# RCA Red Seal Best 100 (Sony/BMG Japan) - How is it?



## radiodurans (Dec 8, 2018)

I came across a box set I hadn't heard of before: RCA Red Seal Best 100. Apparently it was only produced in Japan. I probably own a few of these recording already. Has anyone heard this set or have any recommendations from it? Here is the English description I found:

The Japanese company, BMG Japan, sorted the original RCA RED SEAL CDs according to the composers and the year when the music pieces were created. BEST100 series are the best representative CDs, which were carefully chosen from those music pieces by acting and recording, and they were released again with the mark of RCA BEST100. These CDs are the most impressive records in the classical field at RCA’s best. Theoretically, we could find the single originals of those CDs, but BMG Japan reorganised excellently for everyone. During BMG Japan period, it was released for the first time in 1999 and for the second time in 2008 after SONY took over BMG. BEST100 series belong to the latter.
Technically, BEST100 series are the CDs, which people used the Digital K2 R & D digital processing technology to reprocess the original masters into. For some of the early analog recordings of works, the sound effect may be better than originals because of the use of more advanced conversion technology. If some have the original copy available, so you can make a compare.

ALBUM LIST:

001. Paillard – Famous Baroque Melodies
002. Paillard – Vivaldi The Four Seasons
003. Koopman – J S Bach Orchestral Suites
004. Kuijken – J S Bach Brandenburg Concertos
005. Starker – Bach Suites for Solo Cello
006. Serkin – J S Bach Inventions Sinfonias
007. Serkin – J S Bach Goldberg Variations
008. Wand – Mozart Symphonies Nos 39, 40 & 41
009. Davis – Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik & 3 Overtures
010. Larrocha & Davis – Mozart Piano Concertos Nos 20 & 21
011. Larrocha & Davis – Mozart Piano Concertos Nos 23 & 24
012. Heifetz – Mozart Violin Concertos No 4 & No 5 sinfonia concertante
013. Galway – Mozart Flute Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Concerto for Flute & Harp
014. Tokyo String Quartet – Mozart Clarinet Concerto & Quintet
015. Tokyo String Quartet & Galway – Mozart Flute Quartets
016. Larrocha – Mozart Piano Sonatas
017. Wand – Beethoven Symphonies Nos 5 & 6 Pastoral
018. Wand – Beethoven Symphony No 9
019. Wand – Beethoven Symphony No 3 & Schubert Symphony No 8
020. Rubinstein & Barenboim – Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5 ‘Emperor’
021. Heifetz – Beethoven Brahms Violin Concertos
022. Szeryng & Rubinstein – Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos 5 8 9
023. Rubinstein – Beethoven Great Piano Sonatas
024. Abbado – Rossini & Verdi Overtures
025. Wand – Schubert Symphony No 9
026. Tokyo String Quartet / Schubert String Quartet No 14 “Death and the Maiden”
027. Yuri Bashmet & Mikhail Muntian / Schubert, Schumann, Bruch, Enescu
028. Thomas / Berlioz,Symphony fantastique
029. Heifetz / Tchaikovsky & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos
030. Rubinstein / Chopin Piano Concertos No 1 & No 2
031. Rubinstein / The Chopin Collection, Nocturnes Disc 1
032. Rubinstein / The Chopin Collection, Nocturnes Disc 2
033. Arthur Rubinstein / Chopin 14 Waltzes
034. Arthur Rubinstein / Chopin 7 Polonaises
035. Arthur Rubinstein / Chopin Ballades & Scherzos
036. Arthur Rubinstein / Chopin 4 Impromptus,Barcarolle,Berceuse,Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise
037. Arthur Rubinstein / Chopin The Mazurkas Vol 1
038. Arthur Rubinstein / Chopin The Mazurkas Vol 2
039. Arthur Rubinstein / Chopin The Sonatas & Fantaisie
040. Arthur Rubinstein / The Chopin I love
041. Evgeny Kissin / Chopin Recital
042. Arthur Rubinstein / Schumann,Grieg Piano Concertos
043. Ikuyo Nakamichi / Schumann Carnaval Kinderszenen
044. Nathalie Stutzmann / Schumann Dichterliebe,Frauenliebe und-leben
045. Lorin Maazel / Lorin Maazel conducts Wagner
046. Sviatoslav Richter / Sviatoslav Richter plays Liszt, Chopin, Brahms
047. James Galway, Martha Argerich / Frank, Prokofiev – Sonatas for Flute and Piano
048. Gunter Wand & NDR-Sinfonieorchester / Bruckner Symphony No 4
049. Gunter Wand & NDR-Sinfonieorchester / Bruckner Symphony No 7
050. Gunter Wand & NDR-Sinfonieorchester / Brunkner Symphony No 9
051. Maazel / Strauss Concert
052. Wand / Brahms Symphonies Nos 1 & 3
053. Wand / Brahms Symphonies Nos 2 & 4
054. Szeryng & Rubinstein / Brahms The Complete Violin Sonatas
055. Yo-Yo Ma & Ax / Brahms Cello Sonatas
056. Rubinstein / The Brahms I love
057. Heifetz / Bruch Violin Concerto No 1 & Scottish Fantasy
058. Karajan / Bizet Carmen
059. Temirkanov / Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 1812 Overture
060. Temirkanov / Tchaikovsky Symphony Nos 6 ‘Pathetique’
061. Rubinstein / Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1
062. Starker / Dvorak Schumann Cello Concertos
063. Ozawa / Faure Requiem
064. Davis / Mahler Symphony No 4
065. Munch / Debussy La Mer
066. Maazel / Richard Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra & Others
067. Davis / Sibelius Symphony No 2
068. Heifetz / Sibelius, Prokofiev,Glazunov Violin Concertos
069. Larrocha / Granados Goyescas
070. Horowitz / Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 3 & Piano Sonata No 2
071. Weissenberg / Rachmaninoff Complete Preludes
072. Slatkin / Holst The Planets & Vaughan Williams Fantasias
073. Maazel / Lorin Maazel conducts Ravel
074. Gatti / Respighi Roman Trilogy
075. Reiner / Bartok Concerto for Orchestra
076. Ozawa – Stravinksy Petrouchka The Rite of spring
077. Ozawa – Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf
078. Thomas – Gershwin Phapsody in Blue & An American in Paris
079. Yamashita – Rodrigo Concerto de Aranjuez
080. Slatkin – Leroy Anderson Favorites
081. Ozawa – Messiaen Turangalila Symphony
082. Temirkanov – Shostakovich Symph 5
083. Ozawa – Takemitsu November Steps
084. Galway – The Greatest Hits
085. Heifetz – Zigeunerweisen
086. Heifetz – Encores
087. Harnoy – Salut D’Amour Romantic Cello Melodies
088. Hautzig – A Maiden’s Prayer The world’s favorite piano pieces
089. Stoltzman – Romantic Clarinet
090. Petri – Lars Hannibal Air
091. Yamashita – Pictures At An Exhibition
092. Bream & Williams – Live
093. Fiedler – In a Persian Market & Sabre Dance
094. Slatkin – Classic Marches
095. Kondrashin – Khachaturian, Kabalevsky
096. Tomita – The Cosmos of Tomita
097. Wiener Sangerknaben – An der schonen, blauen Donau
098. Robert Shaw Chorale – The World’s Favorite Songs
099. Domingo – Famous Opera Arias
100. Anderson – He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I can't comment on the remastering but much of this material has been previously released. I have at least half of it. The Wand is uniformly excellent as is the Tokyo Quartet, Larrocha, Heifetz and Rubinstein. I like Terminkanov as he makes some original choices, though he's not my first choice in Tchaikovsky. Frankly, I'd opt for the big Wand set and the Sony boxsets of Tokyo, Heifetz and Rubinstein over the selections offered here (but I'm not sure if they are still in print).


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## radiodurans (Dec 8, 2018)

Cool, thanks for your help!


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

A lot of classic recordings there, but I wouldn’t get to hung up on the marketing ploy. The RCAs from the first 20 years or so ofthe Stereo era have been reissued every which way imaginable in an attempt to get people to repurchase their collections and in every audio format conceivable


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

radiodurans said:


> Cool, thanks for your help!


I don't now if you use a streaming service, but you might think of the list as a listening guide. Then pick (or expand upon) the music/performers you like. If Sony doesn't have a cheap box set of the recordings you want, wait a week.


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