Poor recordings - are they genre related?

[Dave2002]

I'm always rather puzzled at this kind of sweeping criticism of "recent recordings..." Is it simply a case of not buying many new releases?

There are indeed many good recent recordings, though there are also some very good older recordings. However there are some rotten ones, even if they are on CD and recorded during the last few years.

[PJPJ]

The recording industry seems to have a rule that harpsichords are too quiet and should always be normalised to 0dB. As a result harpsichord recordings always sound two to three times louder and more tiring to the ear than anything else in my collection, and nothing at all like the way harpsichords sound in real life. I don't get it.

.....

I agree - and don't get it, either. It happens all too often.

[PJPJ]

I agree about decent recording venues. I love the vintage recordings of the Academy of Ancient Music for the most part, when they were recorded in St Jude's, Hampstead and Kingsway Hall. But their recordings made in Henry Wood Hall sound very flat and dry to me.

Some of my really favourite recordings of film music are those done in Kingsway Hall by the National Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Gerhardt in the 70s for RCA Victor. Absolutely terrific sound.

I do agree in part bout the Henry Wood Hall recordings - I thought they'd improved in later years. Unfortunately, I'm not at home so can't dig out a good one from that venue.

In addition to the film scores in Charles Gerhardt's series, there were also items like Boult's Franck Symphony, Reiner's Brahms 4, Hanson 2 and so on, all recorded originally for Reader's Digest. As with the film scores series, the performances and recording qualities were of the highest order and these remain exemplary.

Wonderful series, all.

[MickyD]

I never got all the film score discs from Gerhardt, but I see now on Amazon that they are available again in remastered versions. Just wish that they had all been put together in a budget box.

[cloughie]

I do agree in part bout the Henry Wood Hall recordings - I thought they'd improved in later years. Unfortunately, I'm not at home so can't dig out a good one from that venue.

In addition to the film scores in Charles Gerhardt's series, there were also items like Boult's Franck Symphony, Reiner's Brahms 4, Hanson 2 and so on, all recorded originally for Reader's Digest. As with the film scores series, the performances and recording qualities were of the highest order and these remain exemplary.

Wonderful series, all.

Gerhardt conducted a few orchestral pieces which have appeared on Reader's Digest compilations and there were two really nice collections, one of English music which appeared on the RCA GD label and a French collection on RCA RL, neither of which ever appeared on CD.

[pastoralguy]

The recording industry seems to have a rule that harpsichords are too quiet and should always be normalised to 0dB. As a result harpsichord recordings always sound two to three times louder and more tiring to the ear than anything else in my collection, and nothing at all like the way harpsichords sound in real life. I don't get it.

(There are a few companies/artists that produce more realistic recordings, to be fair. But surprisingly few.)

My goodness - you're not kidding!! I borrowed two CDs from the library today of the Bach Goldberg Variations. One by Keith Jarrett on ECM and the other by Andreas Staier on Harmonia Mundi. Neither has particularly attractive sound and really seem to be over inflated. Both are hardly pleasurable to listen to!

I borrowed the Esfahani cd on DG last week and it was infinitely more successful as a recording.

[Maclintick]

I bought a CD of the John Wilson orchestra playing Rogers and Hammerstain movie music today in a charity shop. The recording is terrible, IMO. It just sounds flat - completely dull. It's an EMI recording from 2012. There is no ambience. I think the dynamics have been flattened completely out of existence. It just hits me as an awful recording the moment the CD starts. So why? Is it because it's film music? However, it's not a film soundtrack.

John Wilson has taken a deliberately "retro", or one could argue technologically-HIPP, approach to recording these scores from the mid-twentieth century, to the extent of using contemporaneous microphones which do not have the extended frequency or dynamic response of their modern counterparts, in the hope that some essential qualities of the originals could be reproduced. These may sound flat,dry,& boxy to modern audiences, I suspect.

[Conchis]

John Wilson has taken a deliberately "retro", or one could argue technologically-HIPP, approach to recording these scores from the mid-twentieth century, to the extent of using contemporaneous microphones which do not have the extended frequency or dynamic response of their modern counterparts, in the hope that some essential qualities of the originals could be reproduced. These may sound flat,dry,& boxy to modern audiences, I suspect.

What a bizarre philosophy!

One of the reasons I don't much care for so-called 'authentic performance' is that, whereas you might be hearing 'what the composers heard', you're not necessarily hearing what the composers wanted.

I'm sure Berlioz would have shunned Symphonie Fantastique as conducted by JEG or Norrington in preference to Karajan's 'suaver' performances.

[jayne lee wilson]

What a bizarre philosophy!

One of the reasons I don't much care for so-called 'authentic performance' is that, whereas you might be hearing 'what the composers heard', you're not necessarily hearing what the composers wanted.

I'm sure Berlioz would have shunned Symphonie Fantastique as conducted by JEG or Norrington in preference to Karajan's 'suaver' performances.

Any evidence for that assertion? D'you think Berlioz disliked the sound of the orchestras he wrote for?

***

When classical music collectors invoke 50s and 60s recordings as some sort of lost sonic ideal, it reminds me of the joke about folk singers and lightbulbs...."one to change the bulb, and three to sing about how good the old one was"...

Most of the bad recordings from the earlier stereo decades have probably either been forgotten, left unplayed on shelves, or reissued/remastered several times, so you have left something of a crème de la crème...in the catalogue and in the minds of listeners whose memories or collections go back that far...
I think it's partly a mythology somewhat akin to the recent fashion for vinyl itself.

You haven't any Mercurys or RCAs you don't like? The are quite a few over there I probably won't play again, or have to exercise some tolerance when I do, of the sake of musical enlightenment. (e.g Paray's Detroit SO Schumann, at least beyond No.1.....)

[pastoralguy]

Any evidence for that assertion? D'you think Berlioz disliked the sound of the orchestras he wrote for?

It's a long time since I read the Berlioz 'Memoirs' but, iirc, he was extremely critical of the poor standard of the orchestral playing in the provinces. He often complained that his works were given extremely poor performances although he could also be effusive about ensembles in the capitals.

[Alison]

I don't agree with John Wilsons philosophy if Macklinters is right. I might have even purchased the CD had it been an audiophile recommendation. Recorded at Abbey Road too; what a shame.

[Conchis]

Offhand, I can't think of a 'bad' classical/orchestral recording: the John McClure produced Bernstein sessions for CBS in the 50s/60s gained a measure of notoriety but wonders have been worked on these in their remastering.

Scratch that, I can think of some: several of the Gergiev Russian operas on Philips had execrable sound, particularly the ones recorded live. The Invisible City of Kitezh is virtually unlistenable, imo.

[mikealdren]

I was never impressed with Tasmin Little's EMI recordings. They always sounded quite 'flat' and uninviting which I stupidly attributed to the lady herself. And then I heard her play a few concerts over a short period and was stunned at her sound and her projection of musical ideas.

Her most recent discs from Chandos are, imho, infinitely more representative of her playing.

Very surprising as her husband runs Floating Earth, one of the top recording companies. I wonder whether the EMI recordings predate their relationship - I must listen again.

[pastoralguy]

Very surprising as her husband runs Floating Earth, one of the top recording companies. I wonder whether the EMI recordings predate their relationship - I must listen again.

Ex-husband, Mike! (Nice to see you posting again).

[cloughie]

When talking about good and bad recordings I go back to the EMG Monthly Letter and those exceptionally good LPs which achieved ** and E.ES. There were also interestingly occasional, in the years when mono and stereo recordings were both produced, presumably some engineering blip led to the mono receiving ** and the stereo *.