PAPER: Books - Polyphony Recordings

AUDIOPHILE AND SPECIAL LABEL RECORDS
The following several sections are devoted to listings of records by manufacturer in order of prefix and issue
number. In most of these cases, either an individual item or a whole series has a following among groups of
collectors on the basis of either quality of recorded sound to begin with or of pressing vintage (or both); in
some cases (audiophile or not) the label per se has so devoted a following that it makes sense to list discs here
rather than in an artist or repertoire category. Since many of these audiophiles are also followers of The
Abso!ute Sound magazine, I have also included notations when I have found reviews or comments regarding
specific discs in this publication. These take the form of the issue number followed by a colon, then the page
number, i.e. [38:155]. Please consult these references directly if you are interested in what TAS has said.
Their content in generally favorable, but they are not always so. Also, I have included these references even in
cases where TAS has discussed or listed a different issue of the same recording I have listed. So do not
automatically assume that a TAS reference means a rave review of the specific item listed. When the letter "L"
follows one of these notes, it means that the item was included on Harry Pearson's list on that page in that
issue. [If you have a specific interest in the early Columbia pressings with "2-eyes" "6-eyes" labels, here is
where they are in this catalog: #]164, 169, 434, 1619, 1638, 1641, 1771, 1849, 1856, 1861, 2070, 2125, 2188,
2269, 2289, 2338, 2472, 2541, 2543, 2546-47, 2585, 2634, 2649-50, 2653-54, 2657-58, 2675, 2831, 2881,
2907-09, 2914, 3009, 3048 & 3051.
LP's: Angels
All of the mono Angels below (except as noted) are early British pressings from the period 1953-1958 when
Dario Soria was Angel's president. Except as noted otherwise, these copies are the deluxe editions, with fine
art work on the covers, extra heavy sleeves and dowel-rod spines (boxed sets did not have the dowel-rod
spines). In a few instances the spine is gone (indicated with "ns"); in some cases the copy is from their thrift
edition ("th"), wherein the same fine pressings were packaged in simple sleeves without notes and sold for
lower prices than the deluxe editions. Stereo items are usually either early pressings ["red" = red label for the
very earliest of them, or "blue" = blue label used until the late '60's] or 45 rpm audiophile issues from the early
1980's. I sometimes also list other stereo Angels here when their EMI incarnations have been particularly
popular.
1046. 3501(2): LEHAR - The Merry Widow. Schwarzkopf; Kunz; Gedda; Loose; Ackermann/PO &
Cho. A-(spine label torn) [073717] ................................................................................................ 13.00
1047. 3512(3): BEETHOVEN - Quartets # 1 - #6 (Op.18). Hungarian Quartet. [scarce set; includes
copies of the scores] A-(pristine!) [072484] ................................................................................... 21.00
1048. 3580(3): STRAUSS - Capriccio. Schwarzkopf; Fischer-Dieskau; Waechter; Gedda; Hotter;
Ludwig; Moffo; Sawallisch/PO. A- [058197] ............................................................................... 21.00
1049. 3593(3): PUCCINI - La Fanciulla Del West. Nilsson; Mongelli; Gibin; Ercolani; Von
Matacic/La Scala. A- [058196] ..................................................................................................... 15.00
1050. 35119: BIZET - Symphony; Patrie Overture. Cluytens/ORTF. A-(minor, neat jacket tape
repair) [076004] ................................................................................................................................ 9.00
1051. 35134: DE FALLA - Nights in the Gardens of Spain (Ciccolini); Homenajes (Homages).
Halffter/ORTF. A-(thrift edition) [074074] .................................................................................. 14.00
1052. 35229: CHINESE OPERA - Excerpts from eight operas. Official Ensemble of the People's
Republic of China. [Recorded in Paris at 2nd International Festival of Dramatic Art,
1955] A--(1/4-in scr sd 2; box has moderate damage) [069091] ...................................................... 9.00