Decca SXL2263 French Overtures(Offenbach;Herold;Auber+)/OSR/Ansermet,2E/1E ffss

$

124

I am doing here something perhaps never been done on eBay before. This Decca record, and the next London version, share not only the same tracks, cover photo, they even share the EXACT same stampers down to the last detail! Side 1 has master serial number of ZAL5021-2E, Side 2 has ZAL5021-1E. For those of you who's in the know of record mastering/pressing process, S1 has "BU" marking at 3 o'clock of the label ("mother" serial) and "1" marking at 9 o'clock ("stamper" serial), and S2 has "U" marking at 3 o'clock (bit faint on Decca but you can see the tips of the horseshoe of U) and "1" marking at 9 o'clock. In other words, they were pressed from the exact same stamper and most likely in the same batch run! Both of them are in original covers and inner sleeves (all the other London's I'm listing also have the correct, original inner sleeves).

Call it marketing gimmick, supply and demand, or "elitism" in record collecting, the London version for the US market has taken a backseat to the Decca brethren in terms of desirability, price (as reflected by my starting prices and may be shown by the selling prices here), and even alleged sonic merits. I'm not trying to get into the futile debate since none of the pundits I read have published the master/mother/stamper details they used for comparison. After all, the acoustic memory is so unreliable and one's psycho-acoustics can be assuaded to hear what one expects or wants to hear. But I did work in related industry in the past so would like to provide firm physical evidence to prove they were made with the same "record pressing DNA" and let you be your own judge!

Oh by the way, the music is great, with a mix of both familiar and unfamiliar. The performance has the usual exquisite finesse and dynamic drive of all Ansermet's recordings. The sonics is among the top 5 Decca Ansermet's. And even the London ffss version is very tough to find! In case you wonder why I give both up: I still keep a lowly ffrr version (same master but later stampers), if both sell! I do have other pairings but as you can see, it takes me a lot of time for this so I'll see how this one goes to decide.

Record condition: NM/NM

Cover condition: NM-

Stampers: 2E/1E ffss wide band pressing

Note: I'm a collector, not a dealer. The reason I'm selling is to downsize my collection. Every record I offer was hand-picked based on its merits on music, performance, and sonics (not necessarily in that order!). I will list recording credentials such as producer, engineer, venue, date, etc. as I believe as an educated buyer, these will offer crucial info for an unfamiliar record to make a buying judgement. Hope you'll find this useful!

Shipping cost:

US: shipping is $4 by USPS media mail. $1 extra per each additional items for combined shipment. Priority Mail is available and cost is based on your location. Please wait for invoice if you prefer Priority Mail.

Canada: shipping is $14 by USPS First Class International package (no tracking or insurance available) for the first record, $2 extra per each additional items for combined shipment up to 4 lbs. (about 5 or 6 single records). For orders over 4 lbs. the best available shipping is by Priority Mail International up to 20 lbs. Please wait for invoice for actual shipping.

Europe: shipping is $22 by USPS First Class International package (no tracking or insurance available) for the first record, $4 extra per each additional items for combined shipment up to 4 lbs. (about 5 or 6 single records). For orders over 4 lbs. the best available shipping is by Priority Mail International up to 20 lbs. Please wait for invoice for actual shipping.

Asia: shipping is $24 by USPS First Class International package (no tracking or insurance available) for the first record, $4 extra per each additional items for combined shipment up to 4 lbs. (about 5 or 6 single records). For orders over 4 lbs. the best available shipping is by Priority Mail International up to 20 lbs. Please wait for invoice for actual shipping.