I have at least one MK pressing,in a US cover with Cyrillic writing on the label.
Anyone ever seen that tri-color "Melodija" label,that was only used in 1961-2 in Latvia,I think,maybe it was Estonia.I have this 10" on this label,of an unauthorized issue of an RCA Heifitz/Piatagorsky/Rubenstein trio recording.
Roger
--- On Mon, 12/22/08, Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] MELODIYA DISCOGRAPHY - was Medtner playing his 3rd Piano Concerto
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Monday, December 22, 2008, 3:38 PM
Not quite.
MK was the Soviet Russian book publishing house with a seat on the
Politburo. The Commissar was a lady whose name I don't recall at the
moment. She had held that position for a long while, as I recall.
Books, films and records fell under her purview. Records and books were sold
internally through state stores- there were no others.
Melodia was at first a label for external to the USSR distribution though it
later served other administrative purposes. Remember the sprawling union
covering 11 time zones. Some other labels were linked to specific pressing
plants.
One way to tell if record labels were meant for export is if they bear a
language other than Russian, either only or also. Some are in Ukranian only,
for example, and were for sale only in that area.
It's a pretty confusing area of study. Politics and propaganda played a
huge part in how it operated.
The earliest numbers in the continual 78 series go back to c. 1933. Each
side was given a separate number and over the life of a successful side, it
may have had a number of obverse companions.
I used to work for the Russian music publisher and have a drawer full of
related catalogs, supplements and other paper. Someday....
Steve Smolian
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dave Lewis
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 5:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] MELODIYA DISCOGRAPHY - was Medtner playing his 3rd
Piano Concerto
MK stands for Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga, which is the name of a large chain of
bookstores in Russia. At one time they were probably part of Melodiya, but
at some point they became a separate concern. Some releases on the Czech
Multisonic label originated with recordings from MK.
Uncle Dave Lewis
AMG/Macrovision
Ann Arbor, MI
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Thomas Stern
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 4:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] MELODIYA DISCOGRAPHY - was Medtner playing his 3rd
Piano Concerto
Does this include MK releases?
What is the relationship of MK to Melodiya? (I've seen both labels, and
some
others - possibly relating to where pressed, but assume they are all state
owned and part of the same Soviet agency???)
Thanks, Thomas.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Larry Friedman
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 4:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Medtner playing his 3rd Piano Concerto
There is "Melodiya: A Soviet Russian L.P. Discography" by John R.
Bennett
(1981, Greenwood Press), ISBN 0-313-22596-6. It is a wonderful source of
information for all classical releases of this label. There are plenty of
omissions and mistakes, but there is no other book like it, all 832 pages of
it. Unfortunately it is out of print, and prices for new copies go from
US$145.51 to $220.38. Used copies are even more expensive, from $176.52 to
$316.22.
-Larry
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Roger and Allison Kulp
> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 3:21 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Medtner playing his 3rd Piano Concerto
>
> Has anybody done a definitive discography and history,of classical Lps
in
the Soviet
> era ?
>
> In any language besides Russian/Cyrillic,that is.
>
> If so,I would like to know author,title,etc. so I could try and track down
a copy.I did
> recently come across such a book for sale on the web,for Russian 78s,but
it was in
> Russian/Cyrillic.
>
>
Roger
>
>
>
>
> --- On Sat, 12/20/08, Michael Biel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: Michael Biel <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Medtner playing his 3rd Piano Concerto
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 10:58 PM
>
> [log in to unmask] wrote:
> > If you could send or post a scan someone could probably read it for
you...
> >
> > joe salerno
> >
> >
> > Punto wrote:
> >> Apologies for the discographic question, but I have exhausted my
other
> resources at hand.
> >>
> >> I have in hand an LP that is of Soviet origin, but not
Melodiya/MK or
> anything that I have seen previously. The acronym of the label name
appears to
> be something along the lines of BCT (with the "t" looking more
like a
> gibbet).
>
> Before 1964 when the Melodiya trademark was developed for nationwide use,
each
> pressing plant had their own label and trademarks even though they were
all
> mainly pressing the same records. This one is a two-tone blue label,
right?
> BCG stands for Vsyesayuznaya Studya Gramzapese or All-Union Studio Record
> Factory, and I think it was the newly established Moscow plant around 1962
which
> later became known as Gramzapis. This factory seems to also be the source
of
> the export pressings with the MK label around 1963 which were never
available
> inside the USSR since MK (International Books) was the export agency of
books,
> records, and postage stamps. Most pre-Melodiya LPs came from the Aprelvsk
> factory (sometimes the AZ torch logo or CCCP/USSR), Leningrad (sometimes
Akkord
> or LZ) in cyrillic), and Riga (sometimes Ligo).
> >> The catalog number is 06501/06502. I have been able to decipher
that
> it is Medtner playing his Piano Concerto no. 3, but I can't convince
myself
> that the rest stands for "Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Issay
> Dobrowen", which is the only version that I have turned up
elsewhere.Anyone
> out there (Mike Biel, maybe?) that can tell me what I've got. If this
it
> indeed a Russian pressing of the Abbey Road Philharmonia recording, it has
done
> a pretty good job of overlaying it with a layer of acoustic sludge/fudge.
> >>
> >> Thanks, Peter Hirsch
> >>
> >>
>
> All my Soviet books and guides are buried in disarray right now which is
why I
> haven't yet answered the Paul Robeson question over on 78-L from a few
days
> ago. It is possible it is that British recording because they did do
things
> like that. When I unearth the books and magazines, I'll look to see
if
> there are any indications of what this is.
>
> Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
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> 3:08 PM
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