Last Mercury Box?

[Ferretfancy]

I've just been sampling the third and presumably last box of Mercury reissues, 53 discs altogether. There are some fine Dorati recordings here, including the Brahms symphonies with the LSO, the excellent versions of the first three Tchaikovskies and Wagner orchestral works,
The latter are matched by a similar selection by the Detroit SO and Paul Paray.

Paray is also represented by the Franck and Chausson symphonies and the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. All the Paray performances are enjoyable if you don't mind his brisk tempi in almost everything.

Lighter works from Frederick Fennell include three CDs of song arrangements, Gershwin, Porter, and interestingly Victor Herbert.

Howard Hanson recorded a lecture recital for Mercury, entitled The Composer and his Orchestra, very much tailored for his American audience.

All in all, it's an interesting collection which has as a bonus the 4tt and 8th Shostakovich quartets by the Borodin Quartet, that's the third version of No; 8 by this team in my collection!

The sound on some of these CDs is astonishing for its period, especially the Dorati recordings made in London and Vienna.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Have all the Dorati Tchaikovsky ballets been covered yet?

[Ferretfancy]

Have all the Dorati Tchaikovsky ballets been covered yet?

Volume 1 has The Nutcracker, and Vol. 2 the mono Swan Lake. Was there a Sleeping Beauty on this label?

The third volume has the Dorati recording of the Orchestral Suites and the original mono version of 1812 and Capriccio Italien

There's also a Dorati Beethoven Eroica which apparently caused a stir on its first release, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Volume 1 has The Nutcracker, and Vol. 2 the mono Swan Lake. Was there a Sleeping Beauty on this label?

There was a Sleeping Beauty. I had it on a 3 LP Fontana set.

The third volume has the Dorati recording of the Orchestral Suites and the original mono version of 1812 and Capriccio Italien. .

I still have that mono 1812 on a 45 rpm extended play disc. Consequently I always expect the music to stop at the side turn.

[Alain Maréchal]

the original mono version of 1812 and Capriccio Italien

The guiltiest of guilty pleasures! I hope it comes with "the sounds you have just heard... Strasbourg...Harkness Memorial Tower...". The stereo remake sound effects were wimpy by comparison.
I was never sure if there were two recordings of the Capriccio, or if one stereo recording was at first issued in mono.

There are bound to be gaps - no Paray recordings of Wagner, and no Dupre playing Dupre. However - Vetrate di Chiesa in a decent issue at last! Wait for the neighbours to go out before playing it.

[Ferretfancy]

The guiltiest of guilty pleasures! I hope it comes with "the sounds you have just heard... Strasbourg...Harkness Memorial Tower...". The stereo remake sound effects were wimpy by comparison.
I was never sure if there were two recordings of the Capriccio, or if one stereo recording was at first issued in mono.

There are bound to be gaps - no Paray recordings of Wagner, and no Dupre playing Dupre. However - Vetrate di Chiesa in a decent issue at last! Wait for the neighbours to go out before playing it.

There is one Paray Wagner CD in Vol. 3, Ring extracts, Tristan Flying Dutchman Overture, Rienzi and a Meistersinger Suite. The performance of Siegfried Idyll is interesting, faster than we usually hear but beautifully played by the Detroit SO, and the sound is splendid throughout the disc.

[Alain Maréchal]

Thank you, I had missed that! I have some of them on LP - the Dutchman overture is brisk and breezy. Paray grew up in Le Treport so probably knew what the sea was like. I like his Schumann as well, in fact I have a high regard for his work.

[Ferretfancy]

Thank you, I had missed that! I have some of them on LP - the Dutchman overture is brisk and breezy. Paray grew up in Le Treport so probably knew what the sea was like. I like his Schumann as well, in fact I have a high regard for his work.

I always enjoy his performances, even though he has a marked preference for fast tempi. Brisk and breezy is a good description of much of his work.

I was listening yesterday to his performance of Offenbach's La Belle Helene Overture. Wow! He certainly takes it at a lick! However, the orchestra manages it OK

[Bryn]

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[hafod]

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Even less and free delivery.

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[richardfinegold]

I've just been sampling the third and presumably last box of Mercury reissues, 53 discs altogether. There are some fine Dorati recordings here, including the Brahms symphonies with the LSO, the excellent versions of the first three Tchaikovskies and Wagner orchestral works,
The latter are matched by a similar selection by the Detroit SO and Paul Paray.

Paray is also represented by the Franck and Chausson symphonies and the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. All the Paray performances are enjoyable if you don't mind his brisk tempi in almost everything.

Lighter works from Frederick Fennell include three CDs of song arrangements, Gershwin, Porter, and interestingly Victor Herbert.

Howard Hanson recorded a lecture recital for Mercury, entitled The Composer and his Orchestra, very much tailored for his American audience.

All in all, it's an interesting collection which has as a bonus the 4tt and 8th Shostakovich quartets by the Borodin Quartet, that's the third version of No; 8 by this team in my collection!

The sound on some of these CDs is astonishing for its period, especially the Dorati recordings made in London and Vienna.

The Paray Fantastique was released in one of the prior boxes. Is this an oler mono version?
I still haven't figured out where on the shelves to locate the first two boxes.

[richardfinegold]

I always enjoy his performances, even though he has a marked preference for fast tempi. Brisk and breezy is a good description of much of his work.

I was listening yesterday to his performance of Offenbach's La Belle Helene Overture. Wow! He certainly takes it at a lick! However, the orchestra manages it OK

I like his tempos in most French Music. He slows it down in Debussy, however.

[Alain Maréchal]

Paray is brisk in most of his performances. The Franck and Chausson symphonies benefit from it, and he takes the opening movement of Beethoven 6 at quite a hectic pace, probably the fastest pre-HIPP recording, and his finale to Beethoven 7 is breathless. He must have known what he wanted, and what he was doing. There is a common belief that he never attended anybody else's concerts or listened to their recordings, so he made his own mind up.

[Ferretfancy]

The Paray Fantastique was released in one of the prior boxes. Is this an oler mono version?
I still haven't figured out where on the shelves to locate the first two boxes.

It appears to be the same recording from November 1959, with the same cover art and recording dates. There is nothing to indicate re-mastering and it's very definitely in stereo. Someone had blundered!

[richardfinegold]

It appears to be the same recording from November 1959, with the same cover art and recording dates. There is nothing to indicate re-mastering and it's very definitely in stereo. Someone had blundered!

I pulled mine from the first box yesterday and played it. Fantastic record