Decca
The name "Decca" has its origins in a portable gramophone called the Decca Dulcephone, patented in 1914 by the manufacturers of the instrument, Barnett Samuel and Sons. Invented by Wilfred S. Samuel, the name is the result of the fusion of the word ‘Mecca’ with the initial D of ‘Dulcephone’. The company then renamed itself the ‘Decca Gramophone Company’, and at the same time became known as ‘The Supreme Record Company’. It was bought in 1929 by the former stockbroker Edward Lewis.
In 1939 Decca was the only record label in the United Kingdom, aside from EMI. Within a few years it had become the second biggest label in the world. During the 1930s and 1940s, Decca counted within its catalogue a plethora of legendary signatures: including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Jane Froman, the Boswell Sisters, Billie Holiday, the Andrews Sisters, Ted Lewis, Judy Garland, the Mills Brothers, Billy Cotton, Guy Lombardo, Chick Webb, Louis Jordan, Bob Crosby, the Ink Spots, Dorsey Brothers, Connee Boswell and Jack Hylton, Victor Young, Earl Hines, Claude Hopkins and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
In 1966 Edward Lewis created Deram, the first British label devoted entirely to pop and rock music. Deram released the albums Songwriter and Night Flight by Justin Hayward, and in 1969 launched a progressive rock section of the label, entitled Nova, which lasted less than a year. Consequently, the 1970s were disastrous years for the Deram label as a whole. Meanwhile, Decca became increasingly famous for its classical repertoire. On the death of Edward Lewis in January 1980, the company Polygram took on what remained of Decca. Deram reappeared briefly during the early 1980s with albums by the groups Bananarama, the Mo-debts and Splodgenessabounds.
In 1997 Seagram bought MCA, Universal Studios and Polygram Deutsche Grammophon. Decca Records has now become a trademark of Universal Group; comprising Decca Classics (employing a blue and red logo), Deutsche Grammophon, Philips and Verve Music Group, Concord Records, Blue Thumb, and UCJ Round Records.
Today, Decca Records continues to support our chosen artists and unearth new talent, be it in pop, rock, folk or Americana (especially in its Broadway repertoire), releasing albums by Robert Plant, Imelda Peut, William Orbit, Kirsty Almeida, Melody Gardot, Eric Whitacre and Nikki Yanofsky. It also promotes the classical music of a new generation of great artists; including Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nelson Freire, Cecilia Bartoli, Renee Fleming, Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann, Janine Jansen and Albrecht Mayer. Decca continues to release music from older classical musicians such as Wilhelm Backhaus, Benjamin Britten, Clifford Curzon, Radu Lupu, Kathleen Ferrier, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Julius Katchen, Georg Solti, Alicia de Larrocha and Luciano Pavarotti.
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Tschaikowsky, Dornröschen
Orchestra of the Kirov Opera, St. Petersburg
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Matthäus-Passion BWV 244
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hindemith: Mathis der Maler - Symphonische Metamorphosen - Violinkonzert
David Oïstrakh, London Symphony Orchestra, Paul Hindemith, Claudio Abbado, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Paul Kletzki
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Lehár: Die lustige Witwe
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Addio Del Passato (CC) (Classical Choice)
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
W.A. Mozart: Jupiter Symphonie
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hindemith : Ludus Tonalis
Solo Piano - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kinderszenen, Papillons, Waldszenen (Classical Choice)
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violinsonaten Nr.2,5,9
Henryk Szeryng, Ingrid Haebler
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Virtuose Blockflötenmusik
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucia di Lammermoor - Highlights
José Carreras, Samuel Ramey, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Jesús López-Cobos, Montserrat Caballé
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Helen Watts – Lieder Recital
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, Helen Watts, Geoffrey Parsons
Lieder (German) - Released by Decca on 12 Jul 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eduardo del Pueyo - The Complete Philips Recordings (Franck, Bach, Beethoven, Granados, Falla)
Solo Piano - Released by Decca on 11 Jan 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Bohème - Highlights
Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Riccardo Chailly
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn, Bruch: Violinkonzerte (CC)
Akiko Suwanai, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Violinkonzert, Konzertsatz C-dur, Violinromanze Nr.1
Gidon Kremer, Sir Neville Marriner, London Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Horn Concertos
Barry Tuckwell, Peter Maag, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev – The Decca Masters
Sir Adrian Boult, Jean Martinon, Eric Tuxen, Nikolai Malko
Symphonic Music - Released by Decca on 6 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Royal Brass Music & English Baroque Trumpet Music
Chamber Music - Released by Decca on 16 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Heinrich Heine Lyrik und Jazz
Gert Westphal, Das Attila-Zoller-Quartett
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz, Fauré: Requiem (GA)
London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, Sir Colin Davis
Classical - Released by Decca on 1 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo