Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #35)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Mar 17, 2012.

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  1. Edgard Varese

    Edgard Varese Royale with Cheese

    Location:
    Te Wai Pounamu
    I generally don't mind the remastered DG discs very much myself, but then again I don't think I'm quite as allergic to brightness as many here (which I attribute to having had chronic ear infections as a small child). I personally don't hear any compromise in terms of dynamic range either, so compression as we hear it with pop/rock music is probably a non-issue. Of greater importance would be the use of NR for older recordings, which as someone else will have pointed out is more EMI/Sony's stock in trade.

    There is something perhaps to be said for the superiority of earlier DG recordings. I have the 10-disc mono set Musik Sprach Der Welt which consists of performances from the 1950s and it sounds quite lovely, which may have something to do with the fact that DG were employing a less complicated recording technique in those days (as opposed to later years in which, as I understand it, they employed spot micing and other techniques).
     
  2. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    the Fitzwilliam SQ gets through the first & last movements faster:32 sec. for
    I,23 sec. for IV/V.on II & III they are slower:80 sec. for II & almost 3 min. for
    III.
     
  3. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    Deutsche Grammophon 2530 243,released 1973.recorded 9/22/71,Jesus
    Christus-Kirche,Berlin.production:Dr. Hans Hirsch.recording supervision:
    Hans Weber.engineer:Gunter Hermanns.this one seemed unsatisfying,so
    i played it again at higher volume & it snapped into place-it's really quite
    good.finding a proper volume level can make a big difference.
     

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  4. WOW TURN UP THE VOLUME!

    That is a great gem to add to your LP collection Doc.

    Edvard and Herbert plus the BP are a good mix on DG.

    With LPs I am very aware of that listening level phenomena. My volume control reads in numbers. So I have a preset volume level for LPs or CDs or DVDs. The biggest difference is when I play a mono record vs a stereo record. I have to fine tune the volume at this point. I prefer to have more volume when I listen to Opera, or Chamber music.

    Cheers, Long Playing Fan.
     
  5. NorthNY Mark

    NorthNY Mark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canton, NY, USA
    Thanks for your insights (as well as the previous link). They are much appreciated by this newcomer to the genre.
     
  6. Collector Man

    Collector Man Well-Known Member

    Decca after WW2 had a march on other recording companies regarding disc recording.During that War, they had helped the British Govt. research the ability to record supersonic sounds on disc. Speaking once to a former Decca sound tech who had worked in some of their most famous recordings, he gave a few hints why they recorded with the aim of getting as much of the performed full frequency range down onto vinyl. Using for instance, half speed cutting, that enabled the amplifiers to the cutters much more head room, against sonic distortion setting in. Variable width cutting of the master discs : done by extra monitoring the master tape - just prior to it going through the playback heads to the cutters- allowed Decca to quickly pre-adjust the disc groove width dimension needs of the signal.

    Look at any Decca classical vinyl disc and visually, you can easily pick out the loud and quiet passages. It was a win-win situation, Greater sound dynamics, ample groove width space provided for the very demanding passages, and greater timing utilisation of the 12" space area. Plus, they were the most advanced in microphone recording techniques to capture the very ascoutic essense information that a reccording was definitely done in some said venue and not a glorified box, Their famous microphone 'tree ' comes to mind. Working from that ample premise and production resource -the base material is there, still in evidence as something that was there in the first place That, it can now be revealed via CD, in its fullest glory of all.

    When they converted their master tapes in their vaults to digital storage, I heard they spent a great deal of care, and a fortune in doing so.Give me say a made Kingsway Hall recording, done by Decca....THAT was recording! Even in so many of their new 'original 96kz 24 bit' remasters... its unique ascoutic properties are usually still very clearly instantly identifiable.
    Though too, it must be said, companies like EMI's and RCA's material from that venue at times, were able to capture its sound,
    Since that company set regimen was so firmly in place, back even in the late 50's, it is no wonder what magic: recordings from the Decca label are found capable of, in a new CD mastering. There is too. quite a few originally RCA Label released discs ( because of present day corporate sell out changes / amalgamations etc) that are now showing up on the Sony label - from that Golden Age time . They were in fact 'fully Decca engineered'... and it still shows. Follow the true providence of a disc, when collecting recordings from any past decade. With reviews past, special mention was usually provided by a good critic exactly the particular recording venue - where the recording was made.
     
  7. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I like the string sextet version. I heard it in recital several years ago. The performers were more than halfway through when a violin string snapped. The players conferred for several minutes and concluded that the only thing to do was begin again.

    And this was being broadcast live on radio. Here is the recording I own.
     

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  8. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I would also recommend the Concerto for Orchestra. In doing so, I note that the first movement is arguably the most dissonant. And if you know your Shostakovich, Bartok takes aim at him in the 4th movement.
     
  9. Collector Man

    Collector Man Well-Known Member

    That recording was part of a batch- the first series of digital recorded discs that 'CBS /Columbia (now Sony) ever released. And since - at that time- they were considered somewhat special (over that of an analogue vinyl disc), the company also charged a bit more, than for any other standard full price new release.
     
  10. Collector Man

    Collector Man Well-Known Member

    I would not panic too soon, at what are still selective personalised opinions after all. :) A lot of it at times I strongly suspect ,the problem starts with the equipment, they play their discs on. I have heard even mega expensive systems with every form of special cable and device attached 'for alleged sonic perfection'. Yet personally, I then wanted to put an axe through it and 'put it out of its disgusting display of musick.
    What matters most of all is what you yourself come to find, individually appealing, regarding a music work and the standard of its recording.

    What I find personally confusing is someone raving say about the performance of some famed conductor like Furtwangler or Toscanini etc. in some symphonic work -recorded in the 1940's. Come a cresendo and it is like someone belting you over the ears with a tambourine. Strain to hear the inner detail of the Work and you realise 1/2 to 2/3 of the score 'never got microphone recorded' anyway. I suppose imagination plays the missing parts.:D
     
  11. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    In case you were looking for them, Eloquence series in Australia, have last year reissued the very rare early 50s recordings (mono) of Josef Krips with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Beethoven's 4th (9/53) and Schubert's 9th (5/52), recorded in the famous hall and engineered by the one and only Kenneth Wilkinson. These recs were previously reissued in CD in Japan only. Available easily from mdt.

    [​IMG]

    http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//ELQ4802802.htm
     
  12. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Also to anybody wishing to refresh his Shostakovich, I highly recommend this new recording that was awarded the CHOC of Classica, with Melnikov on the piano:

    [​IMG]


    SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Sonata for violin and piano Op. 134 Alexander Melnikov, Isabelle Faust, Jeroen Berwaerts, Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Teodor Currentzis. Harmonia Mundi
    label: Harmonia Mundi
    released: 06/02/12
    awards:
    • BBC Music Magazine Recommended - April 2012
     
  13. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    The Shostakovich 2nd Concerto is a charming piece, surprisingly accessible given the lateness of its date (1957) yet doesn't lapse into the kind of banality that mars so many of his politically friendly pieces.

    The 1st is a bit tougher and more profound but should pose no problems to anyone who likes 20th century music (it's a much easier work than, say Bartok's 1st Piano Concerto or Hindemith's Kammermusik No. 2) - despite the odd modern dissonance, there's always a clear sense of tonality and links to past classical masters like Mozart and Haydn while always being recognizably Shostavovich. I think these concertos were my first proper introduction to Shostakovich as a kid - may still have both of them on cassette somewhere.
     
  14. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Well put!

    My first encounter with them and any Shostakovich was this CD:

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Casagrande

    Casagrande Forum Resident

    Nice performances, but I was pretty disappointed with the recording/sound quality.
     
  16. e630940

    e630940 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Canada
  17. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
  18. e630940

    e630940 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Canada
    grab it before the prices change to match Amazon.com
     
  19. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Their Beethoven cycle has been part of my life since a 4 LP box set purchased in 1971 (IIRC).
     
  20. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Another gem from a recent order is this one. Lovely pieces if you love Latin/South America large orchestra works, and spectacular recording on SACD:

    [​IMG]

    A Jan 2012 best seller for MDT.
     
  21. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Both have inspired ballet choreographers - Christopher Wheeldon worked with the 1st and both Kenneth Macmillan and Alexei Ratmansky set dances to the 2nd.
     
  22. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    My Beethoven cycle that entered first in my life was the Kempff/Leitner one.:righton:
     
  23. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Thanks! With s/h to Greece this price is similar to Amazon.uk one, 14 GBP. :righton:
     
  24. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
  25. e630940

    e630940 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Canada
    it's great ! - note that these Sony boxes have no booklet and are cardboard. Internally it is just the CDs with track listings on the individual mini LP packs . Works for me.:righton:
     
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