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In Reply to: RE: OK, I'll try harder. posted by Rick W on December 03, 2014 at 22:20:15
Funny, the mono LP you mention with Scherchen is on the Westminster label. They released many outstanding classical mono LPs in the 1950s, some of the best for both performance and sound, and not hard to find or expensive.
What I was trying to say about stereo is that it wasn't well executed in a lot of the earliest stereo LPs. Do you know But Not For Me by the Ahmad Jamal Trio live at the Pershing Lounge from 1958? (Of course you do.) I have the original stereo LP. Great record, terrible stereo.
Follow Ups:
Plays The Russians yesterday. Westminster, cover says Mono/Stereo but the records say stereo. All the usual suspects: Polovtsian Dances, Scheherazade. Couldn't stop listening til I had gone through all six sides. I would swear I had never listened to it before, but it had rice paper innersleeves.
Actually the Jamal "But Not For Me" I have is on a double LP reissue, with some tunes live at the Pershing, some studio, and some live at the Blackhawk. BNFM is from the Blackhawk on this set. Sound varies cut to cut, but I love Jamal and his great playing/concept outweighs sound quality for me. Its a helluva lot easier for me to get past bad or mediocre sound with a piano trio than a symphony orchestra.Sure, I have a number of early stereo jazz LP's with the hard left/right pan that are not really good recordings. But if the sound is not ridiculously bright/thin - as it is on some bad recordings - the music still comes thru.
From what I've heard (and I certainly don't claim to be an expert) either the equipment or the engineers in the mono era did not do a good job with massed strings and brass sections - both usually sound bright/pinched. I've yet to hear a mono symphonic recording that had what I'd call good sound. Part of the reason I loved that Scherchen was because it was a record given to me by an uncle who introduced me to "classical" music in general, that piece in particular, and hifi.
I do like Scherchen. But Jeez, the sound on the stereo Classic Records reissue of Reiner/CSO playing Lt. Kije and Strav's Song Of The Nightingale that I own is worlds better (in fact its fantastic), and the performance is absolutely great IMO.
Edits: 12/04/14
Right you are. Most of the best sounding 50s classical mono LPs are chamber music or solo instrumental imho. There are a few pretty decent sounding orchestral ones, mainly from Mercury and London/Decca. Also, Leopold Stokowski did some great stuff with "his" symphony orchestra (mainly a combination of top NY Philharmonic and NBC Symphony players) on RCA, but the sq will not thrill you.
Agree re Ahmad Jamal. Brilliant guy.
That was just a bad recording, stereo or not.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
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