Analogue Productions · 45 RPM Vinyl

RCA Living Stereo Great recordings.
Unmistakable personalities.

Reiner. Munch. Heifetz. Rubinstein. Meet the people behind the recordings and find your own route through 25 classics on 45 RPM vinyl.

Explore the records ↓The story of the series
Illustration of Fritz Reiner
Fritz Reiner · Illustration
Illustration of Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz · Illustration
Illustration of Charles Munch
Charles Munch · Illustration

In short

RCA Living Stereo stands for RCA’s classic stereo recordings: recorded from 1954, released on stereo LP from 1958. Analogue Productions reissues 25 of these recordings as 45 RPM double LPs on 180 g vinyl, pressed at Quality Record Pressings – with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Heifetz, Artur Rubinstein and many more. Michael 45 carries all 25 titles and the bundle and ships throughout the EU and to Switzerland, Norway and the UK.

Who would you like to hear?

Fritz ReinerIllustrationChicago9 recordingsCharles MunchIllustrationBoston7 recordingsPierre MonteuxIllustrationBoston1 recordingArthur FiedlerIllustrationBoston Pops1 recordingRené LeibowitzIllustrationRoyal Philharmonic1 recordingWalter HendlIllustrationDallas · Chicago2 recordingsMalcolm SargentIllustrationLondon2 recordingsIzler SolomonIllustrationRCA Victor Orchestra2 recordingsEnrique JordáIllustrationSan Francisco1 recordingJascha HeifetzIllustrationViolin7 recordingsArtur RubinsteinIllustrationPiano2 recordingsGregor PiatigorskyIllustrationCello1 recordingEarl WildIllustrationPiano1 recordingWilliam PrimroseIllustrationViola3 recordingsSzymon GoldbergIllustrationViolin · Festival Quartet1 recordingVictor BabinIllustrationPiano · Festival Quartet1 recordingNikolai GraudanIllustrationCello · Festival Quartet1 recordingStuart SankeyIllustrationDouble bass1 recordingBerj ZamkochianIllustrationOrgan1 recordingSocietà CorelliIllustrationString ensemble1 recordingBéla BartókIllustrationComposer2 recordingsMaurice RavelIllustrationComposer2 recordingsHector BerliozIllustrationComposer1 recordingAntonín DvořákIllustrationComposer1 recordingAntonio VivaldiIllustrationComposer1 recordingClaude DebussyIllustrationComposer1 recordingGeorge GershwinIllustrationComposer1 recordingSergei ProkofievIllustrationComposer2 recordingsIgor StravinskyIllustrationComposer1 recordingModest MussorgskyIllustrationComposer1 recordingMiklós RózsaIllustrationComposer1 recordingArthur BenjaminIllustrationComposer1 recordingCamille Saint-SaënsIllustrationComposer1 recordingMax BruchIllustrationComposer2 recordingsHenri VieuxtempsIllustrationComposer1 recordingWolfgang Amadeus MozartIllustrationComposer2 recordingsEnrique GranadosIllustrationComposer1 recordingManuel de FallaIllustrationComposer2 recordingsIsaac AlbénizIllustrationComposer1 recordingAlexander GlazunovIllustrationComposer1 recordingJohannes BrahmsIllustrationComposer3 recordingsLudwig van BeethovenIllustrationComposer1 recordingRichard StraussIllustrationComposer1 recordingSergei RachmaninoffIllustrationComposer1 recordingFelix MendelssohnIllustrationComposer2 recordingsFranz SchubertIllustrationComposer1 recordingPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyIllustrationComposer2 recordingsFranz LisztIllustrationComposer1 recording

Choose a portrait · discover the records

Read all 48 short profiles

Conductors

Fritz Reiner Chicago
From Bartók and Strauss to concertos with Heifetz and Rubinstein: Reiner connects nine albums in this selection.
Charles Munch Boston
French repertoire meets Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Dvořák. Follow Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Pierre Monteux Boston
Tchaikovsky’s Fourth with the Boston Symphony Orchestra: a symphony whose drama moves between instrumental groups.
Arthur Fiedler Boston Pops
Gershwin with the Boston Pops. Earl Wild joins him for the Piano Concerto and I Got Rhythm Variations.
René Leibowitz Royal Philharmonic
Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and A Night on Bare Mountain form The Power of the Orchestra.
Walter Hendl Dallas · Chicago
Hendl accompanies Heifetz in the Rózsa and Glazunov violin concertos. The companion works feature different line-ups.
Malcolm Sargent London
With Heifetz, the route leads to Bruch, Vieuxtemps and Mozart. Two albums, four distinct concert works.
Izler Solomon RCA Victor Orchestra
Solomon conducts Heifetz and Primrose in Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante and Benjamin’s Romantic Fantasy.
Enrique Jordá San Francisco
Jordá and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra accompany Artur Rubinstein in Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain.

Soloists & ensemble

Jascha Heifetz Violin
Seven albums, many encounters. Discover Heifetz with Reiner, Munch, Sargent, Hendl, Solomon and William Primrose.
Artur Rubinstein Piano
Brahms and Rachmaninoff lead to Reiner in Chicago; Falla brings Rubinstein together with Jordá in San Francisco.
Gregor Piatigorsky Cello
In Dvořák’s concerto, the cello meets the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch.
Earl Wild Piano
Gershwin’s Concerto in F and I Got Rhythm Variations with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops.
William Primrose Viola
The viola takes its place: beside Heifetz in Mozart and Benjamin, and with the Festival Quartet in Schubert.
Szymon Goldberg Violin · Festival Quartet
Goldberg plays violin in the Festival Quartet. Stuart Sankey adds the double bass for Schubert’s Trout Quintet.
Victor Babin Piano · Festival Quartet
Piano helps define the distinctive line-up of Schubert’s Trout Quintet, alongside violin, viola, cello and double bass.
Nikolai Graudan Cello · Festival Quartet
Graudan is the Festival Quartet’s cellist. Here he plays in Schubert’s Trout Quintet.
Stuart Sankey Double bass
Sankey joins the Festival Quartet for the Trout Quintet. The double bass gives this chamber ensemble a different foundation.
Berj Zamkochian Organ
The organ of Boston’s Symphony Hall is his instrument in Saint-Saëns’ Third, with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Società Corelli String ensemble
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with thirteen string players and no conductor. The illustration represents the ensemble.

Composers

Béla Bartók Composer
Two Reiner albums: Concerto for Orchestra, and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta with Hungarian Sketches.
Maurice Ravel Composer
Munch explores Daphnis et Chloé, Boléro, La Valse and Rapsodie espagnole. Two different perspectives on Ravel’s orchestra.
Hector Berlioz Composer
A recurring musical idea links the five movements of the Symphonie fantastique, performed here under Charles Munch.
Antonín Dvořák Composer
The Cello Concerto with Gregor Piatigorsky: a work in which soloist and orchestra have much to say to each other.
Antonio Vivaldi Composer
Spring, summer, autumn and winter. Four concertos, with one complete season on each side of this edition.
Claude Debussy Composer
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune appears on Munch’s Ravel album. There is more to discover beyond the main title.
George Gershwin Composer
Concerto in F, Cuban Overture and I Got Rhythm Variations: Gershwin with Earl Wild, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops.
Sergei Prokofiev Composer
Lieutenant Kijé with Reiner, and the Second Violin Concerto with Heifetz and Munch: two routes into Prokofiev.
Igor Stravinsky Composer
Song of the Nightingale shares Reiner’s album with Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé.
Modest Mussorgsky Composer
Pictures at an Exhibition and A Night on Bare Mountain make up The Power of the Orchestra.
Miklós Rózsa Composer
His Violin Concerto with Jascha Heifetz, Walter Hendl and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Arthur Benjamin Composer
Romantic Fantasy brings violin and viola together: Jascha Heifetz and William Primrose under Izler Solomon.
Camille Saint-Saëns Composer
The Third Symphony with organ leads to Charles Munch and Berj Zamkochian at Boston’s Symphony Hall.
Max Bruch Composer
Scottish Fantasy and the First Violin Concerto: Heifetz and Sargent are partners on both albums.
Henri Vieuxtemps Composer
The Fifth Violin Concerto with Heifetz and Sargent is paired with Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer
The Fourth Violin Concerto and the Sinfonia concertante offer different approaches to the interplay between soloists.
Enrique Granados Composer
The Intermezzo from Goyescas is part of Reiner’s album Spain.
Manuel de Falla Composer
Dances and interludes on Spain; Nights in the Gardens of Spain with Rubinstein. Two albums explore Falla’s music.
Isaac Albéniz Composer
Navarra and selections from Iberia appear on Spain with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Alexander Glazunov Composer
The Violin Concerto with Heifetz under Walter Hendl shares an album with Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante.
Johannes Brahms Composer
Violin, piano, orchestra: Brahms appears in two concertos and the Tragic Overture on the 1812 coupling.
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer
The D-major Violin Concerto with Jascha Heifetz, Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Richard Strauss Composer
Also sprach Zarathustra with Fritz Reiner: beyond the famous opening lies the full sweep of a symphonic poem.
Sergei Rachmaninoff Composer
The Paganini Rhapsody with Rubinstein and Reiner brings piano and orchestra together in a sequence of variations.
Felix Mendelssohn Composer
The Violin Concerto with Heifetz and Munch; The Hebrides with Reiner on the 1812 coupling.
Franz Schubert Composer
The Trout Quintet with the Festival Quartet and Stuart Sankey. Five instruments in a shared conversation.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Composer
The Fourth Symphony with Monteux and the 1812 Overture with Reiner: two recordings, two conductors, two orchestras.
Franz Liszt Composer
Reiner’s Mephisto Waltz appears on the album headed by Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Your next Living Stereo.

25 · 45 RPM

25 recordings

You don’t need a favourite conductor yet

Three ways into the music.

From Michael’s videos

What Michael 45 says about the series

“A dynamic range that is not of this world. It blew me out of my living room. Breathtaking.”
Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra · watch from 3:31
“Breathtaking in its beauty, perfection and dynamic range. There is so much air moving through your listening room.”
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé · watch from 5:38
“The dynamics of this recording are nothing short of breathtaking.”
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture · Mendelssohn · Liszt · Brahms · watch from 1:51
“Records like these seduce me into going deeper and deeper into these classical releases. By now I enjoy them so much.”
Beethoven: Violin Concerto · watch from 4:36

The story behind the records

An orchestra.
A room.
A moment
that stays.

Illustration of Charles Munch

Charles Munch · Boston Symphony Orchestra

A quiet entrance. A second voice answers from further back in the orchestra. Individual instruments become part of something larger. The fascination of RCA Living Stereo begins here: where an interpretation meets the room in which it takes shape.

The names on these sleeves belong to a remarkable constellation. Fritz Reiner in Chicago. Charles Munch in Boston. Jascha Heifetz with a succession of orchestras. Artur Rubinstein at the piano. Their repertoire asks very different things of them. Berlioz sets out a drama in five movements. Bartók gives whole sections of the orchestra a soloist’s role. Schubert brings five musicians into a conversation in which even the double bass has its own voice.

The tapes came before the stereo LP

RCA was making stereo recordings in 1954, four years before its Living Stereo LPs reached listeners. Recording dates and release dates therefore tell different stories. Early sessions used two channels; many later recordings used three, giving the production team a centre channel alongside left and right.

Living Stereo encompasses different orchestras, halls and recording teams. Lewis Layton is an important name in that history; John Crawford also appears among the Boston sessions featured here. The familiar logo does not describe one unchanging method. Moving from album to album reveals those differences.

Let the musicians show you the way

You might start with a composer and follow the works. Or stay with an interpreter. Reiner leads from Strauss’s large orchestra to Bartók, then to concertos with Rubinstein or Heifetz. Munch connects French repertoire with Beethoven and Dvořák. The perspective changes while a familiar name opens up the next record.

The partnerships are particularly revealing. Heifetz plays Brahms with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, but Beethoven with Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. On Rubinstein’s Rachmaninoff and Falla coupling, even the conductor and orchestra change between works. The portraits above lead to specific recordings: the composer wrote the work; the conductor, soloists and ensemble shape this performance.

A smaller ensemble, a different conversation

Living Stereo is often associated with the full orchestra, yet the selection reaches further. The Società Corelli plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons without a conductor. For Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Stuart Sankey joins the Festival Quartet on double bass. Moving from a symphony to these recordings changes the scale and the distribution of attention.

There is no required route through the repertoire. Follow the violin through a concerto. Listen for the shifting responsibilities of instrumental groups in Bartók. In a Schubert variation, notice who carries the melody and who changes its surroundings. A familiar theme can be the starting point; the rest of the record takes it somewhere new.

The recording then. The edition now.

The individual Analogue Productions editions shown here present each title on two 180-gram LPs at 45 RPM, pressed at Quality Record Pressings. Tape sources and mastering credits belong to the specific edition. For Rubinstein’s Paganini Rhapsody/Falla coupling and Reiner’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, the manufacturer explicitly identifies a tape copy.

The format also shapes the listening experience. At 45 RPM the groove passes the stylus faster, but each side holds less music. On the Vivaldi edition, a complete season occupies each side. In Monteux’s Tchaikovsky Fourth, the first movement is divided across two sides. These are practical differences to consider alongside the pressing plant or the weight of the vinyl.

Choose a name. Follow a melody. Discover the record it leads to next.

Back to the records ↑
1954

RCA is already recording in stereo. The tapes come before the stereo LP.

1958

Living Stereo reaches the LP. Recording and release dates can tell different stories.

45 RPM

The reissue series shown here: two 180-gram LPs per title, pressed at QRP.

Good to know.

Which record is a good place to start?

Start with an ensemble or instrument that interests you. Try Heifetz’s concertos for violin, Rubinstein or Earl Wild for piano, or Schubert’s Trout Quintet for a smaller group. The portraits lead to the corresponding editions.

Do all Living Stereo editions have the same mastering?

Sources and mastering credits vary by title and edition. The individual product pages carry the documented details. The series name alone does not promise an original three-track tape or a particular mastering engineer.

Why separate composers from performers?

A composer wrote the work. Conductors, soloists and ensembles shape the specific recording. An album can bring together several composers and different performers. That is why Debussy’s Prélude appears on Munch’s Ravel album, and Liszt on Reiner’s 1812 coupling.

What does 45 RPM mean for listening?

The records turn at 45 revolutions per minute. The higher speed comes with shorter sides, and a side break may fall within a work. Our product stories explain the layout of individual editions.

Are these recordings in stereo?

Yes, the editions shown here contain stereo recordings. The number of tracks on the session tape and the source used for a particular reissue are separate questions.

How does the bundle differ from the individual titles?

The bundle brings the 25 titles together in one order. Check its product page for the current contents, price and availability.

The portraits are illustrations, not historical photographs. The original covers come from the editions in our shop.