Living Stereo

>> PLEASE ONLY LIST THIS AS A SERIES. It is not a label on its own, and will always be listed with an RCA-related label <<

In the decade following 1953, RCA Victor made a substantial body of recordings which have come to be identified with their early stereo release label, Living Stereo. A majority of the records issued, particularly classical music, offer music, performances and audio quality which have come to be considered definitive. Living Stereo influenced many recordings that followed with their recording and marketing philosophies.

On October 6, 1953, RCA held experimental stereophonic sessions in New York's Manhattan Center with Leopold Stokowski conducting a group of New York musicians. There were additional stereo tests in December, this time with Pierre Monteux conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In February 1954, RCA Victor conducted pioneering experiments in multi-track recording in Boston's Symphony Hall, with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This began a practice of simultaneously taping orchestras with both stereophonic (two-track) and monaural equipment.

RCA Victor continued to record using two- and three-track equipment, and went on to record artists such as Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Fritz Reiner, Charles Munch, Arthur Rubinstein, and Arthur Fiedler. In 1955, stereophonic tape players arrived on the consumer market, and RCA released its first Stereo Orthophonic tapes. In 1958, the Western Electric Company produced the breakthrough Westrex stereo disc cutter, and Living Stereo LP records were launched the same year.