Chapter 5.1

 5.1 HMV/EMI

 Horowitz made numerous recordings for HMV. They were originally released as 78s, and most of them were reproduced as LPs from 1958 to the 1980s. After a long while, all the LPs, except for one piece of music, were re-released on CD. Incidentally, the contents of the LPs were duplications of recordings that HMV made on 78s because HMV (EMI) failed to enter into a new recording contract with Horowitz.

 HMV / Angel / Seraphim / EMI / Pathé / Toshiba brought out a total of three LPs.

 

   

 Table 6 above shows that HMV was the seller of an LP of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, under record number AT103, which was a re-release under license from RCA— Robert McLear’s discography was referred to for this information—but it is most likely that the seller of the Brahms’ LP was RCA. Evidently, there is an LP numbered AT103 that was released by RCA in Italy, which is marked “Made by RCA in England.”

 Based on HMV’s COLH72 (released in September 1958) and COLH300 (released in May 1964), Angel COLH-72 and COLH-300 were released in the U.S., respectively. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was released on Seraphim 60063 (probably released in the second half of the 1960s). The record itself, whose jacket has an address in the U.S., was made in the U.K.; the manufactured records would have been distributed in the U.S. and the U.K. as both are English-speaking countries. LPs corresponding to the above three LPs were also released in other countries; the combination of the three released LPs differs somewhat depending on the country. For instance, in France, the three LPs, COLH 72, COLH 300, and COLH 320 were released with uniform jackets. Table 6 clearly shows which pieces of music recorded by HMV on 78 were reproduced on the LPs.

   These three LPs were released several times (with the same numbers) around the world, with slight changes to the design of the jackets. The LPs released in France are shown in the images below.

  The most valuable LP is EMI Pathé C 061-01902, which was released in France in 1972. This LP includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, Stravinsky’s Russian Dance in Petrushka, and Chopin’s Étude Opus 25-3. These pieces were originally released on 78s, but Horowitz suspended the sale of these 78s almost immediately. Later, it seems that they were reproduced on an LP without his permission. These pieces were included in a three-LP box set by EMI 14 years later, and re-released in France, Germany, and Italy. However, in the U.S. and Japan, they have never been re-released on LP. 

  In Japan and Germany, Rachmaninoff’s Prelude Opus 23-5 and Piano Concerto No. 3 were coupled together and reproduced on one LP, but not in the U.S., the U.K., or Italy. Putting both pieces of music on one LP seems reasonable because the original 78 did contain Prelude Opus 23-5 on its back side. However, the LPs released in the U.S., the U.K., and Italy lacked the Prelude and only contained Piano Concerto No. 3.

   Liszt’s Valse Oubliée No. 1, which RCA recorded in February 1930 and released as 78, was reproduced and included in a three-CD set by EMI, but the recording has never been re-released as an LP anywhere in the world.

  (A) COLH72 and related LPs

 

    EMI COLH72   

 

  Toshiba in Japan reproduced COLH-72 as GR-41 on the Angel label. Unfortunately, on the jacket of the LP written in large letters is the word, “HORWITS”, a misspelling of Horowitz. It was the first Horowitz LP released by Toshiba. 

 

                         Toshiba GR-41

 

   (B) COLH300 and related LPs

 

         COLH 300  

 

 (C) LPs that contain Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3

 

        EMI Rachmaninoff  P. #3  COLH 320  

 

 (D) Three-LP set in a box produced in Europe by EMI

   In 1986, EMI Electrola in Germany released a three-LP box set (F669 765/67M), which contained nearly all the recordings made for HMV. Almost at the same time as the release in Germany, another three-LP set (2907263M) was released by EMI in Italy. This set did not include Haydn’s Piano Sonata Hob. XVI/52 or Rachmaninoff’s Prelude Opus 23-5.

 

        EMI LP-BOX 

 

 (E) LPs that contain other pianists in addition to Horowitz

 

         Other pianists 

 

The supplement, “The photographic collection of important and fundamental LPs,” includes four pictures: the three base LPs released in the U.K. and the highly valuable LP made by Pathé.


  To Chapter 5.2