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Finally after a 2 year back order I received from acoustic sounds two more of the Kevin Grey RCA remasters. Rubensteins performance of Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini and Kabeleskys The Comedians.
These are not as successful as the earlier remasterings. I assume the master tapes were not in very good condition. Tape saturation is quite obvious and there are occasional distortions. However the Rubenstein is a great great performance and worth having.
Alan
Follow Ups:
I've heard the commercial two-track RCA tape of the Paganini Rhapsody, issued in the mid-50s, and found it surprisingly mediocre, sonically. So I'm not sure i'd blame the condition of the master tapes.
I own a copy of RCA Victor CCS-20 (2-track "Stereo Orthophonic" tape) and it is decidedly a sonic B, far from a brilliant recording. Not all of these early RCA stereos were created equal, and this is one of them, so I can't really understand why it was reissued. I've also heard the early (1955?) Rubinstein Grieg on tape, and it's also mediocre. I prefer the later stereo recording.
Overall, my favorite pianist, and someone I was lucky enough to meet a few times after recitals. Such a lovely old world gentleman.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
Maybe the new remasters just allow us to hear it more clearly! ;-)
I assume you acquired the vinyl incarnations of the two titles you mention? (The SACD's for those titles still don't appear to be available yet.)
My own feeling, based on the first couple of releases in this Analogue Productions / Acoustic Sounds series (in my case, on SACD, not vinyl) - Repighi's Pines/Fountains and R-K's Scheherazade, both with Reiner - is that these are the finest incarnations yet, even besting the previous series of SACD's (which I also liked) from a few years ago.
Yes I have the vinyl and I agree with you. The Pines and Scherazade are stunning. The best remastering yet. This two are a real disappointment and I have a feeling they were back ordered for so long because they had problems getting the sound to an acceptable level. I won't order any more until I see some reviewers like Jonatan Valin review these two.
Alan
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