RCA Living Stereo 60CD Collection

Posted by: Hot Rats on 06 August 2010

In July this year Sony released a 60CD box set containing selections from the original RCA 'Living Stereo' issues:



The release is limited to Japan and is not being issued in the UK or USA. Amazon (USA) had them in stock but have been awaiting new stocks since 13th July. It looks like now more will be received from the factory.

The albums contained in the box set are as follows (Please excuse the capitals ... This is a copy and paste job!):

1 Various Living Stereo Sampler
2 MUNCH, CHARLES/Saint-Sans: Symphony No. 3; Debussy: La Mer; Ibert: Escales
3 MUNCH, CHARLES/Ravel: Daphnis et Chlo
4 REINER, FRITZ/ Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra; Ein Heldenleben
5 REINER, FRITZ/Bartk: Concerto for Orchestra;Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta; Hungarian Sketches
6 HEIFETZ, JASCHA /Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
7 CLIBURN, VAN /Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
8 FIEDLER, ARTHUR/Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Concerto in F; An American in Paris; Variations..
9 REINER, FRITZ /Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
10 PRICE, LEONTYNE/Leontyne Price: Arias
11 RUBINSTEIN, ARTHUR Chopin: Ballades & Scherzos
12 MONTEUX, PIERRE/Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 Pathtique
13 GOULD, MORTON/Brass & Percussion
14 HEIFETZ, JASCHA/Sibelius, Prokofiev, Glazunov: Violin Concertos
15 MUNCH, CHARLES/Berlioz: Requiem 2CD
17 MUNCH, CHARLES/Ravel: Bolro; La Valse; Rapsodie espagnole; Debussy: Images for Orchestra
18 PIATIGORSKY, GREGOR/Dvork; Walton: Cello Concertos
19 REINER, FRITZ/ Dvork: New World Symphony
20 REINER, FRITZ/Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
21 RUBINSTEIN, ARTHUR /Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
22 FIEDLER, ARTHUR/ Offenbach: Gat parisienne
23 CLIBURN, VAN/Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
24 FIEDLER, ARTHUR/Hi-Fi Fiedler
25 HEIFETZ, JASCHA/Brahms; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos
26 MONTEUX, PIERRE/Franck:Symphony in D Minor;Stravinsky: Petrouchka
27 MUNCH, CHARLES/Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6
28 MUNCH, CHARLES/Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Love Scene From Romeo & Juliet
29 REINER, FRITZ/Strauss: Scenes from Elektra & Salome
30 REINER, FRITZ/ Mahler: Symphony No. 4
31 RUBINSTEIN, ARTHUR Chopin: Piano Concertos
32 STOKOWSKI, LEOPOLD/ Rhapsodies
33 GOULD, MORTON/Copland: Billy The Kid & Rodeo; Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
34 MOFFO, ANNA/Arias from Faust; La Bohme; Dinorah; Carmen; Turandot; Semiramide; Lakm
35 REINER, FRITZ/ Respighi: Pines Of Rome; Fountains Of Rome & Debussy: La Mer
36 REINER, FRITZ/Vienna
37 MUNCH, CHARLES/Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5; Octet: Scherzo
38 FIEDLER, ARTHUR/Pops Caviar
39 RUBINSTEIN, ARTHUR/Beethoven: Sonatas (Moonlight; Les Adieux; Pathetique; Appassionata)
40 HEIFETZ, JASCHA/Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1; Scottish Fantasy & Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 5
41 LANZA, MARIO Mario! Lanza At His Best; Vagabond King Highlights
42 FOX, VIRGIL/ Encores
43 LEINSDORF, ERICH/Puccini: La Bohme 2CD
45 LEINSDORF, ERICH/Puccini: Madama Butterfly
47 MOFFO, ANNA/Verdi: La Traviata 2CD
49 BJORLING, JUSSI/Puccini: Turandot 2CD
51 MUNCH, CHARLES/Schubert: Symphonies "The Great" & "Unfinished"
52 REINER, FRITZ/ Strauss: Don Quixote & Don Juan
53 HEIFETZ, JASCHA /Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor
54 BREAM, JULIAN/Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar
55 PRICE, LEONTYNE/Albeniz: Navarra, Iberia; Falla: El amor
56 RUBINSTEIN, ARTHUR/Saint-Saens: Piano Concerto No. 2; Franck: Symphonic Variations;
57 MUNCH, CHARLES/Berlioz: Harold In Italy; The Roman Carnival Overture; Benvenuto Cellini Overture
58 REINER, FRITZ/Mahler: Das Lied Von Der Erde
59 REINER, FRITZ/Strauss: Symphonia Domestica; Suite From Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
60 CLIBURN, VAN/Schumann: Piano Concerto In A minor; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 "Emperor"

I managed to find a 'Buy It Now' copy on eBay this afternoon for £74. I have to pay £26 postage but the set is still a bargain for £100.

It seems ridiculous that Sony have opted not to release this set in the UK or USA. The easiest way to find a copy is to search the torrent sites although I realise that this raises ethical issues and would not condone illegal music downloads.

I'm looking forward to getting this one!
Posted on: 06 August 2010 by MilesSmiles
Very interesting. I got about 100 titles from the original CD release and all 53 titles that were released as Hybrid SACDs. The mastering of the Hybrids is excellent.

This box set looks like an amazing way to get hold of some of the finest Classical recordings ever made.
Posted on: 15 November 2010 by Richard Dane
Doctor Jazz,

I have unearthed this thread from a few months back because I'm interested in your opinion on the mastering job that has been done here. I've been thinking of getting this set. I have a pretty big collection of the originals as well as all the Classic 180g LP reissues but it would be nice to have a digital set too.

Are these taken from the same remastering as the individual releases or something different?
Posted on: 15 November 2010 by Hot Rats
The discs sound good to me Richard although I have not heard the original releases or the 180g vinyl so I have nothing with which to compare them. I guess that the sound is typical of the period in which they were recorded. They sound like distant rather than close miking has been used.

The appeal of the box set for me is that it featured conductors and soloists who are long departed from us. I think that interpretations of the great works have changed in the last fifty years. It seems that some modern recordings strive for virtuosity or sonic excellence at the expense of musicality. I just love the way that some of these works are performed ... Van Cliburn's reading of Tchaikovsky 1 and Rubenstein's Chopin Grande Polonaise spring to mind. So many of these discs are just so musical. The mastering almost seems of secondary importance.

I can give you more extensive info on this box set if you drop me an email (I just tried to call you at Salisbury and they said that you would be able to access my email as a mod)

I ended up paying just £10 for the postage for my box set so I think the total came to around £84. For 60 CDs it was a real steal.
Posted on: 16 November 2010 by Richard Dane
Thanks DJ. I'm not based at the factory any more but have sent you a message.

Inspired, I last night spent the evening listening to some of my favourites from this series. The French Touch with Munch and the BSO playing various French "lollipops" such as Dukas' Sorcerors Apprentice would probably make my desert island choice. Also Ballet Music From The Opera with Fistoulari and the ROHO would probably make it too. I'm very lucky to have both of these as original 1S "Shaded Dog" pressings and they really do manage to transport you right back 50 years in time.
Posted on: 16 November 2010 by Hot Rats
Please check your mail Richard
Posted on: 16 November 2010 by graham55
It's a shame that the collection doesn't include Friendly Fritz's remarkable recording of Alan Hovhannes' Mysterious Mountain.