Help with Decca Ace of Diamonds catalogue

I am building a collection of Decca Ace of Diamonds grooved pressings as an alternative to forking out for the orginals and I have two questions which relentless searching of Google, ebay, Discogs etc doesn't seem to be able to answer.

1. What is SDD 173 and what if any Decca SXL does it correspond to? This is the only release I can't seem to tie down.
2. What is the final grooved pressing in the series. I have a feeling it may be SDD184 though here is a mono ADD189 http://classicrecords.co.uk/product...phony-2-for-strings-and-trumpet-ansermet-osr/

Any help welcome! Thanks

 

Hopefully someone might be able to help. But here is the complete list of what I believe are all the Decca groove pressings with SDD 173 missing.

SDD101 Beethoven Symphony No.1 & No.8 Ansermet SXL6096
SDD102 Beethoven Symphony No.2 Ansermet SXL2228
SDD103 Beethoven Symphony No.3 Ansermet SXL2165
SDD104 Beethoven Symphony No.4 Ansermet SXL2116
SDD105 Beethoven Symphony No.5 Ansermet SXL2003
SDD106 Beethoven Symphony No.6 Ansermet SXL2193
SDD107 Beethoven Symphony No.7 Ansermet SXL2235
SDD108 Beethoven Symphony No.9 Ansermet SXL2274
SDD109 Rossini-Respighi Boutique Fantasque/ The Sorcerer's Apprentice Solti SXL2007
SDD110 Mendelssohn / Bruch Violin Concertos Campoli SXL2026
SDD111 Grieg Peer Gynt Fjeldstad SXL2012
SDD112 Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture Alwyn SXL2001
SDD113 Lehar The Merry Widow 1 Gueden SXL2022
SDD114 Lehar The Merry Widow 2 Gueden SXL2023
SDD115 Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Op.14 Argenta SXL2009
SDD116 Mozart Piano Concerto 27, Piano Sonata 11 Backhaus SXL2214
SDD117 Brahms Symphony No.1 Kubelik SXL2013
SDD118 Brahms Symphony No.2 Kubelik SXL2059
SDD119 Brahms Symphony No.3 Kubelik SXL2104
SDD120 Brahms Symphony No.4 Kubelik SXL2206
SDD121 Mendelssohn-Schubert Italian Symphony/ Symphony 5 Solti SXL2067
SDD122 Mozart Symphonies 32 & 38 Maag SXL2135
SDD123 Brahms-Dvorak Hungarian/ Slavonic Dances Reiner SXL2249
SDD124 Liszt Piano Concertos 1, 2 Katchen SXL2097
SDD125 Adam Giselle Martinon SXL2128
SDD126 Tchaikovsky-Dvorak Violin Concertos Ricci SXL2279
SDD127 Strauss Graduation Ball/ Le Spectre de la Rose Boskovsky SXL2250
SDD128 Dvorak Symphony 5 'From The New World' Kubelik SXL2005
SDD129 Bach Orchestral Suites 2 & 3 Ansermet SXL6004
SDD130 Schubert Symphonies 8 & 2 Munchinger SXL2045
SDD131 Tchaikovsky Symphony No.4 Wolff SXL2166
SDD132 Various Opera Evergreens Gueden No SXL
SDD133 Strauss The Blue Danube etc Krips SXL2047
SDD134 Falla El Amor Brujo etc Ansermet SXL2260
SDD135 Various A Recital of Folk Songs Voges No SXL
SDD136 Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite, Song of the Nightingale Ansermet SXL2188
SDD137 Brahms Piano Concerto 1 Katchen SXL2172
SDD138 Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 Martinon SXL2004
SDD139 Massenet Les Patineurs/ Le Cid Martinon SXL2021
SDD140 Chopin Kempff Plays Chopin Kempff SXL2081
SDD141 Bizet Carmen/Arlesienne Suites Ansermet SXL2037
SDD142 Tchaikovsky Symphony No.4 Krips SXL2109
SDD143 Wagner Great Scenes from Wagner Knappertsbusch SXL2068
SDD144 Bizet-Ibert-Saint Saens Jeux d'Enfants/Divertissement/Danse Macabre Martinon SXL2252
SDD145 Mendelssohn Symphony 3, Fingals' Cave Maag SXL2246
SDD146 Various Operatic Arias Sutherland SXL2159
SDD147 Arne, Bach, Purcell etc Music in London 1670-1770 Hurwitz No SXL
SDD148 Marais Suite from Semele Petit No SXL
SDD149 Various Suite in D for trumpets and orchestra Petit No SXL
SDD150 Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Grieg Etc Karajan Bon Bons Karajan No SXL
SDD151 Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade Ansermet SXL2086
SDD152 D'Auvergne Les Troqueurs Petit No SXL
SDD153 Schubert Symphony No.9 Krips SXL2045
SDD154 Faure Requiem Ansermet SXL2211
SDD155 Mozart Clarinet Concerto Munchinger SXL6054
SDD156 Shostakovitch-Borodin String Quartets 2/8 Borodin Quartet SXL6036
SDD157 Schumann Symphonies 1, 4 Krips SXL2223
SDD158 Various Guitar Recital Gomez No SXL
SDD159 Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream Maag SXL2060
SDD160 Lully Bruits de Trompettes Petit No SXL
SDD161 Smetana Ma Vlast 1 Kubelik SXL2064-5
SDD162 Smetana Ma Vlast 2 Kubelik SXL2064-5
SDD163 Various A Choral Tapestry Bourne Singers No SXL
SDD-R164 Listz/Chopin/Bach Recital Busoni No SXL
SDD-R165 Chopin Plays Chopin Paderewski No SXL
SDD-R166 Paderewski/Liszt Plays Liszt/Paderewski Paderewski No SXL
SDD-R167 Mussorgsky etc Plays Mussorgsky etc Prokofiev No SXL
SDD168 Ravel L'Enfants et Les Sortileges Ansermet SXL2212
SDD169 Handel Water Music Szell SXL2302
SDD170 Ravel Daphnis et Chloe Monteux SXL2164
SDD171 Mozart Notturno for 4 Orchestras, Serenata Notturno Maag SXL2196
SDD172 Schubert Symphonies 4,5 Munchinger SXL6086
SDD173 ? ? ? SXL?
SDD174 Haydn Symphonies 94,99 Krips SXL6020
SDD175 Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra Karajan SXL2154
SDD176 Mozart Teresa Berganza Sings Mozart Pritchard SXL6045
SDD177 Chopin Kempff Plays Chopin Vol.2 Kempff SXL2081
SDD178 Mozart Symphonies 35/41 Krips SXL2220
SDD179 Shostakovitch Sympnony No.5 Kertesz SXL6018
SDD180 Albeniz Iberia/Turina Danzas Fantasticas Ansermet SXL2243
SDD181 Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 Katchen SXL2076
SDD182 Haydn Symphonies 82/86 Ansermet SXL6020
SDD183 Haydn Symphonies 83/87 Ansermet SXL6021
SDD184 Haydn Symphonies 85/84 Ansermet SXL6022
SDD185 Schubert Trout Quintet Curzon SXL2110

 

It is what is commonly known as the Decca Wide Band Groove which is the most collectible of the early Decca classical stereo pressings. It has the characteristic groove around a centimetre from the edge of the label. In some cases the same lacquers were used for Decca's budget reissue label Ace of Diamonds giving an almost identical sound to the original pressings. The only real difference is the price: £400 for SXL2026 and £10 for SDD110 pressed from the same source.

 

SDD 173 is a toughie. Several dealer sites and Discogs turns up nothing on it. An enigma! Any chance this number never got issued? Or was scheduled to and then withdrawn!

 

I did wonder this as well. Though SDD 163 is another one which is pretty hard to track down as there was no Decca SXL release. I came across one in a charity shop and was surprised to find only one mention online as being part of a 2LP reissue. No further details as far as I can see.

 

This has similarities, a UK Stereo budget line on Decca. Main difference other than label name is there are some non classical titles in the series as well. The classical titles often have UK made Stereo Treasury Series counterparts sold in the USA. Steve, heavily agree with you. The best UK Malden made Decca pressings, Decca/London BlueBack era classical in superb sound from the golden age. Cheap classical heaven. The finest cheap classical there was. Wish there was a Love button on the forum for this one, Like not strong enough.

 

And still is given most people pass over them in charity bins and the prices on ebay are very reasonable. Well worth the investment to build up a great sounding classical library and test your audio system!

It's also nice to be able to hear what is pretty close to an original pressing against some of the excellent ORG and Speakers Corner reissues without having to fork out a fortune.

 

Agreed. I also love those early UK EMI Classics For Pleasure as those are often pressed from the same stampers as a UK CLP or CSD expensive pressing. And yes, the UK Decca Ace Of Diamonds and London Stereo Treasury Series are the finest cheap way today to enjoy the SXL/CS Bluebacks often pressed from the same metalwork at down to earth prices.

 

Hi Steve,
I have a complete collection of the Decca 'Ace of Diamonds' SDD series from SDD 101 to SDD 579 (Also all the DDS series and some of the GOS series). I can confirm that SDD 173-R is 'Alfred Cortot Concert' which is a 1968 Everest recording made from the Duo-Art piano rolls. My copy is grooved and the programme is music by Saint-Saens, Faure, Albeniz, Liszt, Chopin and Schubert. The matrices on my copy are ACNZ-3040-1W an ACNZ-3041-1W. As far as I am aware there was no SXL equivalent issue. Hope this information helps.

 

Thanks so much for answering the question. That's amazing and pretty impressive. As a result I even found an image http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71CdzkIzpNL._SL1500_.jpg and can now fill in that annoying blank.

Would you also be able to clear up the mystery of what is the final grooved pressing? It appears to be in the 180s but I am not 100% certain what was the highest number.

 

Hello Steve,

The highest number grooved pressing I have in my collection is SDD 188 Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 1/Tchaikovsky Concert Fantasia (Katin/Boult) That is not to say there is none with a higher number (up to SDD 199 when, I believe, The 'FFRR' pressings were discontinued).

My own research on the AOD labels so far is as follows :-

EW1 Decca Logo, FFRR, Grooved (up to about SDD 130)
EW2 FFRR, Grooved (up to at least SDD 188 - maybe beyond)
EW3 FFRR (up to SDD 199)
EW4 None of the above - SDD 200 onwards.

Hope this helps.

 

From what I remember, Decca Ace of Diamonds (and Ace of Clubs and Ace of Hearts) LP's were also issued in Canada in place of the U.S. Stereo Treasury Series budget LP's on the Canadian Decca label.