More of the Music of Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
UPDATE 2026
Our favorite performance of Gaite Parisienne is the one from Readers Digest. (Don’t bother to look for it on our site. We never have any stock as it is too hard to find and usually too noisy for most audiophiles.)
In 2004 we wrote:
11S/10S are the best stampers we have found for this amazing DEMONSTRATION QUALITY record!
I think that information still holds up.
I can also tell you that 5S/5S has never impressed us much. We’re not sure if it’s bad enough to belong in the bad shaded dog category, but audiophiles would be wise to give it a miss at anything over a nominal price.
Side 1 plays nearly NM without a pop! Side 2 opens with a half inch scratch. But think about it — isn’t one side about the right amount for this kind of music? Do you really need to play side 2 after hearing side 1? This copy gives you a good portion of the music with AMAZINGLY GOOD SOUND.
This 1954 2-track recording is RCA’s first stereo recording of the work.
1954. Can you believe it? Four mics and two channels and it blows away 90% of all the classical recordings ever made.
Some old record collectors and tube equipment lovers [not so much anymore] say classical recording quality ain’t what it used to be. This record proves it.
(And this record proves that sometimes old records just sound like old records.)
