# Legendary Recordings: Where should I start?



## Loki (Sep 8, 2011)

Hey all! As we all know, there are many great classical recordings out there only on vinyl and older non-digital formats that we cannot find on the internet. I, along with a friend of mine who is a student studying musicology, are considering starting a project to find the lost hidden treasures that people have, or at least know of, sitting around in old album collections, and putting them into digital audio to be preserved so they are not lost. The thing is, I have no idea where to start. Any help? Anyone know of certain recordings not obtainable on CD or MP3 that I can look for?

Thanks for your help guys!
-Loki


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

You are not the first to consider this. There are several such Preservers of History known to denizens of the newsgroup rec.music.classical.recordings. You could inquire there. I no longer have their internet addresses.


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

There are a few collectors who have digitized vinyl recordings, and published them to YouTube. You will need to poke around and search for YouTube handles and channels that do that, but it may be worthwhile for you. Here's one I happen to know of:
http://www.youtube.com/user/davidhertzberg

Some labels (NAXOS comes to mind) are re-issuing some "archival recordings". A link to the _NAXOS Classical Archives_ label:
http://www.naxos.com/labels/naxos_classical_archives.htm

I have found some of these recordings on eMusic. Surfing eMusic may yield some performances - do artist searches using their native engine and see what you find! I found some vintage recordings by Glenn Gould, Eugene Ormandy and others that way.

Finally, I would surf _Public Domain Classic_, as it has several vintage performances. This may be a good place to samople performances before making a purchase:
http://public-domain-archive.com/classic/?lang=eng

Hope this helps!


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## lou (Sep 7, 2011)

The Presto Classical website has a section featuring historic recordings and they also have reasonable prices. I just purchased a few items from them recently, nice selection and website. http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

itywltmt said:


> There are a few collectors who have digitized vinyl recordings, and published them to YouTube. You will need to poke around and search for YouTube handles and channels that do that, but it may be worthwhile for you. Here's one I happen to know of:
> http://www.youtube.com/user/davidhertzberg
> 
> Some labels (NAXOS comes to mind) are re-issuing some "archival recordings". A link to the _NAXOS Classical Archives_ label:
> ...


Loki - The Trickster

Naxos has many wonderful items in their Historical Series. Unfortunately many of them are not permitted to be sold in the U.S. I have been very successful in ordering them from a couple of suppliers in the UK. Delivery is quite fast and prices not too bad.


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

GoneBaroque said:


> Loki - The Trickster
> 
> Naxos has many wonderful items in their Historical Series. Unfortunately many of them are not permitted to be sold in the U.S. I have been very successful in ordering them from a couple of suppliers in the UK. Delivery is quite fast and prices not too bad.


As I said, I found some on eMusic - maybe that's because I enter the site from the Canadian portal...


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

All very interesting, but I suspect not what the OP had in mind.


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## Loki (Sep 8, 2011)

Sorry I haven't responded to you all sooner - massive computer failure... my MacBook pretty much caught on fire... - but anyway; To itywltmt, lou, and GoneBaroque: Thanks much, I'll check these out! I've been trying to avoid YouTube though, simply for audio quality reasons, even MP3 is almost out of the question right now, but I'd probably deal with that anyway. (Call me crazy, but the audiophile in me needs at least the CD [email protected]  I know I'm getting a bit picky, sorry about that.) Anyway, this should be a good start for me! Thanks guys!


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## Xytech (Apr 7, 2011)

lou said:


> The Presto Classical website has a section featuring historic recordings and they also have reasonable prices. I just purchased a few items from them recently, nice selection and website. http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/


Hey mate, I don't suppose you could link me to the 'historical recordings' section - having a bit of trouble finding it...


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Alfred Grunfeld was the very first pianist to do commercial recordings, and as such his recordings are highly sought after.






You could also track down phonograph cylinder recordings, because those are exceedingly rare and only ever show up any more in estate sales:


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