I enjoyed your insights to the RCA Victrola pressings. I have some of them and agree with your observations. When you mentioned how you found your copy of Corroboree I just connected that you are the author of Listening Notes, a recording site I enjoy reading. In regards to the sound of the original pressings and the various reissues, have you read and heard Steve Hoffman discuss the virtues of the Westrex 45/45 cutting head used in the late 1950s and early 1960s and how the euphoric sound found on the vintage LPs is not on the tape? Here is a citation and link to that discussion. Steve Hoffman states; "I've seen all the Contemporary master tapes (well, a lot of them) and I've seen the mastering/cutting notes for them (stereo) and apart from the fine cutting style of Roy and Howard, the key, the serious key here is the Westrex 45/45 cutting system they used. Before or after modded by Howard makes no difference. The Westrex system adds the magic you speak of. Same thing with the RCA-Victor Living Stereo cuts that we all love and collect. No reissues have this extra magic. That is the sad truth. Remove the vacuum tubed Westrex cutter from the equation, everything becomes, how you say? Normal again. Remember how I've written about how the flaw (so called) in the Westrex 45/45 system (among other things) is the out of phase problem that happens around 8k? Well, that helps the magic. The solid state Neumann system got that out of phase goofy stuff up to 12k so pretty much unnoticable. The beautiful distortions of the Westrex system are what make the early cuts sound so lifelike and wonderful, better than the actual master tapes. Worth collecting, that's for sure." forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/contemporary-records-70th-anniversary-reissue-series.1093420/page-131

In addition to reissuing performances from RCA, they also released for the first time the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas played by Claude Frank. They're wonderful performances that I've only been able to enjoy on CD, although I do own them on LPs. The problem was the quality of the LPs which were all too often warped. There was also an excellent series of all the Schubert piano sonatas on Victrola from around 1970 as played by Paul Badura Skoda. There were several authentic instrument LPs on Victrola, some of whom I believe originated on German Harmonia Mundi. One was the Collegium Aureum playing two Mozart Divertimentos (absolutely wonderful performances), another with Badura Skoda & Demus playing Schubert music for piano four hands. Another two LPs featured Elly Ameling and Jorg Demus performing Schubert and Schumann lieder. Thanks for the video about RCA Victrola. They were a wonderful label, as you said.

I love the intro. Have some of these victrola unfortunately I see a lot of them with the pink label on thin floppy vinyl. Thanks for reminding us to stick with the plum colored label

I missed this one, just saw it today. I will have to look out for these at the estate sales.

Great video! Thanks for sharing your knowledge on Classical titles. I have taken a little break from adding to my Jazz collection to build up a Classic music collection and your show has been a great resource!

Hi - thanks to this video I put a Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra in my Discogs cart and got it today. Fantastic! Keep up the great recommations!

Hi Scott ! I just ordered Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz conducted by Monteux , looking forward

Very enjoyable video, Scott (and cool new intro). I’ve maybe a dozen Victrolas but with the UK release sleeves and I always keep a lookout for more in charity shops etc. They do sound marvellous and it shows that you don’t always need to spend big money on building a classical collection.

I didn't know that concertos are sometimes better in mono, I'll have to keep that in mind! excellent video as always

Thanks for shouting out this series. I do find Victrola noisier and less seminal as recordings than RCA Red Seal of course. I tend to stick to the latter

Nice intro. Excellent video on wonderful Victrolas. Your collection never ceases to amaze!

Great video, I am always learning something new with your videos. I don't collect much classical but pick up the Living Stereos, Mercury's and London blue backs when I find them cheap. I had just passed on a bunch of theses Victrola pressings, but due to your video went and picked up the plum colored Indianapolis ones. Will give them a listen. Thanks for all your insite, keep up the great videos.

Like the new intro change is good. I'm not really a classical music fan. might get the Arthur fiedler since I'm from boston.But I feel like I learned something from these videos that you do. Thanks, scott. Happy Father's Day if it applies

I have the Reiner Zarathustra from this series. Havent heard the original living stereo but this one sounds incredible!

What a collection you have man. 🤯

I have never set eyes on one of these! However, by some strange twist every time you introduce something, or it is introduced on the Classical Live stream low and behold they appear. Whether its new information on my part or voodoo I neither know nor care... 🤣Looking forward to hunting these down. Great video as always. I have to say I do like the stylish music of the ORG intro.

Great review as always , i must look out for these albums

Thanks for yet another enlightening video, Scott. 👍👍👍 I wasn't aware of the sonic value of this series. I've certainly seen them around for years and didn't think much of them. With this wonderful revelation, I'll keep my eye out for them in the future.

I bought most of my RCAs first on Victrola and I thought they sounded great. I was a junior high and high school student on a budget. I loved most of the psychedelic jacket covers...especially the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and the Strauss Also Sprach.

Hi Scott, Great intro! Awesome video Iam in the hunt. Thank you for the great video and content. Bravo 🎉

I give the Monteux-Vienna PO Brahms 2nd on Victrola a big thumbs up (VICS 1055).

Love the intro

(Apropos of nothing, I just walked home from our County Fair, which annually features a drag show with professional performers.). And then I watched this episode, and all I can say is “Bravo!” You make a marvelous case for the Victrola line, and you back it up with examples I’ll have to keep an eye out for. Thanks, Scott, for broadening my understanding from some bias I picked up from a random post many years ago. Don’t want to miss out on opportunities for great sounding classical music that I can prove is good with my own two ears. I wonder if the Victrola line took over the original mission of the Camden line as far as classical goes when it was created. Am I right in seeing no evidence of Dynagroove in the Victrola line?

Fascinating video I have about 30 of these Scott but always thought they were inferior till you pointed out their Quality! I didn’t realise Corroboree was an Australian only release!!

Hi Scott! Thanks for another great video. You've mentioned the Degritter in a number of videos now. What do you think about it? You're borrowing it, right? Would you ever buy one? I bought one two years ago. I winced at the price, but as soon as I had it, any qualms about the price disappeared. It does an amazing job, and it's ridiculously easy to use. The first record I cleaned with the Degritter was an original pressing of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, which I purchased myself when I was a 13-year-old aspiring jazz pianist. I didn't handle records very well back then, and I never cleaned them. When I got back into vinyl after a 3-decade diverison into CDs, I cleaned Headhunters in a Pro-Ject VCS, one of the wet-vac type cleaners. That helped. But after running it through the Degritter, Headhunters had more life, energy, and warmth than ever before. Since then, I've cleaned hundreds of records, including every new record I buy. On most of my older records, the SQ improvement from the Degritter is usually not as dramatic as I experienced on Headhunters, but it's almost always quite noticeable and better than when I've used other methods of cleaning records. And occasionally, the SQ improvement from the Degritter is dramatic, like getting a cart upgrade. Besides doing a phenomenal job cleaning, I freaking LOVE that it's soooo easy to use. Literally push a button, walk away, come back to a perfectly clean and dry record. As a result, I am cleaning a LOT more records than I ever did with the wet-vac machine, which requires me to operate it. I can easily clean a dozen records in the Degritter while grading a batch of exams (I'm a professor now), I absolutely could not with the wet-vac machine. That's really what makes it worth the price. For 9 months a year, I am working 55-60 hours a week, and don't have the time/energy to clean more than a few records per week on the wetvac. But I can clean an unlimited number on the Degritter, while I'm doing schoolwork. Lastly, I can justify the spend because the price was about 5% of the estimated value of my collection. 5% seems like a reasonable amount to invest in protecting my record collection and making them sound their best. I hope you are doing great. Warmest regards, Ron C.

I always pick up the stereo Victrolas when they are in good shape. Another great video. PS. I like the intro. 🙂

What are the differences you notice that make you prefer the Indianapolis pressings versus the Rockaway and Hollywood pressings?

Found a handful of these at AS for $10 a pop. All the used I’ve bought from him in the past has been Mint or close. 🤞

Wonderful piece Scott. Always wondered where the VICS series fit in. Any idea where to find a discography of these issues?

Yes, those Victrola series reissues are relative bargains. They can be had quite cheaply compared to their Red Seal counterparts. However, unlike the "Miracle Surface" vinyl used for the Red Seals, the stuff they used for the '60s Victrolas tended to result in noisier background surfaces. However, the '70s reissue Victrolas are surprisingly quieter.