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RE: Any excuse to hear 5/2 again

Posted by kitch29 on February 1, 2017 at 09:23:29

In Reply to: Keep Traveling -- and Commenting posted by briggs on February 1, 2017 at 05:38:43:

This all started because I clearly preferred the Epic Dvorak "Three Great Symphonies" to the Columbia re-issue but that was years ago with an entirely different system that I felt accurate (the system that is) in tone and timbre but didn't image particularly well.

These days I have the system I'll float down the Styx with so today I re-listened to the Beethoven Symphony 5 second movement of both versions in preparation to re-visit the Dvorak. Once again, the Columbia re-issue was a clear favorite; the imaging of the Epic seeming even more vague and shifting whith the tone and timbre not as good. I just love the Flute and Clarinet duets with punctuations of Bassoon and looow plucked Double Basses that Beethoven writes.

I got out both Dvorak sets and chose my favorite Eighth Symphony third movement that I love for it's lush string melodies and country fair flavor. Probably the easiest movement I know for a Trombone player to enjoy while waiting a long time for entrance.

First the Epic. The imaging was even worse than the Beethoven with Woodwinds, Violins, and Cellos randomly changing places. The Violin melody was gorgeous to the point I began to wonder if this really was recorded at Severance Hall.

Right away the Columbia re-issue let me sit back and enjoy the music with the same wide and accurate soundstage of the Beethoven. The interwoven Woodwind phrases that always remind me of Ferris Wheel music and the entrances of Mr. Blooms Horn and Mr. Adelsteins Trumpet were just right in tone. Someone turned up the Brightness Control on the gorgeousness of the Violin melody from the Epic. The Violins most noticeably here have the brighter sheen I recall from many performances I attended at Severance Hall in the Sixties and Seventies. Szell convinced the Board to spend a Million Dollars in 1954 to, among other things, cover the back wall of the stage with a plywood sounding board to brighten and improve the detail he wanted to hear.

What I heard in the Epic was more in line with the major sonic difference that resulted from the complete renovation done in the Nineties which removed the plywood, once more exposing the organ pipes and Art Deco features of the hall. In addition they raised and replaced the seats. I attended a concert featuring Hilary Hahn playing the Dvorak Violin Concerto in 2004 and heard the lusher, 'prettier' sound of the renovation, just as in the Epic version of the Symphonies.

Before, or perhaps more aptly, after Szell:

After:

No question then that in both sets the Columbia re-issue is preferable overall. It would be intersting to hear the Beethoven set in Mono without the annoying imaging issues but the Dvorak is simply too far off in tone to make that worthwhile.

Edits: 02/01/17

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