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* Erato EFM/STE 10" & LDE/STE serial 30**/50*** LPs; Introduction
   Gallery of first released LPs and recording datas

  • Any suggestion and contribution of better images and recording data will be welcomed and mentioned in this page.
  • Special thanks to ; Michael H. Gray, and of course also thanks so much to the owner of mikrokosmos.com who offered me the hosting space.

Index of numbers & jackets

10" EFM 42001~42050 42051~42100   STE 60001~60050  
LDE & DP 3001~3050 3051~3100 3101~3150 3151~3200 3201~3216 & DP    
STE & EJA(S) 50001~50050 50051~50100 50101~50150 50151~50200 50201~50250 50251~50300 50301~50312 & EJA

1. Why I made a page about French Erato label

   Erato LPs are pleasant to see by virtue of its elegant cover art. Founded by Edition Costallat(publisher) on 1953 and named Erato after a muse in Greek myth, it has retained the special position during the French record labels while others including Ducretet-Thomson, Les Discophiles Français, Orphée, Critère, Valois, and BAM were merged or defunct. The head producer Michel Garcin managed all the classical sections and artists, including the world first class artists such as Janos Starker, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Robert Veyron-Lacroix, Paul Tortelier, André Navarra, Jean Martinon, Jean-François Paillard, Lily Laskine, Maurice André, György Sebök, and Marie-Claire Alain. As a legacy of main French artists, I like Erato recordings.   

2. Serials of the first issues

  • DP ; earliest monaural issues, 12". I guess it has less than 20 titles.
  • EFM ; 'Fiori musicali' series, 4****. 10" (probably correspondent to STE 6****)
  • ELP ; 45 rpm(EP), *** numbers.
  • LDEV ; 45 rpm with *** numbers, and 10" with 2*** numbers.
  • LDE ; monaural. 1*** for EP, 2*** for 10", and 3*** for 12". LDE 3063~3215 were partly issued as STE 50001~50115.
  • STE ; stereo. 50001~50312 for 12", and 60*** for 10". After STE 50117, all of the STE issues have correspondent monaural ones in LDE serial of which number is "STE number = LDE number + 46900". For example, STE 50117 = LDE 3217.
  • STU ; stereo, maintained after about 1968 for both new issues(no monaural releases from then on) and reissue of STE serials. 70001~70312 for STE reissue(STE 5**** = STU 7****), and new issue after 70313.
  • EJA & EJAS ; The early time of the advent of the stereo LPs, Erato issued a special luxurious series 'Jardin des Arts(Garden of Arts)'. I saw 14 titles, but not sure what the exact number of all the titles is and whether all the titles were issued by both the monaural (EJA serial) and stereo(EJAS serial).

3. Label


 

3 The monaural label is green at the upper half background where muse 'Erato' figure and 'ERATO' letter is located, and has circular groove. In many cases, this label has letters at the perimeter. In general, this is called 'FG1(French green 1st)'.
 


 

3 The second monaural label is nearly same to FG1, but has no circular groove and letters at the perimeter. In general, this is called 'FG2(French green 2nd)'. (image from mikrokosmos.com)
 


 

3 The third monaural label is nearly same to the FG1, but has no circular groove or groove nearer center hole. In general, this is called 'FG3(French green 3rd)'. This LDE 3006 issue let us know the early contract between Erato and the Haydn society in Boston.
 


 

3 The first label at the stereo era has pink background at the upper side, pink letters at the perimeter, and deep groove. In general, this is called simply 'FP1(French Pink 1st)'. This is scarce to see.
 


3 The second stereo label has very silimar to the first one, but without groove. In general, this is called simply 'FP2(French Pink 2nd)'.
 


   

3 The third stereo label is called simply 'FP3(French Pink 3rd)'. Note the 'ERATO' letter is moved on the muse figure, and thick black border line around the pink background.
 


3 The fourth stereo label is similar to FP3, but upper background color is blue. This is called simply 'FB1(French Blue 1st)'. Note 'Gravure universelle(RIAA curve)' right of the center hole.
 


3 The fifth stereo label, called simply 'FB2(French Blue 2nd)', has no muse figure. Note the small step around the label border.
 


3 The sixth stereo label, called simply 'FB3(French Blue 3rd)', has no muse figure, either. Note the small step around the label border disappeared.
 


3 The seventh stereo label, called simly 'FD1(French dark 1st)', has totally black color design.
 


3 The green label was used again for the latest time of LP era.
 


3 Green label(FG4) is used for monaural issues of EJA serials and pink for stereo.
 


3 'Jardin des Arts(Garden of Arts)' serial label, used for stereo issue(EJAS serial). Pink label(FP4).
 


3 10" 'Fiori Musicali(musical flower)' serial label, used for monaural issues(EFM serial). Green label.


3 10" 'Fiori Musicali(musical flower)' serial label, used for stereo issues(STE serial). Pink label.

Sources

  1. Images
  2. Recording data

(c) 2010~, Youngrok LEE ; Link free, but please get my approval before you reuse, copy, or quote this materials.

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Created ; 20th Oct. 2010
Last update ; 11th Nov. 2012

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