Hi Wade:
Those masters reverted to Ricordi in the early 60's. According to documentation I've seen, they were
shipped to Ricordi soon after Mercury's release-ownership expired. Ricordi would have probably
gotten the 3-channel master tapes plus 3-2 second-generation tapes made when the original LPs were
cut. Whether these tapes still exist is a question for EMI, the current owner.
-- Tom Fine
PS -- it's a similar situation for the Mercuy/Pye recordings of Halle/Barbirolli, those tapes
reverted to Pye in the early 60's. However, some were not shipped to England until the early 70s,
and those would have then gone to EMI. There was at least one full LP that was originally recorded
in stereo but never released in the US except in mono. I seem to recall there was part of another
LP, with the majority of it released in stereo only as 2-track duped reels.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wade Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:10 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Mercury master tapes for the Opera recordings
I wonder where the Mercury recorded masters are for the Callas Medea,
Scotto-diStefano Lucia, Rossini Cambiale di Matrimonio, Pergolesi Serva
Padrona and Bastianini-Scotto-Kraus Rigoletto. Why can't we get reasonable
transfers of these recordings rather than echo-ridden copies from some tape
transferred by Ricordi? The sound characteristics of the LPs is totally
different and better from those LPs than of any CD issue I have heard. It's
a shame.
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