Bellaccord Electro, generally known as Bellaccord, was the largest record label in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
existing in 1931–1950, then renamed.
History
The label was founded in 1931 by
Helmars Rudzitis, owner of the publishing house ''Grāmatu Draugs'' (Friend of the book), who organized recording and pressing facilities in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
at Kalnciema ielā, 40 (the building still exists). A subsidiary pressing facility was organized in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
.
The company was nationalized in October
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*January ...
, after the annexation of Latvia by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. However the new director, Jēkabs Riekstiņš, soon hired the former owner to manage the factory. Records pressed during this period were marked by letters "N. U." (Nationalized enterprise) in the upper part of labels.
Since May 21, 1941, the factory was planned to be renamed to ''Latvijas skaņuplašu fabrika'' (Latvian factory of gramophone records), however there is no evidence that this decision had been implemented before
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
became occupied by German troops in July.
Under the German administration, the factory was re-privatized on March 1, 1942, and returned to Helmars Rudzitis. It was operating until 1944.
After the return of Soviet authorities, the factory was re-opened in April 1945 and kept using the original Bellaccord's name until 1949 (since 1948 — without the word ''Electro'' on the labels).
In 1950 it was renamed ''Rīgas skaņuplašu fabrika'' / ''Рижский завод грампластинок'' (i.e. Riga's gramophone records factory), then ''Baltija'' (1957), ''Līgo'' (1958–61) and finally ''Melodija'' (1961–64).
In 1964, almost all Soviet recording and pressing facilities were united under the umbrella label ''Мелодия'' (''
Melodiya''), however names of particular factories (including Riga's one) remained on the labels, although in small print.
After the break-up of the USSR, the Riga's factory became owned by
Alexander Kutikov's company ''
Sintez Records'' and renamed ''
RiTonis'' (1992). The last record was issued in 1993. Bankrupted in 1999.
Indirect descendants
In mid-1950s, a series of 100 Bellaccord Electro records was reissued under the original label in USA and Australia.
As a commemoration to pre-WWII Estonian branch of the Bellaccord Electro, in 1958–1972 in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, there was a label
Bellacord (spelled with one "c") specializing in ethnical Estonian music.
References
External links
Evolution of the Bellaccord Electro and Riga's factory label design in 1945–-1952Collection of Bellaccord Electro records in the Latvian National Digital LibraryCollection of Bellaccord Electro records in www.russian-records.com
{{Authority control
Latvian record labels
Companies nationalised by the Soviet Union