Cetra (Compagnia per edizioni, teatro, registrazioni ed affini) was an Italian record company, active between 1933 and 1957, the year in which, by merging with (Fonodisco Italiano Trevisan), it gave birth to Fonit Cetra. Its roster of artists included

Maria Callas Maria Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised ...

Renata Tebaldi Renata Tebaldi ( , ; 1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian spinto soprano, lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-World War II, war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, San ...

, Lina Pagliughi,

Ebe Stignani Ebe Stignani (10 July 1903 – 5 October 1974) was an Italian opera singer, who was pre-eminent in the dramatic mezzo-soprano roles of the Italian repertoire during a stage career of more than thirty years. Career Born in Naples in 1903 (some so ...

, Carlo Bergonzi, Galliano Masini, Giovanni Malipiero,

Ferruccio Tagliavini Ferruccio Tagliavini (; 14 August 191329 January 1995) was an Italian operatic lyric tenor mainly active in the 1940s and 1950s. Tagliavini was hailed as the heir apparent to Tito Schipa and Beniamino Gigli in the lyric-opera repertory due to t ...

, Carlo Tagliabue, Rolando Panerai,

Italo Tajo Italo Tajo (25 April 191528 March 1993) was an Italian operatic bass, particularly acclaimed for his Mozart and Rossini roles. Tajo was born in Pinerolo, Piedmont, Italy and studied violin and voice at the Music Conservatory of Turin with Nilde S ...

, Giuseppe Taddei, Tancredi Pasero and

Cesare Siepi Cesare Siepi (10 February 19235 July 2010) was an Italian opera singer, generally considered to have been one of the finest Bass (voice type), basses of the post-war period. His voice was characterised by a deep, warm timbre, a full, resonant, w ...

, among other leading Italian opera singers. The company was notable for issuing many recordings of obscure or rarely performed operas and the more obscure operas of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the composer's 1901 death in 1951. Cetra recordings are often now reissued by the company Fonit Cetra. Cetra opera albums were first distributed in the United States on the Cetra-Soria label (founded by Dario and Dorle Soria, who later founded

Angel Records Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in European classical music, classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. and one Peter Sellers comedy disc. The famous Recording Angel trademark ...

). In 1966,

Everest Records Everest Records was a record label based in Bayside, Long Island, started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music. History The idea for starting a label was related by electronics inventor Harry ...

began distribution of several Cetra opera recordings in the United States.Creativity and Innovation in the Music Industry - Page 111 Peter Tschmuck - 2006 "In turn, he founded Cetra-Soria, which released Italian recordings in the U.S. that were pressed at record plants specifically" Cetra also produced popular music recordings from at least the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

years through the 1960s. One of their instrumental artists is accordionist Michele Corino, a soloist with Italy's prominent Angelini Orchestrauntil he moved to San Francisco (California), in 1948. "Mike" ran a prominent accordion studio in "North Beach Music" (a.k.a. Corino Music) and taught, worked and recorded with brothers Fabio and Gianfranco Giotta, part of the San Francisco-based Caffé Trieste (see also "Cavalier Records", "Caffé Trieste" and "Trieste Records"). Gianfranco shared the studio with Mike on the 1963 Cetra album titled "Rome to Paris".

History of the Cetra

C.e.t.r.a. (the name is the acronym of Compagnia per edizioni, teatro, registrazioni ed affini) was born in Turin on April 10, 1933 on the initiative of the Italian Agency for Radio Auditions (EIAR), which decides to transform the Edizioni musicali Radiofono, active since 15 September 1923 (and owned by him) in the record company, changing its name to Cetra Società Anonima; later the company will become a joint stock company. Initially, the Cetra only made its own recordings and the distribution of the discs, for the printing of which it used instead of the Parlophon as easily found on the labels. In a short time, also starting the printing of its own records and with its own machinery, it became one of the leading companies in the Italian discography (at the time only 78 rpm records were printed), thanks above all to the link with the radio company EIAR, that all the major singers broadcast by the radio then recorded for the Cetra. After the war it continues to have a prominent position on the market, thanks to artists such as

Nilla Pizzi Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), known by her stage name Nilla Pizzi, was an Italian singer and actress. Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She is well know ...

Achille Togliani Achille Togliani (; 16 January 1924 in Pomponesco – 12 August 1995) was an Italian singer and actor. He was a participant in the first Sanremo Music Festival in 1951. Togliani's version of the song "" was used in the commercial of the per ...

Claudio Villa Claudio Villa (born Claudio Pica; 1 January 1926 – 7 February 1987) was an Italian singer and actor. Biography Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926. He recorded over 3000 songs, sold 45 million ...

(since 1957), and to the work of its general manager, Edgardo Trinelli. La Cetra also distributed some small satellite labels, such as Fon and Mayor. With an act dated December 16, 1957, Fonit and Cetra decided to merge into a new company, Fonit Cetra; the Cetra brand continues to exist within the new company.

Bibliography

* Various authors (edited by Gino Castaldo), ''Dictionary of Italian song'', Curcio editions, 1990; under the entry Fonit Cetra, by Mario De Luigi, pp. 695–696. * The data concerning the house's record releases were taken from the phonographic supports issued and stored (like all those published in Italy) at the State Discotheque in Rome. * Various issues of the magazines ''Musica e dischi'' (years from 1948 onwards),

TV Sorrisi e Canzoni ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' () is an Italian weekly listings magazine published in Segrate, Italy. History and profile The magazine was established in 1952 in Foligno by Casa Editrice Campi, with the name ''Sorrisi e Canzoni'' and Agostino Campi ...

(years from 1954), and many other musical magazines. * Mario De Luigi, ''The record industry in Italy'', Lato Side editions, Rome, 1982. * Mario De Luigi, ''History of the phonographic industry in Italy'', Musica e Dischi editions, Milan, 2008.

References

{{Authority control Italian record labels Record labels established in 1933 Classical music record labels Italian companies established in 1933 Italian brands

External links

Cetra-Soria collection, 1946-1954
Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.