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In Reply to: RE: HDTT reissues Ansermet's Rite of Spring with (almost) original cover art posted by Chris from Lafayette on September 15, 2016 at 17:24:23
Caveat: Although I own a fair number of Ansermet recordings (Beethoven Symphonies 1 - 8, Haydn Paris Symphonies, the Berlioz/Ravel album with Crespin, and a couple of others), and have heard others on the radio (e.g., his Sibelius 4th), I was not familiar with ANY of his Stravinsky recordings. So I'm not able to say how this new HDTT reissue compares with any of the earlier incarnations of Ansermet's Rite of Spring. (Should we abbreviate this as RoS, or LSdP?). This is my first encounter with this recording.
Engineering-wise, I like it. It seems to come from a time prior to when Decca began using their "Storm" consoles and abandoning their earlier, simpler microphone techniques. It has a natural depth and spread, and reflects the excellent acoustics of the Geneva locale where they recorded. In addition, tape hiss has been banished on this new reissue. I know that some listeners see a red flag when they hear something like this, but I could detect no effect of the de-hissing on the musical signals. Tonally, there seems to be a slight lift to the mid-high frequencies, but that's possibly how the tape used for this remastering actually sounds. In addition, the depth of the bass drum (and, yes, I do mean the bass drum - not the tympany as one poster here suggested a couple of months ago) is not that impressive compared to a number of other recordings. The main appeal of the sound quality on this recording lies in its natural balance and holistic presentation of the orchestra.
As for the performance, Ansermet began conducting this work in 1920, just seven years after the premiere, and his long association with the work certainly has to be respected. As I hear it, the main attractions of the performance are the piquant tonal qualities of the winds, which are reasonably well in tune on this recording (not something you can always count on with the OSR of that time), and the occasional interesting balances. Nevertheless, the sheer command of the music (i.e., beyond the playing of the actual notes) is a bit lacking compared to many other recorded performances. I checked the last four minutes against the Fruhbeck de Burgos / LSO recording (on the Collins label), and there's just no comparison: the LSO players are just able to do things in terms of expression, nuance, accentuation, articulation, etc., that make the OSR players sound just. . . ordinary. I'm still glad that I was able to hear this Ansermet performance for the qualities I mentioned, but IMHO it would have to serve more as a supplemental performance in one's library rather than a first choice.
Follow Ups:
Always wanted to try my Marantz DV-9600 on 24/96 DVD Audio to see if it plays real 'hi-rez'.
For $9 how can one go wrong? Especially if at the end of the day I can rip and convert it to some other format.
At $9 a diskI migh go for the whole catalog and save on shipping! =:-0
If it plays when it arrives.
Same impression I got with their Bartok Concerto for Orchestra: not quite internalized.
My favorite Ansermet Debussy Images happens to be available. I'll likely pick that one up along with Stravinsky's own Firebird.
Have you tried any of their DSD transfers? They mention that tape defects aren't edited in DSD releases, but how bad and/or numerous can they be?
I have the Ansermet Debussy La Mer / Jeux / Khamma album downloaded from HD Tracks. It's good - kind of on a par with this new Stravinsky LSdP from HDTT.
I haven't tried any of the DSD transfers because I do not have a DSD DAC. (The only direct DSD playback capability I have is through my old Pioneer universal player, which of course plays SACD's, but not DSD/DFF files.) At this point, I haven't found the DSD offerings sufficiently compelling to get enthusiastic about acquiring a DSD DAC at this point - remember, for me it has to be multi-channel too. ;-)
Still think Toscanini unsurpassed. I prefer his studio recording to Carnegie Hall live recording. The dryness of the Studio really helps with detail. Very vivid recording.
Yes, many more PCM recordings available, and no complaints from me. I stumbled across NativeDSD.com which pulls most DSD recordings together.
I noticed that you have to be a smart shopper when perusing all the sites. Not all sites carry same titles, (fair enough), and not all sites offer same resolutions. Some only offer lower resolution, even when original recording higher, and some only offer PCM while others carry native DSD versions of the same titles. (Mostly the case with Pentatone and Harmonia Mundi USA.)
And of course there's the occasional upsampling issue, but with a little research, you can find the original sampling rate.
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