Decca Discography
DECCA DISCOGRAPHY >>U U.S.A. & Canada Decca Inc. (USA) was formed in 1934. Despite signing Segovia and (briefly) Heifetz, its classical catalogue did not amount to much as it drifted away from the parent company in the 1940s. London Records was set up to replace it and for nearly twenty years seemed content to operate as a supplier of European recordings to the US market. In the 1950s, a handful of American orchestras (Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, New York) recorded extensively for RCA Victor or American Columbia. A few more (Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit) had successful partnerships with such labels as Epic and Mercury. Of the rest, Utah and Houston picked up a few sessions from Vanguard and Everest, who were more active in Europe. The majors began to follow them, American Columbia opting to record its Copland series in London, where Previn was being kept busy by RCA. In response to a perception that American record buyers preferred American orchestras, Decca made a bold move against the trend, announcing in 1967 that the Los Angeles Philharmonic had become “The first American orchestra to be exclusively contracted by a British recording company.” EMI, Deutsche Grammophon and Philips quickly followed and by the early ’70s most North American orchestras with recording contracts were linked to European labels. Decca recorded regularly in Los Angeles until 1980, and in Chicago (1970- 1998), Washington (1972-75), Cleveland (1973-97), Boston (1975-78), Detroit (1978-84), Montreal (1980-2000), San Francisco (1987-95) and St.Paul, Minnesota (1989-97), plus occasional visits to New York and Philadelphia.
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