YouTube Gerontius, 1968, Pears, Baker, JSQ, Boult.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Have you heard the various lengthy extracts from live performances at Hereford and the RAH, conducted by the old boy? (At least they provide proof that Britten was being wilful when he prolonged the bass drum rolls across the two silent bars in the prelude.)

Yes - I used to have the OPAL CD, but it seems to have vanished from my collection. A replacement looks a bit expensive!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Conducts-Gerontius-Sir-Edward/dp/B000000WYR/

[Pabmusic]

Yes - I used to have the OPAL CD, but it seems to have vanished from my collection. A replacement looks a bit expensive!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Conduc...dp/B000000WYR/

Aaah!

But this is just 20 quid and has all his electrical recordings, including everything that was on the Opal:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Electrical-Recordings-Edward-Elgar/dp/B004MSRDK6/ref=sr_1_44?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1434840077&sr=1-44&keywords=elgar+gerontius

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Aaah!

But this is just 20 quid and has all his electrical recordings, including everything that was on the Opal:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Ele...lgar+gerontius

Ooh; tempting. I had found another copy of the OPAL CD at around £11 - but this (most of which I already own in the NAXOS remasterings) isn't much more expensive - especially "pre-loved".

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's a fine performance, and the one that inspired Britten to record it. But I do wish we were given more of the performers and (very many) less stained glass windows and gargoyles.

Is this the version with the singing gargoyles? If so, I remember watching the broadcast, and my father commenting about how silly and distracting it was.

[Mary Chambers]

Is this the version with the singing gargoyles?

It is! They aren't there for long, though, and it's worth it for the soloists. Not sure that the choir or the conducting are particularly wonderful.

[Gordon]

I remember seeing this - my first experience of Gerontius. I made a recording from the inards of the TV of the sound track [black and white TV!!, colour has not got started yet in 1968] but it got lost in a house move somewhere. Would be good to hear it again. A bit reverberant IIRC.

Wonder of wonders!! I had lost the 1/4" tape recording I made on my old Revox G series but I had forgotten that I'd made a cassette copy when I was thinking of thinning down the bulky collection of large spools. Technically not a good thing but I have found the cassette!! Now to find a machine to play it!!

Being from TV it's mono of course - I doubt whether the BBC did stereo for TV in those days but maybe because it was captured on film it's stereo on the soundtrack. It'll almost certainly be 16mm film [much cheaper than 35mm] so even after a bit cleaning up will not be very sharp. If they ever do issue the DVD we'll find out.

[ARBurton]

Wonder of wonders!! I had lost the 1/4" tape recording I made on my old Revox G series but I had forgotten that I'd made a cassette copy when I was thinking of thinning down the bulky collection of large spools. Technically not a good thing but I have found the cassette!! Now to find a machine to play it!!

Being from TV it's mono of course - I doubt whether the BBC did stereo for TV in those days but maybe because it was captured on film it's stereo on the soundtrack. It'll almost certainly be 16mm film [much cheaper than 35mm] so even after a bit cleaning up will not be very sharp. If they ever do issue the DVD we'll find out.

If you need any help I can do that for you - Dolby B C or S or open reel or DAT or minidisc to cd...!

[Gordon]

If you need any help I can do that for you - Dolby B C or S or open reel or DAT or minidisc to cd...!

That was quick!! Many thanks ARB! I'd better have a quick listen to see if the sound quality is worth it. The AGFA 90min with Dolby B cassette is in good condition - it's not been played since God knows when. That YouTube dub is a bit variable with drop outs and it looks and sounds like an off-air from a domestic video cassette but they weren't around in 1968 [semi professional video recorders were but they were expensive] nor was there colour TV so where this dub in colour came from is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps the film was broadcast later in the colour era. It's mono sound too.

[Dave2002]

If you need any help I can do that for you - Dolby B C or S or open reel or DAT or minidisc to cd...!

I can't do DAT or open reel, but all the rest ...

Don't even think of using a cheap deck, or one of those kind of things you see advertised in Radio Times or the Sunday papers. I hear that sometimes good quality decks turn up on eBay. Trouble is, that if it's a one off, unless you really want the challenge, or really want to hear that tape, that it's just "extra" work. I thought I might have spare time for "projects" like that as my age increases, but it's not happened yet. I've still not transcribed some LPs which I think could be worth the effort. Maybe next year!

[Gordon]

I can't do DAT or open reel, but all the rest ...

Don't even think of using a cheap deck, or one of those kind of things you see advertised in Radio Times or the Sunday papers. I hear that sometimes good quality decks turn up on eBay. Trouble is, that if it's a one off, unless you really want the challenge, or really want to hear that tape, that it's just "extra" work. I thought I might have spare time for "projects" like that as my age increases, but it's not happened yet. I've still not transcribed some LPs which I think could be worth the effort. Maybe next year!

Thanks. I know the feeling Dave all those project that somehow never happened. Anyway I do have a cassette deck by Toshiba, a very good one with all the knobs to tweak the right things and that wasn't used that much but it hasn't been connected into my main system since a while. It's in a cupboard in the parlour so when I get a moment I'll get it out and replumb it and run it for a while before trying this tape.

I should have said earlier that I had this machine!! I also have a Tascam digital recorder that will do 48/16 and 96/16 but it'll need a bit of faff plumbing as well if the tape is worth converting. Thanks for the offers, if it turns out worthwhile I'll let you know. I suppose it can't be any worse than the VCR sound on the YouTube file; VCRs were not reknowned for their sound quality - the tape speed was rather slow. I still can't believe I still had the tape!!

[ARBurton]

Many years ago, in my salad days, I used to use a 20-band Marantz graphic equalizer to tweak sound a bit.....but I was green in judgement then...