...of, of course, I can just dig out my copy on LP from back when it was a new release. Thanks for the insights!
Sorry, David, but the sound of the piano on that original (1982) LP of the Goldbergs was just ugly. The sound quality is the same harsh, early digital junk that one encountered so often back then. If you want to stick with vinyl, Sony has re-released that LP, remastered in 2015, and it looks just like the original. https://www.amazon.com/Goldberg-Var...=1-9&keywords=glenn+gould+goldberg+variations
Quoth my poor, maligned car radio: "Oh, kinda like a digital piano instead of an acoustic grand?" I never really paid a lot of attention to differences in sound between "digital" and "analogue" LPs, but when CD entered my life, I actually gave a good bit of thought to how it sounded relative to its format forebears. For whatever it's worth, at least on the system I had at the time, I considered the harpsichord to be the "winner" in the awful sound category on those early digital recordings. Many or most that I heard had this weird distortion that just drove me up the wall. I was more tolerant of piano recordings, but not really happy with them, either. My complaint about those, specifically reissues of those predating the advent of digital, was that digital of the day tended to "dry them out," to turn them hard and bright relative to a corresponding analogue issue. For organ music, on the other hand, I considered the CD, with its absolute pitch stability, a godsend. And if you had so much as hinted back then that I was any kind of "audiophile," I would have laughed in your face.
On the topic of emi c 069-11677, Erik Satie's "Mercure-Socrate," I went to a record swap in San Francisco Sunday and picked up a copy (the French pressing) for $5 ... The record and the cover +booklet are in at least A- condition! I was completely unaware of this work. The only orchestral piece I knew of his was "Parade." I think I was extremely lucky! I've only just listened to the first side. I'm saving the second side for a bit later.
I think you nailed it with that description of how early digital processing tended to "dry them out." Indeed! You might have laughed at being called an "audiophile," but I think it really comes down to just caring about the accuracy of sound. You obviously cared about music and you heard differences in recordings. That's good enough to set you on the road to becoming a hopeless audiophile!
Elisabeth Brauss Debut Oehms, 2017 She plays Beethoven, Prokofiev, Chopin & Denhoff. I particularly liked her Beethoven. It was recorded pretty close-up and the piano may be too romantic sounding overall.
Michel Beroff Gewandhaus Orchesra Kurt Masur Excellent discs Prokofiev: Piano Concertos; Overture on Hebrew Themes; Visions Fugitives EMI, 1992
Now playing the following CD, one of the roughly 30 versions of the Beethoven 9th from my Beethoven collection ... I don't believe I have many recordings by Della Casa. My understanding is she was awesome!
a little Mozart to start today's listening: Jean-Pierre Rampal Mozart: Six Sonatas for harpsichord and flute Rossini: Two Quartets for flute, clarinet horn, and bassoon. Erato, 2015 Disc 10 Volume 1, the Complete Erato Recordings
Those Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra's rendition of baroque works just don't sound right to me thirty years after I bought those LP's and they are all collecting dust. While the ASMIF under Marriner still performed on modern instruments, they are quite a few notches above the JFP Chamber Orchestra. Rampal was a regular fixture with the latter, which was probably a French baroque champion back in the day before the HIP movement really got started ...
posted elsewhere too; the "Vivarte Collection Vol.2" boxset can be bought for €53.9 https://www.amazon.it/Vivarte-Collection-Vol-Ii-60/dp/B01FNAHZFY/
After living with and listening to this Brahms set for a while I am still having reservations about it. Recently I listened back to back to the 3rd and 4th Symphonies from this set then my old Solti Chicago Symphony discs. Both times I came away feeling that I prefer the Solti interpretations! Both the Solti and Nelsons have excellent sound quality, some of the best I have heard with a full warm sound and good bass. Of course the Solti Brahms are classic Decca analog recordings made in the 70s, engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson who I gather is well regarded for audiophile recordings. I just find that at times Nelsons is too slow and drawn out, I find the Solti to have better tempos and more urgency power and passion. For someone looking for a set of Brahms symphonies I don't think you could go wrong either way though.
I would not have minded if there were more recordings by the Leonhardt Consort but Vivarte 1 has far too many recordings by Tafelmusik, which is just a decent baroque ensemble but not outstanding IMO. When I already have many baroque recordings by the likes of English Consort, AAM, English Baroque Soloists and the ASMIF, Tafelmusik just does not cut it IMO ...
I don't even know who Andris Nelson is. But if I have to choose between him and Solti, I would choose Solti everytime ... The dude in LA is hot but I do not share the Californian enthusiasm ...
We discussed Andris Nelsons when he was mentioned as a successor to Mariss Jansons as principal conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra a few years ago. Daniele Gatti was appointed instead.