Dvorak Symphony No. 2 Classic records excellent

The reason this is still listed as No 2 is the record was issued originally issued in 1961 and the Classic is preprinting the original jacket. I am a bit surprised that they are reissuing this as it is a fairly common record. This is probably my favorite Dvorak orchestral piece – the influence of Brahms is strong.

Another new issue on LP of Dvorak is Tacet’s release of the String Sextet. A friend brought this over and it’s extremely well recorded and a lovely piece of music.

I just $1 for another copy of the original last week. I'll cherry pick the copy I want to keep and throw the others in my give away pile.

...you can tell an original if the color front wraps around partly to the back....

Not always so. The Merc's are the most pressing dependent label I know and early tends to be better but is not always. You have to learn to look at stampers if you want to find the best pressings of these. One example is the Birds SR90153. The RFR1 is the later pressing but looks like a nice early issue with it's deep maroon label. It's not. The eary issue is the FR1 and is much better sounding.

An example where the early edition is not prefered is the SR90300 - Prokofiev's PC #3. They sold a bunch of these and there are many stampers out there. The prefered stamper is the RFR8. The other odd thing with this disc is the RFR8 cover is a bit different on the back than other stampers. On the RFR8, there are three small pictures near the bottom of the cover. On other stampers, there are only two pictures. There isn't a color back edition of this either.

A couple of other generalizations on the Merc's. The Columbia record club editions stink. These have CBRFR or CTRFR stampers. The vendor labeled disc also tend to be substandard when compared to the non-vendor label. Just to make things more difficult, some disc's are extremely hard to find in a non-vendor issue.

I looked at what's available from Speakers Corner and selected a few safe choices with comments.

SR 90253 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
A lovely disc that I have had a near impossible time getting a clean copy of. Another one those where the early stamper is not the best. In this case it’s the RFR6a that is primo.

SR 90281 Debussy: 3 Nocturnes/ Ravel: Daphnes & Chloe
One of the rarest of all of the Mercury’s with absolutely some of the best string sound captured on record.

SR 90199 Respighi: Ancient Dances and Airs for Lute
Charming music. This was one of the first Merc’s I was exposed to and have liked ever since.

SR 90303 Dvorak: Concerto for Cello & Orchestra in B Minor
My favorite performance comes from the mono period but still a very well regarded disc.

Mercury Living Presence: Russian Recordings
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.3; Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.1
Byron Janis: Encore
Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 4 & 8
Balalaika Favorites
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

I like all of these except the Balalaika disc. This set is pricey but finding the originals in good condition will set you far more than this set.

SR90235 Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies 2 & 3/ Enesco: Roumanian Rhapsodies 1 & 2
Another personal favorite.

SR 90347 Schumann & Lalo: Concerto For Cello and Orchestra
Another favorite. Not all that rare but nice.

SR 90153 Respighi: Birds & Brazilian Impressions
Mentioned above – particularly like the Brazilian Impressions.

My comments are based on my familiarity with the original issues. I spent many years pursuing these and have most of what I want from the Mercury catalogue. So to the point, I haven’t heard the reissues. But I do know what the recordings are like and think I can make fair recommendations based on that. I am trying to be completely up front. If I think a recording is bad I am completely upfront with that also.

There are many of the discs that have been reissued I wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole. The original recordings were crap & I don’t understand why anyone would take the time to bring a reissue to market. Case in point is SR90260 Rachmaninoff PC #2.

I have several of the Speakers Corner Decca reissues and these have been very good it that helps.

Lucky?? As I said previously, this is not a rare record. With the one I just bought, I now have three. After I cherry pick the one I want to keep, the other two will end up in my give away pile.

If you guys like this music, do try Dvorak's chamber music. I prefer it to his orchestral pieces. The Piano Trio's or Piano Quartets on with the Beaux Art's Trio on Phillips are charming works and easy to locate. Cheap to boot when you find them. Well worth the effort.

Tzh21y: The ease of finding one locally depends on where local is. I am fortunate to live in a fairly large metro area ~ 2 to 3 million that has a firm classical music base. There are ton's of classsical records here. You do have to be interprising on locating them, but it is possible. The other approach if you are not as fortunate as to where you live (from a collecting stand point), there are many dealers that that will have this from time to time. Even from a dealer, the record is less than what classic charges for the reissue. If the condition is not as advertised, the dealer will take it back.

Egrady: I agree with you post that classic got better as time went on. I did snag one last 45's available - the Ravel PC and it's better than the originals I have. I wish I had jumped on that ship before it sailed. I can only hope that Chad will will at some point in the future start the classic line up again.

On a different note, I have several of the ORG reissues of the London's. The are very good and are recommended.

Org is a company that has been doing reissues for a while. Go to Acoustic Sounds and type org in the search box and you'll see what they have to offer. The issues I refered to are the 45 two record sets of the famous Londons. In particular, the following are recomended: 1) Fruhbeck De Burgos - Albeniz: Suite Espanola 2) Ernest Ansermet - Falla: The Three Cornered Hat 3) Ataulfo Argenta - Espana! Volume 2. These are pricey but cheaper than the originals by a long shot. I compared these to the orginal London issues, and prefer the reissues. Can't say how they compare to the Decca issues as those are stupid expensive. One last thing, I heard the Marianne Faithfull - Strange Weather disc. Her voice was shot long ago and this record is a disgrace. Very very depressing to listen to this.