Longest LP side

[Ferretfancy]

verismissimo

Bear in mind that the Furtwangler La Scala ring was in mono, and not marvellous mono at that, whereas the Beecham Faust is in stereo. It was easier to cut long sides in mono. Incidentally, I have the Beecham on my shelves, and although I haven't played it for a while, i remember it as very good. In contrast this year's Proms performance, heard live, did go on a bit!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Of course, this begs the question of what is/was the longest CD. I know there was the Furtwangler Fidelio on one disc, but that was cheating - putting the first act on the left hand channel and the second on the right, and using the balance control to determine which act you wanted to hear. And there were a few double sided CDs.

But for the real thing, there have been a few breaking the 80 minute barrier. I've had 3 of them Gergiev's Nutcracker, and Elgar chamber music Cd and one with some Schubert that I think was over 81 minutes. But having searched my shelves, I can't find numbers 2 & 3 at all.

[verismissimo]

Alpen, we owe the 80 minute CD to Sony's Norio Ohga. He died 23 April, aged 81.

Born in 1930 in Japan, after the war he graduated in music in Tokyo and then in Berlin, training as a baritone and set to become an opera singer. Unhappy with the sound produced by Sony’s tape recorders, he wrote to the company and complained – and was hired by one of Sony’s co-founders, Akio Morita. For a while he led a double life – with the company and singing – but eventually decided to concentrate on Sony, eventually becoming president and chairman, leading the company from 1982 to 2003.

Perhaps most famous for his championing of the CD – he insisted that it contain at least 74 minutes of music so that the whole of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony could be accommodated – he also made major acquisitions in the entertainment field, including Columbia Pictures and CBS Records, turning Sony into a leading global player. Not at all the typical grey-suited Japanese businessman, Ohga was outgoing and flamboyant. He suffered a stroke while conducting the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing in 2001.

[barber olly]

Of course, this begs the question of what is/was the longest CD. I know there was the Furtwangler Fidelio on one disc, but that was cheating - putting the first act on the left hand channel and the second on the right, and using the balance control to determine which act you wanted to hear. And there were a few double sided CDs.

But for the real thing, there have been a few breaking the 80 minute barrier. I've had 3 of them Gergiev's Nutcracker, and Elgar chamber music Cd and one with some Schubert that I think was over 81 minutes. But having searched my shelves, I can't find numbers 2 & 3 at all.

So I'm not the only one who cannot immediately find items!
Long CDs LCO Suk,Dvorak and Tchaikovsky Serenades 80'33", Boulez Mahler 2 80'36", Bernstein BPO Mahler 9 82'04". And I have others!

[3rd Viennese School]

I have a double LP of Mahler 3. Wot they do with the 33 minute mvt 1 is make you turn the record over just after the recap of the first subject group. Then on side 2 you get the march which ends mvt 1.

I thought my Eric Coates London Bridge record had a longer side at least 30 mins but I had no idea that there were longer ones out there!

3VS

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I remember an interesting Hammerklavier Sonata recording on LP. It began midway through side 1, continued throughout side 2 and concluded on the first part of side 1, thus avoiding a break in the music. Similarly, Barbirolli's Pye recording of Elgar 1 was spread on to 3 sides for the same reason, but this idea was abandoned for the Golden Guineas reissue.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I remember an interesting Hammerklavier Sonata recording on LP. It began midway through side 1, continued throughout side 2 and concluded on the first part of side 1, thus avoiding a break in the music.

ENIGMA Classics (later ASV) did the same thing with Loughran's (very good, IMO) reading of the Eroica: the Finale started Side One, then the First Movement, with movts 2&3 on Side Two.

The first CD to exceed the 80min limit that I know of was a disc of 20th Century American Music conducted by Aaron Copland: I thought I had it, but it's not where I thought it was, so may be in a Pickford's depot somewhere! (I bet Suffolkcoastal has a copy.)

I remember those RUDOLPHE "double single-sided" CDs: I still have the Fidelio and Wagner's Dutchman, Parsifal and Ring. Useless to me now: the player I have doesn't allow me to shut off either channel

Best Wishes.

[Don Petter]

I remember those RUDOLPHE "double single-sided" CDs: I still have the Fidelio and Wagner's Dutchman, Parsifal and Ring. Useless to me now: the player I have doesn't allow me to shut off either channel

That's the advantage of still having a Quad. Either channel fed to both speakers at the push of a button.

[Roehre]

I remember an interesting Hammerklavier Sonata recording on LP. It began midway through side 1, continued throughout side 2 and concluded on the first part of side 1, thus avoiding a break in the music.

I remember that LP: I had it in my hands many moons ago (1972 or so) and I do recall apologies on the sleeve explaining the choice of the first side beginning with the finale. I hadn't got the money to buy it (even though it was in a sale), and stuck to Mozart's Posthorn-serenade (which I still have got on my shelves, btw).
But who was the pianist?

[Segilla]

And the shortest I recall was the Nixa(?) Schubert Quartettsatz issued in the 1950s. With LPs then costing £2 it was a swindle.

[Barbirollians]

Some of those late EMI DMM LPs were dreadful - they may have been long but they were made of terrible thin vinyl and warped very easily and the slightest scratch made them jump . I always wondered whether they were deliberately terrible to get us to buy CD players and CDs

[pastoralguy]

Looking back, it's interesting that the main reason given for the failure to market quad was that people did not want to fill their rooms with extra speakers, but nowadays we are happy to do so.

I can't imagine any other thing I'd rather do...