Palasr, any comments on the sound quality of the Doors - Morrison Hotel (45 RPM/Analogue Productions)?
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Showing 50 responses by rushton
Allegri, Miserere, Guest/Choir of St. John's College Cambridge, Meridian E4577058 45rpm Lars Erik Larsson: ..Concertino for Double Bass & String Orch ..Liten Serenad Filharmonins Kammarensemble, SwedishSoc SLT 33187 Marcel Dupre: ..Prelude & Fge in g, op7,3 ..Triptyque, op51 Marcel Dupre organ of St. Thomas Church NY, Mercury SR 90169 (Speakers Corner reissue) Hank Mobley, Quintet, Blue Note BNLP1550-45 (45rpm Music Matters reissue) The Who, Who's Next, Classic Records reissue Queen, A Night at the Opera, Elektra 7E 1053 . |
Johhny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559 (Music Matters 45 rpm reissue) with Lee Moran, Hank Mobley, John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Cambers and Art Blakey. What a fantastic line up! Dexter Gordon, A Swingin' Affair, Blue Note ST-84133 (Music Matters 45 rpm reissue). Another outstanding LP and reissue. Ravel, Rapsodie Espagnole, Reiner/CSO, RCA LSC 2183 (Classic Records 45 rpm reissue). One of the great orchestral recordings and performances, in fantastic sound quality. If you've heard and discounted the 33 rpm reissues from Classic Records, I don't blame you. But the 45 rpm reissues are entirely different and far better. Bernie Grundman had changed his mastering chain by the time he started mastering these 45s and the vast improvements in naturalness and timbral balance are immediately apparent. . |
We've been doing some critical listening to a set of power cords loaned to us for audition. It's always a challenge deciding on a few recordings to use. Our practice for doing this is 1) to listen critically to a selected few cuts on our system as it exists, 2) swap gear and burn in the new gear for the requisite period of time, 3) listen critically to those same selected few cuts and note what we hear, 4) switch back to our original gear, burn in again, then listen critically one more time. By the time we do this, we have a very good handle on what we're hearing. And, we always find that we've heard the same things when we compare our listening notes. So, here's the recent selected few cuts for this adventure: Klimo Open Window OW 002, Music for Barque Violin and Harpsichord: Uccelini: Son II. Son e Correnti, op4 / Banchini and Darmstadt Groove Note GRV 1043 -45rpm, Dvorak Piano Trio No. 3: Finale / Jung Trio RCA LSC 2183 -45rpm Classic Records, Ravel, Rapsodie Espagnole: Habanera / Reiner/LSO S&P Records SNP 501, Eva Cassidy, Songbird: Fields of Gold So, why this set of recordings? All are acoustic, and all are very realistically and naturally reproduced capturing well the distinctive timbre of the instruments involved. Each brings a different combination of instruments and acoustic environments. And, we know these recordings very well through many years of listening. . |
Copland: El Salon Mexico / Appalachian Spring - Bernstein/NYP Columbia MS 6355 2-eye (says spouse: "I like LIKE Bernstein, I don't care what you audiophiles say." So, I am corrected.) Holst: The Planets - Previn/LSO, EMI ASD 2002 reissed by Hi-Q Supercuts (continues to be my favorite performance of this work. The Hi-Q reissue is clean, detailed and well balanced, losing a certain amount of the warmth found in the earlier EMI ASD pressings. But certainly eminently listenable.) . |
Vivaldi, Dixit Dominus, RV594 (Psalm 109 for solists, two choirs and two orchestras), Negri/ECO, John Alldis Choir, Philips 6700 116 (Captivating, as always. I have another performance of this work with Corboz conducting, whom I always admire, but the Negri performance is the one I keep coming back to when in the mood to listen to this work.) |
A bit of music thus far this morning with my listening partner: Counting Crows, August and Everything After - Analogue Productions 45rpm reissue (Can I admit to getting bored? Oh my...) Dead Can Dance, Into The Labyrinth - Mobile Fidelity Silver reissue - sonically scruptious, this 2 LP reissue is better than the original, and musically interesting and complex. Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall - original pressing - we'd listened to another pressing of this at a friend's house, but I just couldn't find the swing factor I thought this LP had it. So, I pulled it out here to re-play the Cotton Fields cut that had been demo'ed for us. And, by golly, the swing factor was back. Just a great example of how some records live or die by the PRaT one's turntable delivers. Moving on now to Brahms Piano Concerto, Curzon and Szell, in a 45 rpm reissue from ORG that I've been wanting to hear for some time. . |
Hi Albert, What I'm hearing is blacker background, a bit more definition in the leading edge of transients, and a bit more air and space. The differences would not make be duplicate a good clean original because the original is shockingly good. But if you don't have the original, or if your copy is getting a bit noisy, the reissue is very much worthwhile rather than chasing after another original on the used market. And, as I commented, I think the reissue does sound a bit better. Cheers, |
Selections from this and that... Handel: Semele - Gardiner/English Baroque Solotists/Erato Berlioz: Les Troyens - Davis/Royal Opera House Orch/Philips Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin: Polonaise - Fiedler/BostonPops/Readers Digest Beethoven: Fidelio Overture - Reiner/CSO/RCA Verdi: Otello - Levine/NationalPh/RCA My spouse is giving me her requests and I'm then pulling from the shelves. It's a day of whatever she wants to hear. :-) |
Prokofiev - Quintet in G Shostakovich - Piano Quintet, op57 / Melos Ensemble, L'Oiseau SOL 267 Prokofiev - Love for Three Oranges | Scythian Suite / Dorati/LSO, Mercury SR 90006 (Classic Records 45rpm reissue) Lee Morgan - Volume 3 / Blue Note (Music Masters 45rpm reissue) Lee Morgan - Candy / Blue Note (Classic Record 33rpm reissue) . |
Roy Eldridge, Rockin' Chair (Speakers Corner reissue) Schumann - Piano Trio in D - Previn/Chung/Tortelier - EMI Maconchy - String Quarter No. 5 - Allegri Sring Qt - Argo ZRG 5329 Robert De Visee - Pieces for Theorbe, Lute & Guitar - Nigel North - L'Oiseau-Lyre DSLO 542 Bach - Cantata 1: Wie schon leuchtet der Morenstern, BWV 1 / Cantata 2: Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2 - Harnoncourt/ConcentusMusicusWien - Telefunken SKW 1/1-2 Rawsthorne - Divertimento - DelMar/English Chamber Orchestra - Lyrita SRCS 111 . |
Dylan - Blond on Blond - 45 rpm reissue from MFSL. I'm impressed with the sonics of this reissue. I'd been hearing a fair number of negative comments, but in my system and to my ears this is a terrific release. Roy Gaines - I got the T-Bone Walker Blues - if you love the blues, you'll love this release by Roy Gaines from Groove Note Records. Four sides of 45 rpm goodness. Poulenc - Gloria | Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani - Pretre/French National Radio Orchestra, Rosanna Carteri-soprano, Maurice Durufle-organist - EMI ASD 2835 - my favorite recording of both the Gloria and the Organ Concerto. Pretre captures this music superbly. Perhaps not the greatest recording sonically (a demonstrate disc when recorded in 1961 but not up to the best-of-the-best standards for today), but the EMI engineering is still very acceptable. Play it and fall in love with the huge French organ of Saint Etienne du Mont and the playing of Durufle. |
Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas - Fantasy 8431 (45rpm reissue from Analogue Productions)(Oh yes, it sounds really good, too.) Doug MacLeod - There's a Time - Reference Recordings - 45rpm (Very enjoyable blues!) Charles Mingus - Ah Um - ORG/Columbia 45rpm Bill Evans - Waltz for Debbie - Riverside 9399 (Analogue Productions 33rpm reissue) . |
A friend's question about what I've heard in 2013 that I found special caused me to have to reflect a bit. My reply to him was that the two recent Yarlung recordings were very nicely recorded: Petteri Ilvonen - Art Of The Violin/YarlungBut the LP that impressed me the most was a used record from Ars Nova: an early pressing of Ivan Moravec playing Chopin Nocturns. I've had this recording in my collection for many years in a later pressing. Hearing the earlier pressing was an auditory thrill. Moravec, pn: Chopin: Nocturnes op9, op15, op27, Connoisseur CS 1065 (Cream and Gold label)And, truly top drawer for me have been the ORG 45rpm reissues of the London/Decca recordings, particularly: De Falla's Three Cornered Hat,But all of the ORG London/Decca reissues are great! |
Have just been playing the Yarlung LP: Petteri Ilvonen - Art Of The Violin. My wife came in and said, "that sounds really nice, who's the composer?" Answer: "just finished a Debussy piece and this is by David Lefkowitz" Question: "Who's David Lefkowitz?" Answer: "I've never heard of him either, but I'm going to learn more!" http://www.yarlungrecords.com/180.html . |
Yesterday with friends... Oscar Peterson & Count Basie - satch & josh / Pablo Haydn, Sym 5, Dorati/PhilHungarica - just some amazing solo highlights and interplay - remarkable for it's time period. Lars Erik Larsson - Concerto for Double Bass and String Orchestra / Opus 3 Linda Ronstadt & Nelson Riddle - For Sentimental Reasons Mingus - Ah Um . |
Hilliard Ensemble, Cipriano de Rore: "Le Vergine" - Harmonia Mundi HM 1107 (another beautifully engineered recording from Jean-Francois Pontefract) Italian Madrigals of the 14th Century, Jacopo da Bologna, performed by the Ensemble Project Ars Nova, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi HM 738 A Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Guaraldi Trio, Fantasy 8431 (45rpm Analogue Productions reissue) Dexter Gordon, Our Man in Paris, Blue Note ST-84146 (45rpm Music Matters reissue) Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling , Blue Note ST-84083 (45rpm Analogue Productions resissue) Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman, Island ILPM 9135 Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like a Wheel, Capitol ST 11358 (Cisco reissue) . |
Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 - Browning/Leinsdorf/BSO - RCA LSC 2897 Alwyn Fantasy-Waltzes (1956) - John Ogdon - Chandos ABRD 1125 Debussy Jardines sous la Pluie - Ivan Moravec - Connoisseur Society CS 2010 Athena reissue Holst Planets - Mehta/LAPO - Decca SXL 6529 ORG 45rpm reissue Maria Callas - Callas Mad Scenes from Anna Bolena, Hamlet, Il Pirata - EMI SAX 2320 Testament reissue In memory of HP: Dusty Springfield, The Look of Love - Colgems 45rpm Classic Records reissue . |
Russ, I absolutely agree about the Malcolm Arnold English Dances, Lyrita SCRS 109. Wilkie nailed this one. It is one of 2 or 3 most natural and accurate representations of a full orchestra in my collection. When people want to understand soundstaging, I pull out this LP. The other LP I bring out is Power of the Orchestra (RCA VICS 2659), also recorded by Wilkinson under contract between RCA and Decca. For those who may not know: "Wilkie" was Kenneth Wilkinson, recording engineer famous for his work with Decca in the '60s and '70s. His work for Lyrita was freelance and no credits appear on the Lyrita album covers, but he did much of his best work (as in natural sounding, more minimally miked) for that label. . |
Correction to the above... Wilkinson's work for Lyrita was apparently not freelance. Lyrita contracted with Decca for their recordings (as did RCA and Readers Digest) and Lyrita's owner, Richard Itter, always requested Wilkinson to engineer the recordings. See this Wikipedia article for more detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Wilkinson . |
Copland, Appalachian Spring - Steinberg/PittsburgSO - Command (a really nice performance, well engineered by C.R. Fine in his days post-Mercury) Beethoven, Serenade in D for flute, violin and viola - Zoeller/Brandis/Ueberschaer - DGG Bloch, Concerto Grosso No. 1 - Hanson/EastmanRochesterSO - Mercury SRI 75017 Kabalevsky, Major-minor Etudes for Cello & Piano op67 - Ojebo -vc, Zaharieva -pf - Opus 3 7708 . |
Schubert, if you find any enjoyment in 20th century composers, Elizabeth Maconchy is well work seeking out. These quartets by Walton and Maconchy are simply scrumptious. This morning: Mozart Piano Concertos #14-19 with Peter Serkin and the English Chamber Orchestra, RCA ARL3 0732. And now moving on to Smokey Babe (Robert Brown) on Arhoolie 548. Recorded by Harry Oster in 1960/1961. Just superb blues. . |
Earlier today, I was listening to some intriguing music by Gunter Schuller and Bruno Maderna. For those whose tastes run to exploring contemporary music from the second half of the 20th century, this is one to check out. Surprisingly decent sound quality on this Columbia Odyssey Y 34141 original pressing from their "First Recordings" series. Followed later by E. Power Biggs playing Bach in the Thomaskirche, Bach’s church in Leipzig, Columbia M 30648. Power music well suited to Biggs’ strengths as a performer. And now finishing with the recent mono reissue of Hendrix’s Axis: Bold as Love. Mastered by Bernie Grundman and super good in this mono version. |
On the turntable now is the Yanaki String Trio's recording on Yarlung Records of: Krzysztof Penderecki - String Trio Jason Barabba - String Trio Beautifully recorded in 2006 by Bob Attiyeh on analog tape, this LP is 45rpm lusciousness mastered by Bernie Grundman. Highest recommendations. Don't miss it: http://www.yarlungrecords.com/180.html . |
This post I admit great reminds me of posting your personal status on Facebook.Good point, czarivey. I usually try to add some commentary as you did so well in your last post. Let me do so now... Elizabeth Maconchy, String Quartet no. 5 (1948) played by the Allegri Quartet. Another gem from Argo (ZRG 5329, originally recorded in 1963). Recordings of Maconchy's music were never plentiful in the vinyl era. Finding one on LP is like discovering a delightful treasure. If you enjoy Bartok's string quartets, you'll enjoy Elizabeth Maconchy. She is English, her teacher was Vaughan Williams, and her music reflects this heritage while being delightfully dissonant and challenging. Miles Davis - Milestones - the half-speed mastering of this recording by the Mobile Fidelity team gives us a slab of mono goodness that is close to perfection. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky - okay, I'm a believer in the new Analogue Productions reissues. This reissue of the Alexander Nevsky has the authority, bass impact and overall conviction that is needed for this performance. |
I was surprised by how much I've enjoyed listening tonight to Dylan's Modern Times, Columbia 82876 87606. The recording quality was far better than I was expecting - nicely mastered and pressed, too. http://www.elusivedisc.com/Bob-Dylan-Modern-Times-180g-2LP/productinfo/SONLP60611/ |
By the way, a great album of his from the early 70's, Planet Waves, has just been released on LP and SACD by Mobile Fidelity. The original LP on Asylum had a very organic, unproduced sound quality, recorded with The Band in a couple of days. Good album, hope MF did it right.bdp24, I managed to miss this album and don't know at all. Thanks for posting about the upcoming reissue on LP. It sounds like music I'd enjoy and I'll put it on my list to explore! |
I'm quite fond of 20th Century British composers and very much enjoy those who were composing in the second half of the century such as on the Lyrita LP (SRCS 57) to which I'm listening now: Elizabeth Maconchy - Overture, Proud Thames Geoffrey Bush - Music (1967) for Orchestra Lennox Berkeley - Symphony No. 3 William Alwyn - Four Elizabethan Dances Another wonderful Lyrita recording from 1972. London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by VERNON HANDLEY (Maconchy & Bush) and by LENNOX BERKELEY (Berkeley) and by WILLIAM ALWYN (Alwyn). Probably not engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson as I can't find it in his discography along with other Lyritas, but still marvelously recorded by some other member of the Decca recording team (John Dunkerley, perhaps?). As Arthur Salvatore says in his list "One of the finest sounding Lyrita's, and it also has an excellent variety of music. All the compositions are short and imaginatively orchestrated." I completely agree. . |
Tonight has been a variety of music by
composers during the second half 20th Century. At the moment I'm listening to Chaves' "Toccata for Percussion Instruments" (1942) performed by the Percussion Museum and released on King Record KIJC 9207. Next up on this same LP will be Takemitsu's Rain Tree (1981) for three percussionists. |
Yarlung Records’ Janaki String Trio "Debut" - Oh my goodness, I’ve listened yet another time (must be at least 5 now) to the 45 rpm release from Yarlung Records of the Janaki String Trio performing works by Jason Barabba and Krzysztof Pendercki. I continue to stand in amazement at how good the performances are and how great this recording is. I know this has been out for several years in digital formats which I’ve not heard. But, for this vinylholic, this 45 rpm release goes to my top-of-the-pile of demonstration records for sound quality on vinyl. It’s one of those "they are right in front of you in your listening room" recordings. (Yes, I know I’ve mentioned this LP before, but I just continue to be astounded by it. Thanks for bearing with me yet another time. And thank you to Bob Attiyeh for making this available on LP.) What? You don’t care for 20th Century contemporary composers? Ah well, buy it for the amazing sonic experience, then. If you’re a CD/SACD person, buy one of the digital editions on Native DSD or CD. If you do reel-to-reel, it’s available in that format, too. It’s great music, great performances, great engineering. Just get it. . |
Yesterday I was listening to an interesting collection of Concertos for Saxophone. As many will know, the saxophone was invented in the 19th Century (1840-41), but was only gradually accepted into the classical music literature. Here are three marvelous compositions exploiting the interesting timbre of the sax by Dubois, Villa-Lobos, Ibert and Glasunov. Eugen Rousseau, saxophone; Paul Kuntz conducting. DGG 2530 209. Recording engineer Hans-Peter Schweigmann creating a nice natural perspective on the orchestra. Schweigmann's recordings are regularly very fine and worth seeking out for those who value good orchestral sound. Cover: http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DG0AAOSwKfVXFuuh/s-l400.jpg |
Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale) with Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Columbia MS 6012. This is the Impex reissue which is very very well re-mastered and pressed. Kudos to the Impex team for reviving such a marvelous performance. There is a reason this record is on the most recent TAS Super LP List. http://www.elusivedisc.com/Bruno-Walter-Beethoven-Symphony-No-6-Patorale-200g-LP/productinfo/APLP077... |
Been a while since I've posted on this thread, but here's today's vinyl listening: Bartok 2nd Violin Concerto, Isaac Stern and Leonard Bernstein on Columbia in a nice reissue from Speakers Corner. Excellent music playing in an excellent quality reissue. Parton/Ronstadt/Emmylou Harris in Trio II - wonderful arrangements and performances in the second outing with three of the greatest ladies in country. Montreux Alexander - LIVE! at the Montreux Festival - a recent reissue from MPS of this 1990s classic jazz recording. Excellent live performance. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks - in a nice MFSL reissue. |