles Gerhardt, conductor

• Bonaldo Giaiotti, bass

• Dusolina Giannini, soprano

• Alexander Gibson, conductor

• Beniamino Gigli, tenor

• Emil Gilels, pianist

• Evelyn Glennie, percussionist

• Alma Gluck, soprano

• Vladimir Golschmann, conductor

• Eugene Goossens, conductor

• Igor Gorin, baritone

• Morton Gould, pianist and conductor

• Gary Graffman, pianist

• Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano

• Kathryn Grayson, soprano

• Reri Grist, soprano

• Guarneri Quartet

• Natalia Gutman, cellist

• Jerry Hadley, tenor

• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

• Ofra Harnoy, cellist

• Lynn Harrell, cellist

• Mack Harrell, baritone

• Jascha Heifetz, violinist

• David Helfgott, pianist

• Walter Hendl, conductor

• Ben Heppner, tenor

• Victor Herbert, cellist

• Alfred Hertz, conductor

• Myra Hess, pianist

• Jerome Hines, bass

• Joseph Hollman, cellist

• Louise Homer, contralto

• Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano

• Vladimir Horowitz, pianist

• Andrej Hoteev, pianist

• Steven Isserlis, cellist

• José Iturbi, pianist and conductor

• Antonio Janigro, cellist

• Byron Janis, pianist

• Paavo Järvi, conductor

• Dylana Jenson, violinist

• Helen Jepson, soprano

• Edward Johnson, tenor

• Allan Jones, tenor

• Juilliard String Quartet

• Joseph Kalichstein, pianist

• Mayuko Kamio, violinist

• William Kapell, pianist

• Herbert Von Karajan, conductor

• Vesselina Kasarova, mezzo-soprano

• Rudolf Kempe, conductor

• James King, tenor

• Alexander Kipnis, bass

• Evgeny Kissin, pianist

• Leonid Kogan, violinist

• René Kollo, tenor

• Kirill Kondrashin, conductor

• Florence Kopleff, contralto

• Miliza Korjus, soprano

• Serge Koussevitzky, double-bassist and conductor

• Lili Kraus, pianist

• Fritz Kreisler, violinist

• Josef Krips, conductor

• Jan Kubelik, violinist

• Yoon Kwon, violinist

• Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist

• Mario Lanza, tenor

• Jaime Laredo, violinist

• Marjorie Lawrence, soprano

• Lotte Lehmann, soprano

• René Leibowitz, conductor

• Erich Leinsdorf, conductor

• James Levine, conductor

• Josef Lhévinne, pianist

• Julian Lloyd Webber, cellist

• Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano

• Jean-Marc Luisada, pianist

• Peter Maag, conductor

• Lorin Maazel, violinist and conductor

• Jeanette MacDonald, soprano

• Ernest MacMillan, conductor

• Lucy Isabelle Marsh, soprano

• Kurt Masur, conductor

• Denis Matsuev, pianist

• Giovanni Martinelli, tenor

• Jean Martinon, conductor

• Eduardo Mata, conductor

• Jeanette MacDonald, soprano

• Charles Mackerras, conductor

• William Masselos, pianist

• Dorothy Maynor, soprano

• John McCormack, tenor

• Zubin Mehta, conductor

• Waltraud Meier, mezzo-soprano

• James Melton, tenor

• Willem Mengelberg, conductor

• Nellie Melba, soprano

• Lauritz Melchior, tenor

• James Melton, tenor

• Robert Merrill, baritone

• Anne Akiko Meyers, violinist

• Julia Migenes, mezzo-soprano

• Zinka Milanov, soprano

• Sherrill Milnes, baritone

• Nathan Milstein, violinist

• Howard Mitchell, conductor

• Dimitri Mitropoulos, conductor

• Anna Moffo, soprano

• Grace Moore, soprano

• Lydia Mordkovitch, violinist

• Barry Morell, tenor

• Erika Morini, violinist

• Pierre Monteux, conductor

• Charles Münch, conductor

• Lambert Murphy, tenor

• Olli Mustonen, pianist

• NBC Symphony Orchestra

• Alice Nielsen, soprano

• John Jacob Niles, tenor

• Birgit Nilsson, soprano

• John Ogdon, pianist

• Gerhard Oppitz, pianist

• Eugene Ormandy, violinist and conductor

• Seiji Ozawa, conductor

• Ignacy Jan Paderewski, pianist

• Kun Woo Paik, pianist

• Josef Pasternack, conductor

• Luciano Pavarotti, tenor

• Jan Peerce, tenor

• Wilfrid Pelletier, conductor

• Leonard Pennario, pianist

• Jonel Perlea, conductor

• Itzhak Perlman, violinist

• Roberta Peters, soprano

• Philadelphia Orchestra

• Gregor Piatigorsky, cellist

• Michala Petri, recorder

• Ezio Pinza, bass

• Lily Pons, soprano

• Rosa Ponselle, soprano

• Maud Powell, violinist

• André Previn, pianist and conductor

• Leontyne Price, soprano

• Margaret Price, soprano

• William Primrose, violist

• Thomas Quasthoff, bass-baritone

• Florence Quivar, mezzo- soprano

• Sergei Rachmaninoff, pianist and conductor

• Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone

• Samuel Ramey, bass

• Jean-Pierre Rampal, flautist

• Judith Raskin, soprano

• Fritz Reiner, conductor

• Elisabeth Rethberg, soprano

• Katia Ricciarelli, soprano

• Sviatoslav Richter, pianist

• Karl Anton Rickenbacher, conductor

• Marisa Robles, harpist

• Artur Rodziński, conductor

• Angel Romero, guitarist

• Landon Ronald, conductor

• Arthur Rubinstein, pianist

• Titta Ruffo, baritone

• Leonie Rysanek, soprano

• Carlo Sabajno, conductor

• Éric Le Sage, pianist

• Olga Samaroff, pianist

• Nello Santi, conductor

• Jesús Maria Sanromá, pianist

• Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor

• Malcolm Sargent, conductor

• Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor

• Olga Scheps, pianist

• Tito Schipa, tenor

• Thomas Schippers, conductor

• Alexander Schneider, conductor

• Oliver Schnyder, pianist

• Friedrich Schorr, bass-baritone

• Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Contralto

• Renata Scotto, soprano

• Andrés Segovia, guitarist

• José Serebrier, conductor

• Peter Serkin, pianist

• Giulio Setti, conductor

• Robert Shaw, conductor

• Robert Shaw Chorale

• Nathaniel Shilkret, conductor

• Tullio Serafin, conductor

• Fabien Sevitzky, conductor

• Anja Silja, soprano

• Leonard Slatkin, conductor

• Georg Solti, conductor

• Frederica Von Stade, soprano

• Vesselin Stanev, pianist

• János Starker, cellist

• Eleanor Steber, soprano

• William Steinberg, conductor

• Risë Stevens, mezzo-soprano

• Frederick Stock, conductor

• Leopold Stokowski, conductor

• Richard Stoltzman, clarinetist

• Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto

• Gladys Swarthout, contralto

• Ruth Ann Swenson, soprano

• Henryk Szeryng, violinist

• Armand Tokatyan, tenor

• Ferruccio Tagliavini, tenor

• Kyoko Takezawa, violinist

• André Tchaikowsky, pianist

• Yuri Temirkanov, conductor

• Maggie Teyte, soprano

• John Charles Thomas, baritone

• Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

• Thomas L. Thomas, baritone

• Isao Tomita, electronic composer

• Toronto Symphony Orchestra

• Tokyo Quartet

• Arturo Toscanini, conductor

• Giorgio Tozzi, bass

• Lawrence Tibbett, baritone

• Walter Trampler, violist

• Helen Traubel, soprano

• Margaret Truman, soprano

• Richard Tucker, tenor

• Ronald Turini, pianist

• Uto Ughi, violinist

• Cesare Valletti, tenor

• Carol Vaness, soprano

• Ramón Vargas, tenor

• Denis Vaughan, conductor, harpsichordist, clavichordist

• Richard Verreau, tenor

• Shirley Verrett, mezzo-soprano

• Jon Vickers, tenor

• Vienna Choir Boys

• Lev Vinocour, pianist

• Galina Vishnevskaya, soprano

• Vronsky and Babin, piano duo

• Alfred Wallenstein. conductor

• Bruno Walter, conductor

• Günter Wand, conductor

• Leonard Warren, baritone

• William Warfield, bass-baritone

• Carl Weinrich, organist

• Alexis Weissenberg, pianist

• Evan Williams, tenor

• Albert Wolff, conductor

• Roger Woodward, pianist

• Kazuhito Yamashita, guitarist

• Frances Yeend, soprano

• Efrem Zimbalist, violinist

• David Zinman, conductor

• Nikolaj Znaider, violinist

• Pinchas Zukerman, violinist, violist, and conductor

Gold Seal
The RCA Gold Seal mid-priced label was launched in 1975 and initially consisted mainly of reissues of RCA Victor's celebrated "Living Stereo" recordings from the late 1950s and 1960s previously issued on the Red Seal label. Beginning in the early 1980s, several older monophonic Red Seal recordings from the 78 RPM and early LP era were reissued on the Gold Seal label. Included were recordings by Arturo Toscanini, Leopold Stokowski, Serge Koussevitzky, Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein, William Kapell and Wanda Landowska. In the compact disc era, the RCA Victor Gold Seal mid-priced label superseded the RCA Victrola label for reissuing historic Red Seal recordings. Many collections by "Golden Age" opera stars such as Enrico Caruso, Amelita Galli-Curci, Rosa Ponselle, Nellie Melba, Beniamino Gigli, and Ezio Pinza were issued on the Gold Seal label. The RCA Victrola label issued a new low-priced series of stereo recordings on CD and cassette of mostly standard classical works drawn from former Red Seal issues. RCA Victor Gold Seal also released several complete or comprehensive boxed sets of recordings by Arturo Toscanini, Enrico Caruso, Fritz Kreisler, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jascha Heifetz, Vladimir Horowitz, Pierre Monteux, and others.

Silver Seal
In 1990, another budget reissue label, RCA Victor Silver Seal was launched. Similar to CD reissues on the RCA Victrola label, several of these former Red Seal recordings were by lesser known performers, but the series also included some popular long-time Red Seal artists, including conductors Charles Munch, Eugene Ormandy, Erich Leinsdorf and Georges Prêtre; pianists Peter Serkin, Alexis Weissenberg and Emmanuel Ax; the Guarneri Quartet and guitarist Julian Bream. Recordings in this series were available only on CD and cassette and did not contain liner notes.