Deutsche Grammophon.

[cloughie]

Most of the Decca "World of ... " series had SPA numberings, too. SPA 1 was "The World of Mantovani", released in 1968, but there was also Mahler, Tommy Steele, Bach, John Mayall (two volumes), Edmondo Ross ...

See #53 -there were some really good Classical issues in this series.

[Barbirollians]

Most of the Decca "World of ... " series had SPA numberings, too. SPA 1 was "The World of Mantovani", released in 1968, but there was also Mahler, Tommy Steele, Bach, John Mayall (two volumes), Edmondo Ross ...

And not forgetting The World of Kathleen Ferrier.

[Conchis]

To me, what DGG (not the same without the Gesellschaft) has become is personified by:

A bit unfair, I think, as Mr. McManus has proved himself to be a considerable polymath where music is concerned and has operated in the jazz and classical arenas. His other DG album that I know of (North) is supposedly a straight jazz record, though it's not judged to be one of his best.

He also reads and writes music and his work is his own: he doesn't get the ample helping hand that Paul McCartney (a non-reader) got from Carl Davis and whose much lesser classical work was supported by EMI.

I always preferred Decca soundwise (there's nothing like a vintage Culshaw analogue production) but DG put out some wonderful stuff and probably still does.

[cloughie]

A bit unfair, I think, as Mr. McManus has proved himself to be a considerable polymath where music is concerned and has operated in the jazz and classical arenas. His other DG album that I know of (North) is supposedly a straight jazz record, though it's not judged to be one of his best.

He also reads and writes music and his work is his own: he doesn't get the ample helping hand that Paul McCartney (a non-reader) got from Carl Davis and whose much lesser classical work was supported by EMI.

I always preferred Decca soundwise (there's nothing like a vintage Culshaw analogue production) but DG put out some wonderful stuff and probably still does.

I think that Elvis C has many great musician qualities and his voice suits ‘Oliver’s Army’ and ‘Watching the Detectives’ but not so good in more serious works, and a travesty in ‘She’.

[jayne lee wilson]

Elvis Costello'sThis Year's Girl, one of his best from 1978 with a devastating lyric, is currently & very aptly the theme tune for S2 of The Deuce on Sky Atlantic (which is reaching Wire-like levels of depth, breadth, scale and sheer quality)...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

See #53 -there were some really good Classical issues in this series.

Apologies - I've amended my post to correct my oversight. You're right - there were, indeed, a lot of excellent recordings in that series and I had several in my early collection.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Apologies - I've amended my post to correct my oversight. You're right - there were, indeed, a lot of excellent recordings in that series and I had several in my early collection.

... and I've just remembered the little hole in the back of the sleeves of the earlier releases, so you could see if the inner sleeve was pink (Mono) or blue (Stereo)!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

And not forgetting The World of Kathleen Ferrier.

[Dave2002]

He also reads and writes music and his work is his own: he doesn't get the ample helping hand that Paul McCartney (a non-reader) got from Carl Davis and whose much lesser classical work was supported by EMI.

I always preferred Decca soundwise (there's nothing like a vintage Culshaw analogue production) but DG put out some wonderful stuff and probably still does.

I wouldn't put money on PM not being able to read music. Perhaps he can, but prefers media people to think otherwise.

Re Decca - in the days of LP I wasn't always too keen on Decca, and I actually quite liked (shock horror) some CBS recordings and quite a lot of EMI recordings. However, see msg xxx. One day I went to hear some Decca LPs played on kit which was much better than mine, and indeed they did sound very good. In that era many master tapes (even the CBS ones) generally sounded much better than LPs which were available to buy, but few people realised that.

[Dave2002]

He also reads and writes music and his work is his own: he doesn't get the ample helping hand that Paul McCartney (a non-reader) got from Carl Davis and whose much lesser classical work was supported by EMI.

I always preferred Decca soundwise (there's nothing like a vintage Culshaw analogue production) but DG put out some wonderful stuff and probably still does.

I wouldn't put money on PM not being able to read music. Perhaps he can, but prefers media people to think otherwise.

Re Decca - in the days of LP I wasn't always too keen on Decca, and I actually quite liked (shock horror) some CBS recordings and quite a lot of EMI recordings. However, see msg 12 above. Possibly my views were coloured by the equipment I used - which of course was all that I could afford. One day I went to hear some Decca LPs played on kit which was much better than mine, and indeed they did sound very good. In that era many master tapes (even the CBS ones) generally sounded much better than LPs which were available to buy, but few people realised that.

A complication re trying to characterise the sound of a "label" is that even 40-50 years ago, despite labels belonging to different organisations, on occasions they would I believe sub contract engineers and kit from other companies to make recordings.

[cloughie]

I wouldn't put money on PM not being able to read music. Perhaps he can, but prefers media people to think otherwise.

Re Decca - in the days of LP I wasn't always too keen on Decca, and I actually quite liked (shock horror) some CBS recordings and quite a lot of EMI recordings. However, see msg xxx. One day I went to hear some Decca LPs played on kit which was much better than mine, and indeed they did sound very good. In that era many master tapes (even the CBS ones) generally sounded much better than LPs which were available to buy, but few people realised that.

The sound came from the ‘cut’ from the mastertape! The digital transfer to CD has refined sounds and taken the labour and maybe the skills out of cutting the masters.
the cutting

[Ein Heldenleben]

See #53 -there were some really good Classical issues in this series.

And not forgetting The World of Kathleen Ferrier.

World of Kathleen Ferrier. - the greatest single disc from one vocalist in gramophone history ?

[Dave2002]

The sound came from the ‘cut’ from the mastertape! The digital transfer to CD has refined sounds and taken the labour and maybe the skills out of cutting the masters.

Did any edits get done to a sub master tape, or were the only edits done by cutting and splicing? Changing the frequency balance and other aspects could be done during cutting, but would perhaps have been much easier if any such tweaks had already been done to a secondary tape to avoid having to do all the adjustments in real time. Nowadays technology has advanced to the point at which several options for controlling disc cutting would be feasible, but in the 1950s to 1970s those options weren't available.

[Keraulophone]

See #53 -there were some really good Classical issues in this series.

...two of the best being The World of Borodin, including a fine Symphony No.2 from LSO/Martinon, and The World Of the Harpsichord, displaying the virtuosity and wide tastes of the great George Malcolm.

[John Wright]

World of Kathleen Ferrier. - the greatest single disc from one vocalist in gramophone history ?

A double LP that a lot of people rave about: Joan Sutherland’s ‘The Art Of The Prima Donna’ Decca SXL2256-2257, recorded in 1960. I have the CD set 452-298-2 with its excellent booklet, from eBay for a fiver.