# LaserLight/Capriccio/Delta Music ... your thoughts on this label



## 13hm13

LaserLight, Capriccio, and a few other sub-labels are part of Delta Music GmBH (Köln).
The USA div. went bankrupt in 2007, but the parent German label is still active. Here in the US, LaserLight is (was) the most common Delta product for their classical catalog.

I'd prev. dismissed them as being low-budget and (erroneously) low-fidelity and/or low-performance. It seems I overlooked a rich and credible resource of classical music.

After being impressed with much of Herbert Kegel's repertoire (thx to myriad YouTube channels), I began to notice that my local public library had (for about three decades) carried several Kegel titles in "plain sight", on CD, on the aforementioned LaserLight label.

Delta Music GmBH seems to have sourced many of their releases from prev. recordings on East Germany's ETERNA label. Many of those recordings have excellent fidelity, equal to many non-communist labels*.

I just posted about a 1989 LaserLight title in the "Currently Listening" thread. It was quite worn and damaged due to decades of public-library use. I did resurface the disc, got it to play, and was impressed with BOTH LvB symphonies on this CD:









So, what are your thoughts about the LaserLight/Delta back-catalog?

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* E.g., I'm not a big fan of DG recordings, despite that uberlabel's superior performance and artist lineup.


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## SixFootScowl

Well, this highlights set I came across somewhere triggered a liking for this opera that led to several sets on CD and several on DVD.


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## Merl

The odd good recording came out on the Cappriccio label (Kegel's boring Beethoven cycle not being one of them). Some of the Laserlight and Cappriccio stuff got re-issued online on the cheap in those Rise of the Masters Amazon downloads. I picked up Ferencsik's ok Laserlight LvB cycle in 320k, this way, a few years back. Don't think they're still available. You can pick loads of Laserlight discs up in charity shops these days. A case of 'pay your money and take your chance'.


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## Art Rock

I picked up a few Lasterlights in the late 80s, when it was one of the few budget labels. Haven't seen them around for quite a while.

Capriccio was and is a full-price label, which have/had some great CDs - they were among the first to put CPE Bach on the map, and I love their Braunfels discs.


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## Vasks

Art Rock said:


> Capriccio was and is a full-price label, which have/had some great CDs


Exactly. Should not be mentioned along side cheapies.


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## SixFootScowl

While not an exceptional symphony cycle, it managed 4.3 out of 5 stars from 36 reviews on Amazon . It can be had for low bucks used. I have it.


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## 13hm13

Capriccio (Europe) and LaserLight (USA) sometimes had EXACTLY the same recording, just on two labels owned by same parent company (Delta Music).

I like the Kegel stuff (mostly carried over from ETERNA, as I noted earlier) . I think this 8-CD 2018 box set is still avail.:


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## Rmathuln

*I like this Capriccio set









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## Rmathuln

*And I like this set too









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## Rmathuln

*I would not be without this box









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## Rmathuln

*A fabulous set of the Mozart Serenades









*


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## joen_cph

Besides the already mentioned Mozart/Vegh, Scriabin/Lettberg - also on Cappriccio: the conductor Max Pommer's fantastich Bach and Händel recordings, Schnittke's piano concertos, Nystroem's piano concerto ...

The label seems to be thriving, with a lot of interesting repertoire

http://www.capriccio.at/?s=cd


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## 13hm13

joen_cph said:


> The label seems to be thriving, with a lot of interesting repertoire
> 
> http://www.capriccio.at/?s=cd


In North America, Capriccio is distributed by Naxos (which is huge). 
I hope these companies continue to prosper with PHYSICAL formats (like CD and DVD). There is something to be said for collectibility, completionism (of a series or artist) and a commitment to play that physicality imparts. 
Other than that, my memory of what I own and like is MUCH stronger with CDs; downloads or streaming are overkill with choices, and ephemeral. At the opposite end, although they sound great, LPs are _too_ inconvenient.
Sorry to ramble -- much of this deserves a dedicated thread!


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## 13hm13

*Master Digital*

*Master Digital* was another Delta Music sub-label. It seem there was quite bit of overlap (same recording) on multiple sub-labels. Either Kegel's LvB series sold well or some Delta executive liked the guy...


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## bigshot

Laserlight used to be owned by Rod McKuen and its purpose was to put stuff back into print that big labels wanted to drop.


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## Common Listener

I've got several Laserlights with the German Bach Soloists conducted by Helmut Winschermann which I like okay musically and what I think is a pretty good recording of Holst's _The Planets_ by Geoffrey Simon and the London Symphony Orchestra but I also don't have a lot that I've gotten rid of. I agree with Merl that it's chancy and, even in the best of circumstances, they're usually somehow ugly and _look_ cheap. More importantly, they have no liner notes to speak of. They're not my first choice, but I don't absolutely avoid them.


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## gardibolt

I assume the DVD company that went under the name Laserlight is unconnected to this outfit; they were notorious movie bootleggers with very low quality product.


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## bigshot

Same company. They weren't bootleggers. They just released a lot of public domain material and back catalog that could be licensed for cheap.


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## Merl

Common Listener said:


> I...... a pretty good recording of Holst's _The Planets_ by Geoffrey Simon and the London Symphony Orchestra.......


I would advise anyone that sees this Holst Planets going cheap (honestly it sells for buttons on ebay and Amazon on a number of budget labels) to buy it. It's probably (apart from Handley's cheapo account) the best budget Planets around. The version of Jupiter on there is a cracker.


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## SixFootScowl

Was enjoying my favorite opera (La Sonnambula) with Lucia Aliberti and thought to see if she sang La Traviata. Sure enough she did and so I grabbed this Lazerlight set:


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