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Is it just me? I am more dissapointed with classical guitar/Lute LP's than any other genre of classical music.You know, besides going uber expensive....why cant they all sound close to the OPUS 3 stuff...clear, powerful, you know..the way it should..Some of the LP's if they sounded live that way, the house would empty in 13 minutes.
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If performance is good I do not care for the rest.I have over 30 classical guitar/lute records and many recordings are very very good, but, some suck.
(Now, if you want explosive guitar recording, try Miroslav Tadic on MA records label)
you can immediately hear departures from that sound. Solo instruments whose sound is well-known to the listener can be the best for evaluating recordings, speakers, and other components. Who really know exactly how a symphony orchestra should sound, though one generally has a much better idea about that than most non-acoustic pop music; who knows what was sone to that?what you find when you really know how a musical instrument should sound is how hard it is to get right. That goes especially for pianos, violins, and cellos, with their complex overtone structures that give them their character. I have many fine classical guitar recordings (and many poor ones), but the good ones weren't necessarily expensive; I bought a lot of them on old, used vinyl. A few weeks ago I was listening to Bach lute suites played by Bream on a guitar on an old RCA recording. The performances is not a favorite of mine, but the sound of that guitar on my system was almost scarry. It was like he was in the room, and his guitar had a wonderful sound. But I picked my speakers using solo music like this in part to maximize the realism of solo instruments. I felt that if I couldn't get the solo instruments right, then I wouldn't get anything really right.
say a handful. And maybe a cd or two. My fairly limited collection runs from Segovia through the Romeros, to Williams and Yepes and Bream and to Chris Parkening and Liona B. on LP. I have 2 Parkening Angel CD's.One amazingly and surprisingly good sounding record is my Italian pressed copy of the Philips recording of the Concierto de Aranjuez with ASMF and Marriner, played by Pepe Romero. Not solo, but great sound.
I need your take on digital copies, as the friend I have doesn't own a record player (18 year old classical guitar player).
this post is already well into the second page. I'll either email you directly or start a new thread. I will be sure to provide the details of a CD of the complete solo guitar music of Villa Lobos, but I'm not home now and don't have the details. The sound is among the finest I have ever heard for this instrument, and the playing is wonderful. My fear is that it is out of print. A quick look for it at a store that would have didn't turn it up.Joe
I sorry for the late post.
On lute recordings i tend to agree, i guess it's hard to record properly not unlike a harpsichord. Just got a Julian Bream lute record that's pretty hard on the ear.
But i have plenty of classical (Spanish) guitar records i can listen to, just scored Julian Bream/John Williams Together on CBS, certainly not an audiophile label but good enough for me to enjoy the formidable guitar playing. IMHO vinyl is better at reproducing the all important attack phase of the guitar sound compared to CD.
"The torture never stops"
are from them...and a couple of Eratos..
One of the nicest classical guitar sounds I've heard is John Williams plays Barrios: From the Jungles of Paraguay, Sony 1995 CD SK 64 396. No doubt out of print by now--Amazon doesn't show it for sale. To my ears, a very beautiful and rich sound and a matching performance. Probably artificial as hell, as you'd never hear it that way in a concert hall, but what sweet sound.I also like some of the old Deutsche Grammophon Narciso Yepes recordings too.
I suppose a good question to ask is, "What is the right way for a classical guitar (or lute) to sound?" In performance, one usually hears it from some distance, but in the studio it may be close miked with reverb added. I'm also told that some of Julian Bream's recordings were overdubbed. I've heard Andres Segovia and Julian Bream in fairly large halls unmiked. It may not have sounded as good as a good recording, but part of the magic was just being there watching them play.
Segoya, maybe? Hell...what a memory!Harmonia Mundi LPs sound good, I have a few lute LPs on that label. I'm spoiled though. As I was learning about this hobby, lo those many years ago, I got to hear a really old Martin every day. A friend of mine was quite a guitarist but with no guts to play in front of an audience. He'd jam with the other pickers around here, but when they tried to get him on stage at a restaurant-lounge, he'd freeze up solid.
But listening to that old Martin taught me a lot about the sound of recorded strings...there are no really good LPs of guitars...at least nothing that sounded like that Martin played in my living room or his!
The Harmonia Mundi LPs almost get it right, though.
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If I had more money I'd soon be broke...but I'd have more LPs!
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