I skipped the Vivarte II box as it does not have any compelling recordings for my ownership though there are quite a few must-have's for me in Vivarte I ...
I probably mentioned this before, but I bought the box because it was dirt cheap and there were a few works I was interested in. There are CDs in this box that I'll probably never listen to.
A favorite on the turntable now: Schubert Trio No.1 in B-Flat, Op.99, performed by the Stern/Rose/Istomin Trio. A bold, exciting performance from these legends, captured in a superbly balanced recording-- one of Columbia's best, IMO. This would definitely be a "desert island disc" for me! Columbia Masterworks LP, ca. 1965 (my copy is a later brown label pressing).
I need to give it another spin, but I was disappointed with Pentatone's SACD of the Kubelik Concerto for orchestra - transferred at a ridiculously low level - like they set the levels low and ran it through one pass without paying attention. A shame because it's a great performance.
Now playing CD1 - String Quartets Op. 20 Nos. 1 - 3 from the following box from my Haydn collection for a second listen ...
I can’t comment on the SACD, but the old DG Galleria disc sounded fine to me. I think it has since been rereleased on Australian Eloquence.
I've said this many times, but every time I got to compare a Pentatone release of either Philips or DG material with the same recording as re-released on their original label on CD, I've always found the older CDs to have much better mastering — fuller, warmer tone. I don't know what went wrong with this Pentatone series, but maybe their focus was on the multichannel/quad mixes instead of the stereo mixes I heard. People have been positive about the quad sound, right?
I have been under the impression all PentaTone releases of legacy recordings were Philips quadraphonic recordings from the early to mid 70's ...
On a used CD shopping expedition this weekend, I picked up this set of Mozart string quartets on Hyperion. Beautiful recording. I’m a big fan of the Hyperion label.
Trout Piano Quintet from this Schnabel box set, exceptionally well transferred by Mark-Obert Thorn Someone sent me a message about my post in the mega box thread, on which WTCs I had listened to and decided weren't great/worthy of purchase- Pietro de Maria, Valery Afanassiev, Jill Crossland, Emil Naoumoff, Alexander Papastefanou, Daniel Barenboim. Unmade up my mind on- Craig Sheppard and Andras Schiff (ECM) though leaning towards liking Schiff's. The real standout from the lot was Andrei Vieru and Michael Levinas was interesting enough in many of the works to warrant buying even if it's not reference level overall. Thanks for sharing that Wes! Looks like it is now only available on an older Sony CD that is OOP.
That is true, however those discs also include a stereo layer. What I’m not sure of is whether or not the stereo layer is simply a downmix of the quad. That might explain the lackluster sound ubertrout refers to.
Finished hearing Black Mass and the 10th Sonata just now, as far as complete cycles goes this is up there with the best, though as the old Scriabin curse goes no complete cycle is flawless. These CDs sound better than the 24 bit download which has a watermark that sticks out like a sore thumb. Now hearing Trifonov play the second sonata
Philips and DG quadraphonic. However, in addition to quad, they also offer stereo mixes. It's these that I find sound weak.
Please do start such a thread, that would be interesting You're dead right about that pause - it's weird being mid-movement. In performance I imagine some unknowing audience members would burst into applause. Various versions live and on CD make the gaps between the recap of the fanfare and the next "subito" brass dischord very short, possibly to avoid any feeling that the first part of the work is over and we are starting the 2nd - obviously not possible with the LP experience.
They were still using red STEREO logos in 1959 (actually, I think they still used the big red STEREO stickers in '59). If that is a photo of your own copy, then it's certainly a later 1960s pressing. It also looks to me like it's the later, laminated style DG cover instead of the red stereo era flimsy covers, so it then places it after 1965. Greetings!
Did not know DG made some quad recordings back in the day. But the initial wave of PentaTone recordings were all sourced from Philips quad, right?
I dusted off this old gem last night. This is still my favorite performance of Brahms 4. Brahms: Symphony No.4; Haydn Variations; Alt-Rhapsodie Concertgebouw Orchestra & Eduard van Beinum Philips And listened to this in the AM: Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 Berlin Philharmonic & Ferenc Fricsay Geza Anda, piano DGG
Correct. According to sources, all DG orchestral recordings from 1970-1976 or so were mastered for Quad, but they never found a home delivery system they were satisfied with so they only released in stereo. DG has also recently released one or two directly.
