Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #35)

100% agreed! One of the gems in these series that was nearly unissued in CD is the Leinsdorf/BSO/Prokofiev box. Do not miss it!

ERICH LEINSDORF CONDUCTS PROKOFIEV

Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40
Symphony No. 6 in E flat minor, Op. 111
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 44
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 - 5 (Complete)
John Browning (piano)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19
Erick Friedman (violin)
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63
Itzhak Perlman (violin)
Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 - excerpts
Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60
David Clatworthy (baritone)

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Erich Leinsdorf

Sony Classical 88697809452

 

noted

 

Wow, a great price too! However, the reviews complain of poor mastering.

 

I just played Romeo & Juliet and was hit back by the orchestral masses! Proceed!

 

I correct myself regarding the CD release of the Leinsdorf/Prokofiev/BSO recs. These were released by Testament as well, but you need more than $100 to get them.

 

Ok, but that's just what the complaint was, these things appear to be mastered very loud.

 

Yes. However I was hit back not by the level of the sound, but from the Volume of it. Nice thick orchestral masses.

And loud is not necessarily bad. There are loud remasterings that are very good (Delaney & Bonnie Rhino Box comes to my mind).

 

Listened to my LP of Jean Martinon's The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Dukas. From Erato, this is with the National Orchestra of the O.R.T.F. and in my opinion is a wonderful version. It doesn't seem to be currently on a CD, although there may have been a compilation in the late 80's.

 

they do have the full recording venue and date information written on the back of the sleeves.....that's all I really need

 

Someone with a masters degree in compression must have mastered these. I have a couple and can't stand them.

 

Do you mind telling us which ones ?

 

____________
* they grow on trees.

 

I have three of these Sony Classical boxsets, and wanted to get more!!-
The Mozart/Perahia - I find the volume just right, on the the disc I have listened to.
The Mahler/Walter and Beethoven/Brahms/Fleisher - I find I have to turn the volume UP to get satisfying sound!

 

The Munch, Prokofieff and the Kubelik.

These may be some of the worst remasterings I have heard in a while.

The Prokofiev is probably the worst. The dynamics have been killed.

Not sure if I will get any more.

Trust me ....I am not picky either. They are really bad.

 

oh - okay - thanks. I have been lucky with the one I bought (see above- #114). Those are fine.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I may try those and bite the bullet. Don't get me wrong. It is great having all the great works in one box. But holy cow, easy on the compression!

RCA seems to be notorious at this. I have a bunch of RCA Japan releases of Ormandy, Szell, etc and they are pretty bad.

 

The SONY Boccherini box is really good. No issues there.

 

Has Sony been doing any remastering for these re-issues or are they just taking what's available. My sense from reading posts in various classical music related threads here is that Sony's post 2000 remastering on the Columbia sourced discs has been pretty good overall, while remastering on the more recent (post Living Stereo SACD) RCA sourced discs has been less so.

 

Edvard Grieg
CD1
Suite No. 1, Op. 46
Suite No. 2, Op. 55
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Lyric Suite, Op. 54
English Chamber Orchestra
Raymond Leppard
BBC Symphony Orchestra (Op. 16)
Stephen Kovacevich, piano
Sir Colin Davis

CD2
From Holberg's Time, Op. 40
English Chamber Orchestra
Raymond Leppard
Lyric Pieces, Op. 12
Lyric Pieces, Op. 43
Zoltán Kocsis, piano
Symphonic Dances, Op. 64
Philharmonia Orchestra
Raymond Leppard



Right RRB, plenty of fine music here. Many of the Philips 2-fers often test the data capacity limits of the CD format. Love the Lyric Pieces and the Symphonic Dances on CD2.

I had long forgotten about owning the PC on another disc. At the time, I was more interested in the Schumann. Fortunately I had not burned myself out on that piece. I replayed this old friend yesterday...gorgeous!

 

Now can I tease you a little... about what else is around.
I see on the Presto Classical site , they have the (originally 70s' Decca releases with some showy sound) Prokofiev Complete Symphonies 1-7 with the London Sym Orch under Weller, 4 cds - $14 on Brilliant Classics.

 

A few CD disc releases lately, have been pushing up around the 82 minute mark.

 

The pencil pushers at these labels must think that nobody has a real stereo anymore, and people only own Panasonic or Sony mini systems with 3-CD changers with the way they treat the sound. We must start up a petition drive to make them stop, this is a travesty.

 

Well, that's a pity, some of my favourite Prokofiev pieces are on there. But on the other hand...

Well, I freely admit to being one of those people (actually it only has one CD tray) so maybe I wouldn't be able to tell the difference!

 

It seems though that R&J that I listened to yesterday is far better recorded/remastered than let's say the PC#1 that I am listening to right now, which it sounds indeed compressed and tiring. I noticed that the amazon.com reviewer states actually that R&J is better than the remaining in the box audio-wise...