For me its the first or very early LP's of: Allman Brothers - "Allman Joys" "Idyllwild South" Santana - "Santana" 200 g reissue Emerson Lake and Palmer - "Emerson Lake and Palmer" and, Beethoven - "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major" Rudolph Serkin/Ozawa/BSO
Rushton, My turntable is no where near the status of your Walker however the 45 rpm Ravel, "Rapsodie Espagnole" in my system is every bit as dynamic and detailed as the Prokofiev,Scythian Suite 45 rpm of which I have. I would not be surprised if you found it the equal of Stravinsky/Firebird 45 rpm. Unfortunately I dallied too long in purchasing the 45rpm version of Firebird. If it shows up somewhere the price will no doubt be out of my reach. However I do have the 200g version and am happy to at least have this format.
I have just finish paying dearly for a couple of records that nearly doubled in price because there were only a few copies left in stock.
Today I just heeded some earlier advice to obtain Starker's Cello Suites/Mercury Speakers Corner before it goes out of print. Acoutic Sounds has it back ordered and some of the other outlets are out of stock. Fortunately Music Direct had it at list price so I did not delay any longer and purchased it today.
In a few years I think we will not regret the financial sacrifice of obtaining these remarkable reissues. I remember years ago when Sid Marks of the Absolute sound did his column on Mercury Living Presence and RCA Shaded Dogs how difficult it was to find clean first issue copies. And if you did find them the prices at least for me was prohibitive. To have them reissed with original cover art and superior vinyl is an analog lovers dream.
"In a few years I think we will not regret the financial sacrifice of obtaining these remarkable reissues."
I'm currently in the process of buying each of the Speakers Corner Mercury reissues as they appear (with a very few exceptions), have been doing the same with the Analog Productions (Acoustic Sounds) Fantasy 45 series, and will be trying to purchase as many of the Music Matters and Analog Productions Blue Note 45s as I can manage. The Cisco classical reissues have also been good, but not quite at the same level of original source material even though their production is every bit as good. This is a renaissance of vinyl I never expected to see. .
Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt "A Meeting by the River" Water Lily Acoustics/Analogue Productions APW 29 45 rpm reissue
Chet Baker "Chet" Riverside/Analogue Productions APJ 016 reissue
Holst "The Planets" Mehta/Los Angeles Philharmonic Decca SXL 6529
"IL Cornetto" works of Italian and English composers of the 16th and 17th century for cornet, viola da gamba, harpsichord/chamber organ and lute/baroque guitar. Klimo Edition Open Window OW004
Can anyone offer input on the RCA Heifitz recordings on Classic records? I know the performances are excellent. Did Classic do a good job of remastering these performances? Thanks
Montepilot: The one Classic reissue of the Heifetz recordings that is problematic is the Bruch Scottish Fantasy. I love the reading, but there is a constant low frequency rumble in the recording (either subways or the conductor bouncing on the podium) that is very distracting if you have a full range speaker system and don't have a rumble filter on your preamp (remember those?). It is not noticeable on the original pressing, which I have, because it rolls off the lows, but the wider frequency range of the new pressings actually seems to be a disadvantage in this case.
I think you should also get the Rozsa concerto, which has been such a standard for the piece that few violinists have dared to record it. He may miss a few notes here and there, but his fire makes up for it, and the recording is pretty good. Of course, as with all the Heifetz recordings, the violin is spotlit more than you would hear in concert, but then again, are you paying your money to hear Sir Malcolm Sargent or Heifetz?
Rosza, "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" - Heifitz, Hendl/DallasSO, RCA LSC 2767-45 (Classic Records 45 rpm reissue) -- Since Russ mentioned it last night I couldn't help but pull it out tonight to enjoy again. Thanks for the reminder, Russ.
The Benjamin "Romantic Fantasy" for violin, viola and orchestra on the flip side is no slouch of a piece of music, either. But it's the Rosza that's really special. .
Mozart, "Concerto for Bassoon"-Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Bernard Garfield, Bassoon. Columbia Masterworks Mono recording.
Offenbach, "Gaite Parisienne"-Fiedler, Boston Pops RCA 45 rpm & Chesky 180g pressing. I wanted to hear how the 45 rpm pressing compared to the Chesky.
Arthur Salvatore had this to say comparing the Chesky to the RCA 33 rpm: "The Chesky has the strong points of both and then some. It is even more natural than the original and has all the desirable qualities of the Classic; enhanced immediacy, lower distortion, superior dynamics and frequency extremes etc., while still avoiding its somewhat dry and "hi-fi" sound. The Classic is cut a few dB louder and has the real original cover; in stunning high gloss color no less. I suppose you can't have everything."
I am inclined to give a very slight edge to the Classic RCA 45rpm. Although it is a tough call.
Joe, what do you think of Haitink's Bruckner Nr. 9? I have this on my wish list, but haven't run across a copy. I do have his performance of the Nr. 7 and like that performance (though I tend to gravitate back to one or another of the Jochum performances). .
Woops, sorry Joe. I mis-read and now see you were listening to Haitink's Mahler 9th. Must have Bruckner on the brain after listening through the Jochum cycle recently. .
As my previous post and today's posts indicate, I have been on an ELP tear the last few days. Running through different pressings of their recordings. I have never been impressed with the sonics on most of their recordings. That said, the MOFI "Pictures" is pretty good, as is the Manticore pressing of "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Ends" live set. Most disappointing in my collection has been every pressing I own of "Brain Salad Surgery". If someone can recommend a good pressing, please advise.
This afternoon was a meeting of the local audio group, and our host is a subscriber to The Tape Project series of reel to reel tapes. He had the first three releases: one-to-one direct copies from the master tape, 15 ips, mastered on top quality tape decks and electronics. WOW!!
First up was the Malcolm Arnold "Arnold Overture" from Reference Recordings. Simply vast soundstaging, incredible dynamic range and immaculate resolution. This is what I hear from the best 45 rpm vinyl reissues, only more so.
Then the Jacqui Naylor and finally the Dave Alvin recording. But it was the Arnold that stole my heart and stole the day.
Our host's playback deck was a 40 year old Ampex with tube electronics, dead stock with no updates or modifications. And it sounded beautiful. I can only begin to think how much better it will sound as he gets around to updating the electronics section or replacing the heads. .
Thanks for that Rush! I am anxiously awaiting the arrivals of my tapes and modded machine from The Tape Project. Given what you have just described above, it should be worth the wait. This may be the only thing out there that will give my vinyl reproduction a run for it's money. In addition to the "Arnold Overture" the coming release of "Waltz For Debbie" and "Saxophone Colossus" should be a real treat.
My playback will be via a Technics 1500 with the heads reworked and the output section rewired to be fed to a Bottlehead Seduction that has been built to be a tape head preamp.
benjamin britten - "young person's guide to the orchestra & serenade for tenor, horn and strings," on the decca/london label cs 6398, u.k. press. conducted by benjamin britten (c1964), i absolutely love this record. found in the $1 bin at the habitat thrift store, bought on a whim, and NM/NM to boot. color me enlightened.
I love this recording and performance, too. Britten was one of the rare few composers whose efforts as a conductor of his own music created definitive performances of his works.
benjamin britten - "young person's guide to the orchestra & serenade for tenor, horn and strings," on the decca/london label
COB - Moyshe McStiff & the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart
This is a wonderful folk album, COB (Clive's Original Band) was lead by Clive Palmer, a founding member of the Incredible String Band who left to travel the world and came back brimming with new ideas. It's one of the most intensely personal statements I've ever heard, with all three members pulling their weight instrumentally and vocally. Sunbeam Records recently released an expanded 180g 2xLP, well worth checking out for fans of folk and psychedelic music.
others waiting to be spun: Anne Briggs - Sing a Song for You LP Washington Phillips - What Are They Doing in Heaven Today? LP
and i listened to Amy Winehouse - Back to Black this morning.
Elgar, "Enigma Variations" - Monteux/LSO (RCA LSC 2418, Classic Records reissue) - another excellent Kenneth Wilkinson engineered recording for RCA under contract with Decca. One of the great performances of this work. The Classic Records reissue is a bit bright and "hard" sounding, but with excellent resolution and full range sound.
Schubert, "Symphonies 1 and 2" - Bohm/BerlinPO (DGG 2530 216) - very nice performances
Schubert, "Arpeggione Sonata for Cello and Piano" - Rostropovich -vc, Britten -pf (Decca reissue on King SuperAnalogue 9123) - superb performance .
Two different performances of Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastic. One with Massimo Freccia, conducting The Royal Philharmonic on Chesky.
The other with Thomas Beecham conducting the French National Radio Orchestra on HMV Concert Classics. I love both performances with the Chesky having the edge in sonics.
Gil Evans, Out of The Cool. Classic Records Impulse Reissue. Especially La Nevada. Highly recommended.
Happy to hear of Rushton's comments on the Enigma Variations. I recently purchased this record but have not yet heard it. I first heard this record on the original shaded dog label in a collectors shop more than 10 years ago. He was asking $150.00 for the record which was way out of my range at the time. I was pleasantly surprised to see it reissued by Classic Records. I hope the "bright & hard" sound Rushton experienced does not overshadow my memories of the excellent original.
BB King -Midnight Believer.....A true master, I like this album the most. super groovy beats solid guitar.On, "Never make a move too soon" check out the silverware background sounds. If it does not impress and get your foot tapping nothing will.
Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique Op, 14" Argenta/Paris Conservatoire (London CS 6025) A "blueback" pressing. Some surface noise to listen through, but a wonderful reading of this piece. With a pretty cheesy cover to boot.
Beethoven "Symphony No. 8 in F Op.93" Ansermet/L'Orchestre De La Suisse Romande (London CS 6388)
Finishing off with Rimsky-Korsakov "Scheherazade" Dorati/Minneapolis; "Russian Easter Overture" Dorati/LSO (Mercury SR90332) "Great Music by Russian Composers" release.
I really like the performance of both of these pieces on this LP. The Scheherazade is a little tipped up, and doesn't quite get the visceral impact that the Reiner/Chicago does on RCA. The sound of the Russian Easter Overture is a little more balanced. Two different orchestra and halls.
Slipknot1, do you own or had an opportunity to hear your above mentioned Symphonie Fantastique, Argenta reissue on Decca by Speakers Corner? If so I am interested in your appraisal.
Montepilot, I have not had the opportunity. My copy is the original Decca/London, from which the Speaker's Corner reissue was made. I can only imagine immersing myself in that piece on quiet, heavy vinyl. The Argenta is my personal favorite reading of "Symphonie Fantastique". I have many of the Speaker's Corner reissues and have never been disappointed in their quality.
Tonight we are listening to: Yehudi Menuhin/Ravi Shankar "West Meets East" (Angel 36418)
Albeniz "Iberia" Turina "Danzes Fantasticas" Ansermet/L'Orchestre De La Suisse Romande (Decca/London CS 6194)
Manuel de Falla/Alicia de Larrocha "Dances from "La Vida Brave", "Three Cornered Hat", "El Amor Brujo", "Four Spanish Pieces", "Fantasia Betica"" (Vox Turnabout TV 34742)
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