RCA Victor in Argentina

The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey, was incorporated in 1901, known for its His Master's Voice dog and its Victrola. In 1929 it merged with the Radio Corporation of America and became RCA Victor.^[1]

In Argentina Victor was the one competitor left by 1914, when Max Glücksmann's Odeon had signed most of the best musicians and composers.^[2] Victor's answer, through the 1930s and 1940s, was the dance orchestras.

Julio De Caro's sextet recorded for Victor, and the story goes that Paul Whiteman, also a Victor artist, had the company lend De Caro the horn violin he made his trademark.^[10] Pedro Laurenz recorded bandoneon duets for Victor, and his own orchestra's first record for it in July 1937.^[8]

The golden-age roster

Francisco Lomuto began recording for RCA Victor in 1931.^[6] Edgardo Donato moved there on 9 December 1932 and stayed to the end, but for a short spell on Pampa.^[7] Juan D'Arienzo was an exclusive RCA Victor artist for forty years, from 1935 to 1975.^[3] Carlos Di Sarli recorded for Victor from 11 December 1939, starting with Corazón, sung by Roberto Rufino.^[4] Ángel D'Agostino and his singer Ángel Vargas were signed by RCA Victor in 1940.^[5] Aníbal Troilo's orchestra recorded for RCA Victor by 1943, when it cut Astor Piazzolla's first arrangement, Inspiración.^[9]

In our catalogue RCA Victor's tango recordings run from 1925 to 1975. D'Arienzo leads with nearly 1,000, then Troilo, Lomuto, Di Sarli, Fresedo, Tanturi, D'Agostino and Donato.^[11]

Reading a Victor record

Two numbers identify a 78. The matrix number was given to each side as it was recorded and is stamped into the run-out area between the last groove and the label^[12]; the catalogue number is the one the record was sold under. So a matrix dates a recording session, a catalogue number dates an issue, and one matrix can come back years later under a new catalogue number. Tangopedia lists both for every record we hold, with the year it was issued^[11].