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In Reply to: RE: Old vs. New Recordings posted by ecl876 on November 22, 2015 at 17:01:32
. . . but you're right: it IS fascinating. I almost agree with Roy below about the dividing line between "old" recordings and "modern" recordings, but I'd place the year just a bit later (maybe 1956 or so). Many of the early stereo recordings have a wonderful "organic" sound (as Tidycat1 described it - I've also called it "holistic"), but I've been very impressed with many modern recordings of the last decade or so too - and there's no question in my mind that, at least in the classical world, we're getting better dynamic range on many recordings today than we've ever gotten before.
I also liked the reference to the Radu Lupu recordings which do indeed sound (to me) much "darker" than his playing does (or did when we heard him) in concert. I think Decca did go through a period of "dark" sounding piano recordings - I feel some of the Ashkenazy recordings on Decca sound(ed) that way too.
I also noticed that a couple of the posters must be Brits with their chauvinistic blinders on, as they can't seem to imagine that there were any great sounding older recordings other than on the EMI and Decca labels. I don't know what it is with some Brits and the American "golden age of stereo" recordings - I recently read a review from Tully Potter which described one of the Reiner/CSO Living Stereo recordings as having an unnatural "Hollywood sound". Hey, Tully, that statement takes your credibility down by more than a few notches - at least in my book! ;-)
Follow Ups:
You and I (and others here) have commented before about the nationalistic bias of some British music critics.
Alas, the British produce so many good writers, their view of the world often has a disproportionate impact. Dang it.
I have the Penguin guide and had a gramophone guide which are both rather biased toward English and Scottish conductors. Garner, Mackerras and Rattle are demi-gods etc. Their opinions have to be taken (like American opinions) with a large grain of salt. However, the American guides really favor USA conductors like Bernstein (who apparently could do no wrong).
I remember the Penguin Guide not caring too much for Glenn Gould, though they recognized his genius.
"It is a terrible thing to speak well and be wrong."Along these lines, I just can't understand the reverence for critics such as G. B. Shaw and other clever musical amateurs. (Not that I don't like many of Shaw's other writings!)
-- Sophocles, "Electra"
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