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112-587: Cugat was born Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu in Girona , Catalonia , Spain, in 1900 (although he would later claim to have been born in 1901). His family emigrated to Cuba when he was three years old. He studied classical violin and worked as a violinist at the age of nine in a silent movie theater to help pay for his education. He was first chair violinist for the Teatro Nacional Symphonic Orchestra. When he

224-488: A Mediterranean climate ( Csa ), with mild winters and hot summers. In winter, frost occurs frequently (41.3 days per year from November to March), but snowfall is quite rare. Temperatures in winter can drop to below −2 °C (28 °F), especially during days with thermal inversion . Average annual rainfall is usually slightly above 700 mm (28 in). The wettest seasons are autumn (September–November) and spring (April–early June). Thunderstorms can occur throughout

336-554: A "remarkable turnaround" with the success of artists including Britney Spears , the Dave Matthews Band , Natalie Imbruglia , the Verve Pipe , Robyn , SWV , Christina Aguilera , NSYNC , and Foo Fighters . A distribution deal with Loud Records yielded hit records from urban artists including Big Punisher , Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep . In 2002, BMG fully acquired J Records , which it had founded in 2000 as

448-576: A British punk rock label, and Jive Records , whose roster included Schooly D , Kool Moe Dee , and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince . By the end of the fiscal year 1988, RCA Records had gross revenue of $ 236 million in the United States, the most profitable year in the label's history. The album The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range , sold more than three million copies, and

560-455: A different supporting cast. They also issued two studio cast versions of Show Boat , one with Robert Merrill, Patrice Munsel , and Rise Stevens in 1956, and the other with Howard Keel , Anne Jeffreys , and Gogi Grant in 1958. Contrary to the way the show is written, both of these Show Boat albums featured all-white casts, reflecting the era of racial segregation. In 2006, Sony BMG merged its Broadway music labels, including RCA Victor, to

672-419: A genuine spire. It contains, besides the sepulchre of its patron and the tomb of the valiant Álvarez, a chapel dedicated to St. Narcissus, who according to tradition was one of the early bishops of the see. The Benedictine church of the monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants is in the early Romanesque style, dating to about the year 1130, though the monastery dates to about 950. The monastery slightly predates

784-638: A joint venture called RCA/Ariola International. In December 1985, the RCA Corporation was purchased by General Electric (GE), with the acquisition completed in June, 1986. GE sold its 50% interest in RCA Records to its partner Bertelsmann and the company was renamed BMG Music for Bertelsmann Music Group. BMG revived the RCA "lightning bolt" logo that was retired in 1968 to differentiate RCA Records from

896-850: A joint venture with Clive Davis . Davis was then named chairman of RCA Records and J Records under the auspices of a new entity, the RCA Music Group , which included RCA Records, J, and Arista Records . In 2004, Sony and BMG merged their music divisions to create Sony BMG , and in 2007, the RCA Music Group was rebranded as the BMG Label Group . In 2006, Sony BMG merged its former Broadway music and classical labels, including Red Seal and Gold Seal, to Sony Masterworks . Legacy Recordings , Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division, reissued classic albums from RCA. In April 2008, former Zomba Label Group president and CEO Barry Weiss

1008-400: A much larger section to the east and south. It is possible to walk the walls and climb the towers, where visitors can enjoy panoramic views of Girona and the surrounding countryside. The Collegiate Church of Sant Feliu is noteworthy from an architectural point of view. Its style is 14th-century Gothic, the façade dating from the 18th, and it is one of the few Spanish churches that possesses

1120-833: A number of recordings with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra , which was usually drawn from either Philadelphia or New York musicians, as well as members of the Symphony of the Air, and the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera . By the late 1950s, RCA Victor had fewer high prestige orchestras under contract than Columbia had: RCA Victor recorded the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Boston Symphony Orchestra , and

1232-522: A period during which RCA Records had notable success in the pop genre, with Christina Aguilera, Kesha , Pink , Kelly Clarkson and Pitbull scoring multiple #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In May 2011, former Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris was appointed chairman of Sony Music Entertainment . Focused on A&R, Morris named Peter Edge , president of A&R at RCA and J Records, chairman and CEO of RCA Music Group. Tom Corson

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1344-887: A practice of simultaneously recording orchestras with both stereophonic and monaural equipment. Other early stereo recordings were made of Toscanini's final NBC concerts (never officially issued) and Guido Cantelli respectively, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra; the Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler; and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner . Initially, RCA used RT-21 quarter-inch tape recorders (which ran at 30 inches per second), wired to mono mixers, with Neumann U-47 cardioid and M-49/50 omnidirectional microphones. Then they switched to an Ampex 300–3 one-half inch machine, running at 15 inches per second (which

1456-490: A similarly controversial reputation, derided by some record collectors as "Dynawarp". RCA gradually phased out Dynaflex records and by the end of the 1970s had returned to manufacturing thicker vinyl records. In April 1970, RCA Records announced the first quadraphonic 4-channel 8-track tape cartridges ("Quad-8", later called just Q8). RCA began releasing quadraphonic vinyl recordings in the United States in February 1973, in

1568-423: A sub-label of Victor. It was originally an 8-inch record with a dark blue label, alongside the 8-inch Electradisk label (sold by F.W. Woolworth ). Neither label was a success. In 1933, RCA Victor reintroduced Bluebird and Electradisk as a standard 10-inch label (Bluebird's label was redesigned, and it became known as the 'buff' label). Another discount label, Sunrise, was produced (although it is not known for whom it

1680-531: A substantial role playing himself. A brief scene revolving around the restaurant can also be seen in the earlier 1943 film The Heat's On , also starring Cugat as himself. Cugat spent his last years in Barcelona , Spain, living in a suite at Hotel Ritz (Barcelona)  [ es ] . He died of heart failure at age 90 in Barcelona and was buried in his native Girona . He was posthumously inducted into

1792-736: A tourist route around the old city. Girona was founded in a strategic place, in the natural corridor between the Empordà plain and the Catalan Coastal Depression , therefore connecting by land the northern Costa Brava and France with Barcelona and other southern populations. This corridor is a defile formed by the Ter river between the Gavarres massif and the Catalan Transversal Range . The Ter river

1904-635: Is Casa Masó , the birthplace of the architect Rafael Masó and an example of Noucentisme in Girona. Since 2006 it has been the headquarters of the Fundació Rafael Masó . The river façade can be recognised by its unique white color. Today, the historic Jewish quarter or Call has been restored. In 1492 the Jewish community was forced to choose between conversion and expulsion. After the Jews left,

2016-417: Is 10 kilometres (6 miles) south of the town centre. It grew tremendously principally as a result of Ryanair choosing it as one of their European hubs, but then shrunk again after they relocated most of the flights to Barcelona El Prat . Girona Airport is approximately a 30-minute bus ride from the bus terminal and train station in Girona city, and an hour from Barcelona centre, 92 km (57 mi) to

2128-496: Is a popular destination for tourists and Barcelona day-trippers - the train journey from Barcelona Sants to Girona takes approximately forty minutes on high-speed trains, eighty with express ones and ninety with regional ones. The old town stands on the steep hill of the Caputxins to the east of the river Onyar, while the more modern section stands on the plains to the west. The city has a number of Art Nouveau buildings including

2240-542: Is also an important stop on the AVE services from Paris, Marseille, Toulouse and Figueres to Barcelona, and from Figueres to Barcelona and Madrid. The journey time to Barcelona is approximately 1 hour 35 minutes on the stopping "Regional" trains, 1 hour and 15 minutes by conventional train ("Media Distancia") or 37 minutes on the AVE . Madrid is reached in 3 h 45 min, also on the AVE. The town's airport, Girona-Costa Brava,

2352-485: Is located in a seismic zone, which means it occasionally has earthquakes throughout the year. Most of them are not felt, and some are felt as a minor vibration or light shaking. The strongest earthquake recorded in Girona was the magnitude 6.7 Catalonia 1428 earthquake. Girona has a humid Mediterranean climate. According to the Köppen climate classification , Girona has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) transitioning to

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2464-520: Is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA 's former long-time rival Columbia Records ; also Arista Records , and Epic Records . The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop , classical , rock , hip hop , afrobeat , electronic , R&B , blues , jazz , and country . The label's name is derived from the initials of its now defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). RCA Records

2576-538: Is the capital city of the province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia , Spain , at the confluence of the Ter , Onyar , Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020 but, the population of the Girona– Salt urban area is estimated to be about 156,400 (2020). Girona is also capital of the comarca of the Gironès and the vegueria of Girona. Since much of

2688-513: Is the most important water course in the region. In Girona it flows through the north of the town, from southwest to northeast. It is in Girona where the Ter meets the Onyar , the second largest river in the area. The Onyar crosses the city from south to north and it has historically conditioned the city's development, as catastrophic floods have periodically affected the town since historic times. Girona

2800-703: Is the site of a 15th century synagogue. The Center hosts the Girona Museum of Jewish History and the Nahmanides Institute. Excavations also turned up 1,200 old documents, including Talmudic commentary, accounts of domestic life, a description of the ancient synagogue and the names of Girona Jews who converted to Christianity in 1492. The Barri Vell and the Girona Cathedral have been the set of several films, e.g. The Monk and episode 10 of season 6 of Game of Thrones . During

2912-519: The Boston Pops Orchestra disc featuring Tchaikovsky 's Marche Slave and Ketèlbey 's In a Persian Market . RCA Victor issued boxed sets of four to six 45s, each set providing about the same amount of music as one LP (an extreme example of these 45 rpm boxed sets was the complete 1951 recording of the opera Carmen , featuring Risë Stevens and Jan Peerce , conducted by Fritz Reiner , which consisted of sixteen 45 rpm discs). In

3024-533: The Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI . This gave RCA head David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board. In September 1931, RCA Victor introduced the first 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm records sold to the public, calling them "Program Transcription" records. These used a shallower and more closely spaced implementation of the large "standard groove" found on contemporary 78 rpm records, rather than

3136-627: The Farinera Teixidor by Rafael Masó. The ancient cathedral, which stood on the site of the present one, was used by the Moors as a mosque, and after their final expulsion was either entirely remodelled or rebuilt. The present edifice is one of the most important monuments of the school of the Majorcan architect Jaume Fabre and an excellent example of Catalan Gothic architecture. It is approached in ninety steps. An aisle and chapels surround

3248-564: The International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Cugat was married five times. His first marriage was to Rita Montaner (1918–20), his second was to his band vocalist Carmen Castillo (1929–44), his third to actress Lorraine Allen (1947–52), his fourth to singer Abbe Lane (1952–64), and his fifth to Spanish guitarist and comic actress Charo (1966–78). Cugat recorded for Columbia (1940s and 1950s, and Epic), RCA Victor (1930s and 1950s), Mercury (1951–52 and

3360-652: The Jewish community of Girona flourish, having one of the most important Kabbalistic schools in Europe. The Rabbi of Girona, Moshe ben Nahman Gerondi (better known as Nahmanides or Ramban) was appointed Great Rabbi of Catalonia. Centered on the Jewish Call (Call Jueu), the Jewish community of Girona came to an end in 1492, when the Catholic Monarchs outlawed Judaism throughout Spain and Jews were given

3472-513: The Monastery of St. Daniel . The Plaça de la Independència is one of the best-known and busiest squares in Girona. Located in the Mercadal district in the city centre, it is also known as Plaça de Sant Agustí, after the former Convent of Sant Agustí. Its name refers to the 1808–1814 War of Spanish Independence, part of the larger Peninsular War , against Napoleon Bonaparte . The interest of

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3584-823: The National Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded in London's Kingsway Hall . In order to publish music in Japan, RCA collaborated with the Victor Company of Japan's publishing wing Victor Musical Industries Inc. in 1975 to found Japanese record label RVC. In October 1976, the RCA Corporation announced the revival of the Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark. RCA Records reinstated Nipper to most (Victor, Victrola , Red Seal and Special Products) record labels (in addition to returning to

3696-711: The Nipper / His Master's Voice trademark for use in Japan. From 1942 to 1944, RCA Victor was seriously impacted by the American Federation of Musicians recording ban . Virtually all union musicians in the US and Canada were forbidden from making recordings during the period. One of the few exceptions was the eventual release of recorded radio broadcast performances from the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini . However, RCA Victor lost

3808-687: The Philadelphia Orchestra during this period; the orchestra's contract with RCA Victor expired during the strike and when Columbia Records settled with the union before RCA Victor, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphians signed a new contract with Columbia and began recording in 1944. Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra would not return to RCA until 1968. In the spring of 1946, "RCA Victor" replaced "Victor" on its record labels. In 1949, RCA Victor introduced

3920-513: The Principality of Catalonia in 1351 when King Peter III of Aragon gave the title of Duke to his first-born son, John. In 1414, King Ferdinand I in turn gave the title of Prince of Girona to his first-born son, Alfonso . The title is currently carried by Princess Leonor of Asturias , the second since the 16th century to do so. The earliest documented evidence of a Jewish community in Girona dates to about 885. The 12th century saw

4032-535: The Third siege of Girona of the Peninsular War , the city was besieged from May to December 1809 by 35,000 French Napoleonic troops under Vergier, Augereau and Gouvion Saint-Cyr . Continuously under heavy bombardment, Girona held out obstinately under the leadership of Álvarez de Castro until disease and famine compelled it to capitulate on 12 December. Girona was the center of the Ter department during

4144-683: The Victor Talking Machine Company , then the world's largest manufacturer of phonographs (including the famous " Victrola ") and phonograph records . The company then became the RCA Victor Division of RCA. In absorbing Victor, RCA acquired the New World rights to the famous Nipper /" His Master's Voice " trademark . In 1931, RCA Victor's British affiliate the Gramophone Company merged with

4256-597: The soundtrack album from the film Dirty Dancing , which cost RCA $ 200,000 to produce, sold 15.6 million copies in less than two years. Its follow-up, More Dirty Dancing , composed of song tracks which had been left off of the first album, was produced for $ 80,000 and went on to sell more than 5.6 million. RCA's most successful artists during the 1980s included the Eurythmics , Love and Rockets , Joshua Perahia , Rick Astley , Hall & Oates , Dolly Parton , Juice Newton , and Bucks Fizz . In August 1990, Buziak

4368-530: The "microgroove" used for post-World War II 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm " LP " (long play) records. The format was a commercial failure, partly because the new Victrolas with two-speed turntables designed to play these records were exorbitantly priced, the least expensive model retailing for $ 395.00 in the depths of the Great Depression . By 1933, the format was abandoned and two-speed turntables were no longer offered, but some Program Transcriptions lingered in

4480-406: The 14th century. The Roman wall was used as a foundation. At the start of the 16th century, the wall was absorbed into the city. The walled precinct lost its military value. Bit by bit, the wall was degrading, as parts were gradually altered from the inside and the outside. The walls and lookout towers that make up these fortifications are split in two - a small section to the north of the old town and

4592-532: The 1960s), and Decca (1960s). Dinah Shore made her first recordings as a vocalist with Cugat in 1939 and 1940 for RCA Victor. In 1940 his recording of " Perfidia " became a hit. Cugat followed trends closely, making records for the conga, the mambo , the cha-cha-cha , and the twist when these dances were popular. Several songs that he recorded, including "Perfidia", were used in the Wong Kar-wai films Days of Being Wild and 2046 . In 1943, " Brazil "

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4704-464: The 45 became the preferred speed for pop music singles, overtaking U.S. sales of the same material on 78s by 1954, but Columbia's LP prevailed as the favored format for classical music and convenient one-disc "album" collections of eight or more pop songs. RCA Victor finally bowed to the inevitable and announced its intention to issue LPs in January, 1950. Among the first RCA Victor LPs released in 1950

4816-472: The 47-xxxx series), rhythm and blues on orange or cerise (50-xxxx series), and international on light blue (51-xxxx series). This array of colors complicated the production process, and the practice was soon discontinued, all records becoming black. Yellow and red Red Seal records held on until about 1952. The first 45 rpm record manufactured was "PeeWee the Piccolo" RCA Victor 47-0147 pressed December 7, 1948 at

4928-412: The 7-inch 45  rpm micro-grooved vinylite record, marketed simply as the "45". The new format, which had been under development for over a decade, was originally intended to replace 78 rpm discs. By the time RCA Victor unveiled it, the 45 was now competing with the 10-inch and 12-inch 33 1 ⁄ 3  rpm microgroove vinyl " LP " (Long Play) discs introduced by arch-rival Columbia Records in

5040-680: The Boston Pops, whereas Columbia had the Cleveland Orchestra , the Philadelphia Orchestra , and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under contracts. On October 6, 1953, RCA Victor held experimental stereophonic sessions in New York City's Manhattan Center with Leopold Stokowski conducting a group of New York City musicians in performances of George Enescu 's Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 and

5152-527: The CD-4 format developed by its former subsidiary, the Victor Company of Japan (JVC), and made commercially practical by Quadracast Systems Inc. (QSI). RCA's trade name became "Quadradisc". The CD-4 format required a special cartridge that had a ±1 db frequency response out to 50 kHz, a CD-4 demodulator which decoded the difference between the front and rear channels from a 30 kHz subcarrier, four separate amplifier channels, and four separate speakers for

5264-458: The Café Royal, Cinema Albéniz and Casa Marieta . Characteristic of Girona are the picturesque houses overlooking the river Onyar. These were built over many years and give the flavour of a small Mediterranean city. The façanes are painted according to a palette created by Enric Ansesa, James J. Faixó and the architects Fuses and J. Viader. One of these houses (at Ballesteries 29, Girona)

5376-521: The French rule, which lasted from 1809 to 1813. The defensive city walls of the western side were demolished at the end of the 19th century to allow for the expansion of the city, while the walls of the eastern side remained untouched but abandoned. In recent years , the missing parts of the city walls on the eastern side of the city have been reconstructed. Called the Passeig de la Muralla it now forms

5488-552: The Mexican restaurant Casa Cugat in West Hollywood . The restaurant was frequented by Hollywood celebrities and featured two singing guitarists who would visit each table and play diners' favorite songs upon request. The restaurant began operations in the 1940s and closed in 1986. The restaurant's exterior and a fanciful depiction of its interior can be found in scenes in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter in which Cugat has

5600-688: The Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark for which EMI held the rights to in the U.K. and Europe. RCA set up its own British manufacturing and distribution in 1969. RCA Victor issued several spoken word albums in the 1950s and 60s, notably the soundtracks of the films Richard III , A Man for All Seasons and The Taming of the Shrew , as well as complete versions of the National Theatre of Great Britain stage productions of Othello (starring Laurence Olivier ) and Much Ado About Nothing (starring Maggie Smith , who also played Desdemona in

5712-656: The November 1927 issue, under the byline "de Bru." His older brother, Francis , was an artist of some note, having painted cover art for F. Scott Fitzgerald 's novel The Great Gatsby . In 1931, Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel. He replaced Jack Denny as leader of the hotel's resident band. For sixteen years, he led the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra , shuttling between New York and Los Angeles for most of

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5824-487: The Olivier Othello ). None of these albums have appeared on compact disc, but the films of Richard III , A Man For All Seasons , The Taming of the Shrew and the filmed version of Olivier's Othello have all been issued on DVD. In 1960, RCA Victor announced the Compact 33 double extended play and singles; these were 7 inch records, which played at 33 1/3 rpm. In January 1961, the Compact 33 discs were released simultaneously with their 45 rpm counterparts. The long-term goal

5936-399: The RCA Nashville division and in March, 1995 was replaced by Bob Jamieson, the president of RCA's Canadian division. Jamieson overhauled RCA, streamlining middle management and retooling the label's marketing department. The A&R department was again restructured and the roster of artists further reduced. By the close of the decade, RCA Records had undergone what Billboard described as

6048-417: The Reggae Album of the Year Grammy. In June 2020, the label partnered with the Human Rights Campaign to present the 2020 Pride Benefit Concert, a livestream supporting LGBTQ equality in June. RCA artists including Isaac Dunbar, Cam, and Citizen Queen performed. SZA released the single " Good Days " on December 25. In January 2021, Mark Pitts was appointed president of RCA Records and John Fleckenstein

6160-745: The Sherman Drive plant in Indianapolis. The use of vinyl, which was much more expensive than the gritty shellac compound normally used for 78s, was actually cheaper because of the smaller diameter and greatly reduced bulk of the new records, which required very little raw material. The smaller, lightweight discs were also more economical to store and ship. RCA Victor marketed the 45 as a direct replacement for 10-inch and 12-inch 78 rpm records, which typically played for about three and four minutes per side respectively. The company also released some " extended play " (EP) 45s with playing times up to 7 minutes per side, primarily for vocal collections and light classical selections, as typified by an Arthur Fiedler and

6272-438: The UK and its territories on the HMV label until 1957. RCA also manufactured and distributed HMV recordings on the RCA Victor and special HMV labels in North America. Due to hostilities between Japan and the United States during World War II , ties between RCA Victor and its Japanese subsidiary Victor Company of Japan (Nippon Victor) were severed. JVC's record company is known today as Victor Entertainment and still retains

6384-491: The US Postal Service Professional Cycling Team. This was the first year that American cyclists started living in Girona and meeting for training rides at the Pont de Pedra. Later, other well-known professional cyclists such as Lance Armstrong came to live in the city. Football is also widely popular. The local Football club is Girona FC , who were promoted to La Liga in 2017. In December 2023, they recorded their first ever league victory over FC Barcelona to temporarily reach

6496-406: The Victor record catalog until the end of the 1930s. During the early days of the Depression, RCA Victor made a number of attempts to create a successful low-priced label to compete with " dime store labels" such as Perfect , Oriole , Banner , and Melotone . The first was the short-lived Timely Tunes label in 1931, sold exclusively by Montgomery Ward . Bluebird Records was created in 1932 as

6608-411: The Vik label was discontinued the following year. From the label's beginnings in 1902, and intensifying through the 1940s and 1950s, RCA Victor was in direct competition with Columbia Records . A number of recordings were made with the NBC Symphony Orchestra , conducted by Arturo Toscanini ; sometimes RCA Victor utilized recordings of broadcast concerts (Toscanini had been recording for the label since

6720-491: The area followed this scheme only in part. The construction of the first theatres in the city transgressed the concept of Martí Sureda. Until the 18th century, what that architect had imagined could not be completed. This part of the city in Noucentisme style is a romantic and timeless creation that nowadays captivates inhabitants and visitors. Today the area has great vitality because of the spread of cafés and restaurants, including some businesses well known for their history like

6832-518: The case of operas, symphonies and other complete recordings of classical music, there was an interruption every four minutes as one record side ended and another side began. These disruptive "side breaks", a nuisance long familiar to listeners of album sets of classical and operatic 78 rpm records, were minimized by an extremely fast automatic record-changing mechanism that was a core feature of RCA Victor's 45 players. Thanks in large degree to RCA Victor's massive five million dollar advertising campaign,

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6944-490: The center and edge of a record are thicker than the playing area, reducing scuff marks during handling and when stacked on a turntable with an automatic record changer. Most competitors quickly adopted the raised label and edges. In 1955, RCA Victor purchased the recording contract of Elvis Presley from Sun Records for the then-exorbitant sum of $ 40,000. His first single for RCA Victor was " Heartbreak Hotel ", recorded in January 1956. Ten million Presley singles were sold by

7056-545: The choice of conversion or exile (see Alhambra Decree ). For 400 years before that time, the Jewish cemetery was located beside the road to France, just north of the old city between the mountain Montjuïc , or hill of the Jews in medieval Catalan, and the river Ter. Girona has undergone twenty-five sieges and been captured seven times. It was besieged by the French royal armies under Charles de Monchy d'Hocquincourt in 1653, under Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds in 1684, and twice in 1694 under Anne Jules de Noailles . During

7168-439: The choir, which opens by three arches into the nave, of which the pointed stone vault is the widest in Christendom (22 meters). Among its interior decorations is a retable which is the work of the Valencian silversmith Pere Bernec. It is divided into three tiers of statuettes and reliefs, framed in canopied niches of cast and hammered silver. A gold and silver altar-frontal was carried off by the French in 1809. The cathedral contains

7280-411: The dance was becoming, Cugat convinced the owner to hire South American dancers to give tango lessons. This, too, became popular, and Cugat made the dancers part of his orchestra. In 1928 he turned his act into the film Xavier Cugat and His Gigolos . He worked for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. His caricatures were nationally syndicated. They appeared in Photoplay magazine beginning with

7392-417: The days of acoustic recordings , and RCA Victor had been recording the NBC Symphony since its creation in 1937). After Toscanini retired in the spring of 1954, the NBC Symphony was reorganized later that year as the Symphony of the Air . The orchestra, while no longer connected to NBC, continued to record for RCA Victor, as well as other labels, usually conducted by Leopold Stokowski . RCA Victor also released

7504-512: The early summer of 1948. In heavy promotion, RCA Victor sold compact, inexpensive add-on and stand-alone units that played the 45 rpm format exclusively. At first, RCA Victor's 45s were issued on colored vinyl according to the musical genre: contemporary pop music on black vinyl (47-xxxx series), prestigious Broadway musicals and operettas on "midnight blue" vinyl (52-xxxx series), classical music on red vinyl (49-xxxx series), country and polka on green (48-xxxx series), children's fare on yellow (also in

7616-478: The first half of the decade, RCA released platinum and multi-platinum records by artists including A$ AP Rocky , Cage the Elephant , Chris Brown , Kelly Clarkson , Miley Cyrus , D'Angelo , Dave Matthews Band , Foo Fighters , G-Eazy , Jennifer Hudson , R. Kelly , Kesha , Khalid , Alicia Keys , Kings of Leon , Miguel , Pentatonix , P!nk , Pitbull , Shakira , Sia , Britney Spears , Bryson Tiller , Justin Timberlake , T-Pain , and Tinashe . Since 2012,

7728-466: The first stereo 8-track tape music Cartridges ( Stereo 8 ) which were first used in the 1966 line of Ford automobiles and were popular throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. (The initial release comprised 175 titles from RCA Victor and RCA Camden's catalog of artists.) In late 1968, the Radio Corporation of America, wishing to modernize its image, introduced what was then a futuristic-looking new logo (the letters 'RCA' in block, modernized form), replacing

7840-485: The format never became popular, and both RCA and CBS/Columbia abandoned quadraphonic recording in 1976; some of the RCA sessions were later remastered for Dolby encoding (same as Peter Scheiber 's original matrix system) and released on compact disc This included Charles Gerhardt 's acclaimed series of RCA Red Seal albums devoted to classic film scores by Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Alfred Newman , Dimitri Tiomkin , Max Steiner , Franz Waxman , and others, performed by

7952-442: The general public and were intended solely for use in broadcasts carried over leading radio networks. By 1936, RCA's extensive musical library of recordings was eventually consolidated with NBC's own transcription division. During the 1950s, it included popular music by noted musicians, such as Sammy Kaye , Freddie Martin , Lawrence Welk and John Serry Sr. Besides manufacturing its own records, RCA's Custom Record Division

8064-506: The label bought back $ 25 million in unsold albums and lost $ 35 million during the fiscal year 1987. As a partial corrective, a decentralized style of management which allowed RCA Records to function as a free-standing entrepreneurial business was implemented for 1988. Buziak drastically cut the RCA roster from around 40 artists to 11, and began to rebuild it with a focus on developing new artists, including artists acquired through marketing and distribution agreements with Beggars Banquet Records ,

8176-554: The label during 1956; Presley went on to become RCA Victor's biggest selling artist. Effective in 1957, EMI/HMV ended its 55-year association with RCA Victor, after EMI's acquisition of Capitol Records in 1955. Capitol then became the main distributor for EMI recordings in the Americas; Decca Records became the manufacturer and distributor for RCA Victor in the United Kingdom, using the RCA lightning bolt logo, instead of

8288-677: The label had signed Thai rapper Lisa , a member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink , for her venture into American solo endeavors. RCA Victor has produced several notable Broadway cast albums, among them the original Broadway recordings of Brigadoon , Paint Your Wagon , the Mary Martin Peter Pan , Damn Yankees , Hello, Dolly! , Oliver! , and Fiddler on the Roof . RCA has also recorded and released recordings of revival stagings of musicals. These include

8400-521: The label has released music by artists including: Kevin Abstract , A$ AP Ferg , Becky G , Bleachers , Brockhampton , Bryson Tiller , Cam , G-Eazy , Childish Gambino , Martin Garrix , H.E.R. , Normani , Kaytranada , Khalid , Kygo , Tate McRae , Mark Ronson , Sasha Sloan , Jazmine Sullivan , SZA , ZAYN . In 2015, RCA Records reinstated its 1968 space-age 'RCA' styled logo after utilizing

8512-468: The left and right front and left and right rear. Both the CD-4 Quadradisc and Quad-8 tape cartridge systems were true discrete 4–4–4 quadraphonic systems. Columbia Records introduced a quadraphonic matrix system, SQ, which required a decoder, 4-channel amplifier and the four speakers. The SQ system was referred to as a 4–2–4 matrix system. The Warner Music Group labels also adopted Quadradisc, but

8624-607: The lightning bolt logo since 1987. The lightning bolt logo is still used by RCA's Nashville division. John Fleckenstein and Joe Riccitelli were appointed as co-presidents of RCA Records in January 2018. Later that year, RCA named Keith Naftaly president of A&R, and Tunji Balogun executive VP of A&R. In addition to releasing successful albums by Bryson Tiller, Alicia Keys, Fousheé' and Pentatonix in 2020, RCA had #1 records with Doja Cat 's "Say So" feat. Nicki Minaj ; Miley Cyrus' " Plastic Hearts " and Chris Brown & Young Thug's " Go Crazy ". Brockhampton's single "Sugar"

8736-532: The local road network with routes to the coast and inland towards the Pyrenees. The city has a comprehensive urban bus service operated by private companies. There are also services to the other towns in the Girona province and long-distance buses. Girona is served at its new railway station to the west of the Old Town. There are conventional trains from Barcelona to Portbou and the French border. Girona

8848-452: The musical productions staged at Lincoln Center , such as the 1966 revivals of Show Boat and Annie Get Your Gun , the 1987 revival of Anything Goes and the 1998 Broadway revivals of Cabaret and The Sound of Music . Call Me Madam was recorded by RCA Victor with all of its original cast except for its star Ethel Merman , who, due to contractual obligations, could not be released from her American Decca Records contract. She

8960-495: The neighborhood was sealed off and new houses were built over the old ones. When the dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975, interest in the region's cultural history was revived. Some of the old buildings were excavated leading to the discovery of the home of Nahmanides , which was sold to the city in 1987. A rectangular indentation that once held a mezuzah can be seen on the doorway of an old building on Carrer de Sant Llorenç, while Centre Bonastruc ça Porta on Carrer de la Força

9072-592: The new Masterworks Broadway Records . All of these recordings are now on Masterworks Broadway Records , which has remastered and reissued many of these albums. Victor's early recording studios were established in Philadelphia in 1901 and then at its headquarters in Camden, New Jersey and also in New York. In 1917, Victor acquired the abandoned Trinity Church located at 114 North 5th Street in Camden and used it as

9184-555: The next 30 years. One of his trademark gestures was to hold a Chihuahua while he waved his baton with the other arm. His music career led to appearing in the films In Gay Madrid (1930), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Bathing Beauty (1944), Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), Holiday in Mexico (1946), A Date with Judy (1948), On an Island with You (1948), and Chicago Syndicate (1955). Cugat owned and operated

9296-530: The old quarter of this ancient city has been preserved, Girona is a popular destination for tourists. The city is located 99 km (62 mi) northeast of Barcelona . The first historical inhabitants in the region were Iberians ; Girona is the ancient Gerunda , a city of the Ausetani . Later, the Romans built a citadel there, which was given the name of Gerunda . The Visigoths ruled in Girona until it

9408-610: The original lightning bolt logo, and the virtual retirement of both the Victor and Nipper/His Master's Voice trademarks. The Radio Corporation of America officially changed its name to the RCA Corporation; the RCA Victor Division was now known as RCA Records. The 'Victor' trademark was restricted to the labels and album covers of RCA's regular popular record releases. RCA Victor record labels were changed to bright orange or yellow (becoming tan briefly late in 1975–76), replacing

9520-468: The other RCA divisions, which GE either liquidated, sold, or closed. BMG also revived the "RCA Victor" label for Red Seal, Broadway and soundtrack releases and other musical genres outside of rock, pop and country music. In 1986, Bob Buziak, formerly an artist manager, was appointed president of the label. During the mid-1980s, RCA Records operated at a deficit, due in part to "overpriced deals" with pop stars including Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross . In 1986,

9632-432: The prefix "LSP". RCA utilized these catalog prefixes until 1973, when they were changed to "ARL1" and "APL1" for stereo classical and stereo non-classical single LPs, respectively. During the 1950s, RCA Victor had three subsidiary or specialty labels: Groove , Vik and "X". The edition of Billboard magazine dated April 11, 1953, announced a new RCA Victor subsidiary label, its first to use independent distribution and

9744-548: The professional cycling season, various non-European pro cyclists have called Girona home, as illustrated in the book by Michael Barry , written during his time with the US Postal Service cycling team. Between races, cyclists do their training rides outside the city, which provides excellent training terrain. In the Spring of 1997, Marty Jemison , Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie moved to Girona as teammates of

9856-457: The south. The bus stops in the centre of Barcelona, at the Estació d'Autobusos Barcelona Nord , Barcelona's main bus terminal. Most low-cost airlines mention "Barcelona" in their descriptions of Girona airport. Girona is twinned with: RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment , a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation . RCA Records

9968-539: The square lies in its 19th-century style, despite its being surrounded by identical austere neoclassical buildings with porches dedicated to the defenders of the city of Girona during the 1808 and 1809 sieges . However, the symmetrical proportions of the square correspond more to contemporary interventions than its architectural past. The municipal architect Martí Sureda was the first to conceive an arcaded square with closed and neoclassical loops, and with some buildings having matching aesthetic proportions. The development of

10080-517: The tombs of Ramon Berenguer and his wife. The old fortifications are another popular sight. Historically, these have played a vital role in protecting Girona from invaders for hundreds of years. The city wall of the old town was an important military construction built in Roman times in the 1st century BC. It was thoroughly rebuilt under the reign of Peter III the Ceremonious in the second half of

10192-730: The top of the table. The club's stadium is Estadi Montilivi . The city has a roller hockey team, GEiEG , one of the most important in Spain, which competes in the main League OK Liga . The city is the home of the Jaume Vicens Vives Secondary School , as well as the Universitat de Girona (University of Girona). The town is on the Autopista AP-7 and N-II. The city is also the hub of

10304-592: The traditional black label color for popular releases) in countries where RCA held the rights to the Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark. Nipper was once again widely used in RCA newspaper and magazine advertisements and sales literature, as well as store displays and promotional items such as T-shirts caps, posters, coin banks, keychains, watches, coffee mugs and stuffed toys. The trademark was also restored to RCA stationery, shipping cartons and company vehicles. In 1983, Arista Records owner Bertelsmann sold 50% of Arista to RCA. In 1985, Bertelsmann and RCA Records formed

10416-424: The traditional black label color in use since 1901. The Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark was seen only on the album covers of RCA Red Seal Records . RCA Records introduced a thin, pliable, lightweight vinyl LP record known as Dynaflex in late 1969. This very thin, flexible record claimed to overcome warping and other problems encountered with conventional thicker LP records and like Dynagroove, it soon developed

10528-644: The waltz from Tchaikovsky 's opera Eugene Onegin . There were additional stereo tests in December, again in the Manhattan Center, this time with Pierre Monteux conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In February 1954, RCA Victor made its first commercial stereophonic recordings, taping the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Münch , in a performance of The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz. This began

10640-429: The year, more frequently in summer, averaging 23.9 days per year. but usually there still is a significant arid period. This can be seen through the natural vegetation around the city, as drought-tolerant oaks ( Quercus ilex and, to a lesser extent, Quercus suber and Quercus pubescens ) and pines ( Pinus pinaster , Pinus pinea and Pinus halepensis ) dominate the majority of the plant communities. Girona

10752-496: Was Gaîté Parisienne by Jacques Offenbach , performed by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra , which had been recorded in Boston 's Symphony Hall on June 20, 1947; the record was given the catalogue number LM-1001. Non-classical LP record albums were issued with the prefix "LPM". When RCA Victor began issuing classical LPs in stereophonic sound in 1958, the prefix "LSC" was used. Non-classical stereo LPs were issued with

10864-861: Was Cugat's most successful chart hit. It spent seven weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine National Best Selling Retail Records chart behind Harry James's song " I've Heard That Song Before ". In the 1950s he made several recordings with his wife, singer Abbe Lane . His orchestra included Desi Arnaz , Lina Romay , Abbe Lane , Tito Rodriguez , Yma Sumac , Miguelito Valdés , Frank Berardi, Gene Lorello, George Lopez, Glenn E. Brown, Henry Greher, Isabello Marerro, James English, John Haluko, Joseph Gutierrez, Luis Castellanos, Manuel Paxtot, Oswaldo Oliveira, Otto Bolívar, Otto Garcia, Rafael Angelo, Richard Hoffman, Robert De Joseph, and Robert Jones. Girona Girona ( Catalan: [ʒiˈɾonə] ; Spanish : Gerona [xeˈɾona] )

10976-731: Was appointed chairman of the BMG Label Group, and Davis was named chief creative officer of Sony BMG worldwide. In October, Sony acquired BMG's 50% ownership and the BMG Label Group was merged with the Jive Label Group to establish the RCA/Jive Label Group . It included RCA, Jive, J, Arista, Polo Grounds, LaFace Records , Volcano Entertainment , Hitz Committee , Battery Records , and the Verity Gospel Music Group . The decade marked

11088-472: Was certified platinum, and singles by Flo Milli and Latto (formerly known as "Mulatto") were certified gold. Both Doja Cat and Kaytranada received multiple Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist, H.E.R. received her 13th Grammy nomination, and the Strokes album The New Abnormal won for Best Rock Album. Koffee signed with RCA just after she became the first woman and the youngest person to win

11200-563: Was conquered by the Moors in 715. Charlemagne reconquered it in 785 and made it one of the fourteen original counties of Catalonia. It was sacked by the Moors in 827, 842, 845, 935, and 982. Wilfred the Hairy incorporated Girona into the County of Barcelona in 878. In the 11th century, Alfonso II of Aragon and I of Barcelona declared Girona a city. The ancient county became a duchy within

11312-517: Was distributed by RCA, which had released the Broadway cast album. RCA Victor also released the original American cast album of Hair . Similarly, RCA Victor also made several studio cast recording albums, including a Lerner and Loewe series with Jan Peerce , Jane Powell , and Robert Merrill , as well as a 1963 album of excerpts from George Gershwin 's Porgy and Bess , with its 1952 revival leads, Leontyne Price and William Warfield , but

11424-507: Was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1987, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment after the 2004 merger of BMG and Sony; it was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony/BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. RCA Records is the corporate successor of the Victor Talking Machine Company . In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) purchased

11536-606: Was later increased to 30 inches per second). These recordings were initially issued in 1955 on special stereophonic reel-to-reel tapes and then, beginning in 1958, on vinyl LPs with the "Living Stereo" logo. RCA has continued to reissue many of these "Living Stereo" recordings on CD. Another 1953 project for RCA was converting the acoustically superior building Webster Hall into its main East Coast recording studio. RCA Victor operated this studio venue from 1953 to 1968. In September 1954, RCA Victor introduced "Gruve-Gard" where

11648-708: Was named chief operating officer. Jazmine Sullivan's Heaux Tales hit #1 on the Billboard R&;B albums chart. Tate McRae's " You Broke Me First " (stylized as "you broke me first") was quadruple platinum in Ireland, double platinum in Canada, Mexico and New Zealand, and platinum in the US, UK, Australia, Finland, France, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. She was #1 on the Billboard emerging artist chart. In April 2024, Variety announced that

11760-565: Was named president and COO. On the seventh of October of that year, the Jive, Arista and J imprints were altogether permanently merged into RCA. As a result, the RCA Music Group was then disbanded and RCA was reinstated as a standalone label under the Sony Music umbrella. Following the shutdown of the three labels, a majority of various artists from the rosters of Jive, Arista and/or J were shifted to release future material under RCA. During

11872-416: Was nameless when it was first revealed. For the lack of any better designation, Billboard chose to refer to the new, unnamed label in the story as Label "X"; the new label began to hire staffers and decide on a direction, and the name stuck until 1955. RCA Victor officially announced the formation of label "X" on April 20, 1953. Groove was an R&B specialty label founded in 1954 and folded into Vik in 1957;

11984-617: Was not performing, he started drawing caricatures. On 6 July 1915 he and his family arrived in New York City on the SS Havana . Cugat appeared in recitals with Enrico Caruso , playing violin solos. In the 1920s, he led a band that played often at the Coconut Grove, a club in Los Angeles . Cugat's friend, Charlie Chaplin , visited the club to dance the tango, so Cugat added tangos to the band's performances. Seeing how popular

12096-576: Was produced, as Sunrise records are exceptionally rare today). The same musical couplings were issued on all three labels and the Bluebird label is still in existence today, nine decades after Electradisk and Sunrise were discontinued. During this time, RCA Victor also produced electrical transcriptions of music under the RCA Thesaurus label at its RCA Recorded Program Services studio in New York City. These recordings were not offered for sale to

12208-460: Was replaced by Joe Galante , who had been the president of RCA Records Nashville division. The roster was cut once again and the A&;R department was restructured. Along with the launch of BNA Records and the expansion of the urban music division, these initiatives would prove to be positive, but RCA was unsuccessful under Galante, ranking 10th in market share in 1995. Galante returned to head

12320-464: Was replaced on the RCA Victor album by Dinah Shore . RCA Victor was also responsible for the film soundtrack albums of Damn Yankees , South Pacific , Bye Bye Birdie , Half a Sixpence , and The Sound of Music . The album made from the 1965 hit Julie Andrews film was (and is) one of the best selling soundtracks of all time. The film soundtrack of Oliver! , made by Colgems Records ,

12432-462: Was the leading record manufacturer for independent labels . RCA's Midwestern plant in Indianapolis , at 501 North LaSalle Street (the site is now part of a Demolition and Blight Reduction Project). The Custom Division notably pressed many record compilations for The Reader's Digest Association . RCA sold its interest in EMI in 1938, but EMI continued to distribute RCA Victor recordings in

12544-545: Was to phase out the 45 rpm disc, but sales of the new records were poor and by early 1962 the campaign had failed. In 1963, RCA Victor introduced Dynagroove which added computer technology to the disc cutting process, ostensibly to improve sound reproduction. Whether or not the complex process was actually an improvement is still debated among audiophiles. RCA quietly phased out the Dynagroove process by 1970. In September 1965, RCA and Lear Jet Corp. teamed up to release

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