Fedoseyev's Glazunov 5

[Dave2002]

Since getting to know Glazunov's symphonies a few years ago thanks initially to a cheap download of the complete set by Fedoseyev I have tried several other versions. I think Fedoseyev's oerformances are pretty good, but let down rather horribly by the recording, at least in the available MP3 version. I noticed that some of these were available on EMI presumably from Melodiya. Rumour has it that the original tapes have deteriorated, so it's not going to be easy to get good sound.

In an attempt to see if I can get a better recording I typed "Fedoseyev" into eBay and a couple of LPs of the 5th Symphony came up, coupled with Taneyev's symphony 2. I wouldn't normally expect LPs to sound better than LPs, though there are some who disagree. However, I have heard some LPs played on high quality decks which sound about as good as CDs. I have now ordered one of the available copies, and I hope that I will be able to make a decent digital copy from that.

It may be a while though, as I've not had LP facilities set up since moving nearly 10 years ago.
If this works I may have to go back to LPs for some other rare material.

[Dave2002]

Commercial transfers from LP to CD

I also found Glazunov 6 conducted by Fedoseyev and remastered by a firm in the USA.
In order to get the CD you have either to own the original LP or buy a copy from them.

For those of us on the European side of the Atlantic it'd almost certainly be cheaper to get a copy of the appropriate LP first, then order the CD version. Hopefully they'd be able to source that in the USA, so avoid having to send LPs around the world. Of course it'd make sense to try one's own digitisation first by anyone with the equipment and skills to do it.

I don't know if any other firms in the UK or Europe are offering similar services.

[hafod]

I have a boxed set of LPs of the Glazunov symphonies conducted by Fedoseyev and it is from this set that I first became familiar with the works. I think that the performances are terrific. However, it is a while since I last played any and the set is currently boxed up with my whole LP collection following a house move six months ago and currently not 'get-atable'. I cannot honestly recall the nature of the sound quality but I do remember that the discs were DMM remastered which may or may not be a good or bad thing.

Some months ago a Glazunov thread ran on the GMG site and the last post mentions a complete cycle on Venezia CDVE04383 - four CDs. Apparently, this is a Russian import available from HMV Japan (June last year) and with 'great sound'.

Sorry to be so vague.

http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,984.30.html

[jayne lee wilson]

Don't worry about it, hafod -

I've had the Svetlanov/USSRSO remaster of the complete cycle on Venezia (CDVE 04259) for a few years now and it's outstanding musically and sonically. If this repertoire interests you don't hesitate. The recordings were made from 1989 to 1993 in the usual generous Moscow acoustic and are among the best from the venue.

I have a boxed set of LPs of the Glazunov symphonies conducted by Fedoseyev and it is from this set that I first became familiar with the works. I think that the performances are terrific. However, it is a while since I last played any and the set is currently boxed up with my whole LP collection following a house move six months ago and currently not 'get-atable'. I cannot honestly recall the nature of the sound quality but I do remember that the discs were DMM remastered which may or may not be a good or bad thing.

Some months ago a Glazunov thread ran on the GMG site and the last post mentions a complete cycle on Venezia CDVE04383 - four CDs. Apparently, this is a Russian import available from HMV Japan (June last year) and with 'great sound'.

Sorry to be so vague.

http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum...ic,984.30.html

[Dave2002]

So which is the dud set, and which is the good one? The one with the picture of Glazunov, or the one with the trees?

See http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/index...SEARCH&type=sr

Looks like 3000 Yen is about £24. Was it/is it easy to order from Japan? Unfortunately the reviews on the site really are useless to me!

[hafod]

So which is the dud set, and which is the good one? The one with the picture of Glazunov, or the one with the trees?

See http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/index...SEARCH&type=sr

Looks like 3000 Yen is about £24. Was it/is it easy to order from Japan? Unfortunately the reviews on the site really are useless to me!

Well, the last post on the link I gave noted that the Venezia CDVE04383 set had superb transfers, and unless I am missing a trick clicking on the picture of Glazunov in the HMV link you provided reveals the Venezia catalogue number, whereas the one with the trees turns out to be the Relief issue which the poster described as sounding terrible.

[Dave2002]

Well, the last post on the link I gave noted that the Venezia CDVE04383 set had superb transfers, and unless I am missing a trick clicking on the picture of Glazunov in the HMV link you provided reveals the Venezia catalogue number, whereas the one with the trees turns out to be the Relief issue which the poster described as sounding terrible.

Might risk it and give it a try. Seems they might have an offer until 26th Jan - and that might mean ordering before mid-day tomorrow, since they seem to be about 9 hours ahead.

Anyone else had experience of ordering from Japan? Will I get hit for import duty as well? Probably! Hmmm!

Could wait, and hope that these will be available in the UK eventually.

PS: On the other hand, if the good one is the one mentioned - it should be - I agree it says Venezia in the page linked to - then it should be around £16 at the 30% off rate [Multibuy special price
(tax inc.) : ¥1,977], and maybe the customs people would let it through. In any case surely it wouldn't get too expensive if charged - may be worth going for now.

PPS: Can I use my existing HMV account for this or link to that, or do I have to re-register on the Japanese site with a new one?

[jayne lee wilson]

Dave - ordering from HMV Japan is easy and their delivery is lightning-quick - you could easily have it in 4-5 days. Unless...

If you see the dread phrase "awaiting presentation to customs commissioner" at Coventry Parcelforce on the tracking page they will sit on it for 5 days, then send you a card, THEN you phone and pay (usually £7-8 VAT plus £13 er, Parcelforce "processing" fee...) THEN you get it a few days later. But if the cost (your Fedoseyev's about £24 regular price) isn't much above the £18 customs limit (meanies) they sometimes let it through for free.

They're less generous than once - around 2007-8 I regularly got ca. £60 worth of Toshibas & Venezias etc. without charge. But I've never seen Venezia available in the West yet, and it's a great label. There's a wonderful Schumann Vn. Cto with Igor Oistrakh/Rozhdestvensky that's amazingly fast & fiery, c/w DSCH's re-orchestration of the Schumann Cello Concerto, bleak and spare... quite a disc!

Might risk it and give it a try. Seems they might have an offer until 26th Jan - and that might mean ordering before mid-day tomorrow, since they seem to be about 9 hours ahead.

Anyone else had experience of ordering from Japan? Will I get hit for import duty as well? Probably! Hmmm!

Could wait, and hope that these will be available in the UK eventually.

PS: On the other hand, if the good one is the one mentioned - it should be - I agree it says Venezia in the page linked to - then it should be around £16 at the 30% off rate [Multibuy special price
(tax inc.) : ¥1,977], and maybe the customs people would let it through. In any case surely it wouldn't get too expensive if charged - may be worth going for now.

PPS: Can I use my existing HMV account for this or link to that, or do I have to re-register on the Japanese site with a new one?

[Dave2002]

Dave - ordering from HMV Japan is easy and their delivery is lightning-quick - you could easily have it in 4-5 days. Unless...

If you see the dread phrase "awaiting presentation to customs commissioner" at Coventry Parcelforce on the tracking page they will sit on it for 5 days, then send you a card, THEN you phone and pay (usually £7-8 VAT plus £13 er, Parcelforce "processing" fee...) THEN you get it a few days later. But if the cost (your Fedoseyev's about £24 regular price) isn't much above the £18 customs limit (meanies) they sometimes let it through for free.

They're less generous than once - around 2007-8 I regularly got ca. £60 worth of Toshibas & Venezias etc. without charge. But I've never seen Venezia available in the West yet, and it's a great label. There's a wonderful Schumann Vn. Cto with Igor Oistrakh/Rozhdestvensky that's amazingly fast & fiery, c/w DSCH's re-orchestration of the Schumann Cello Concerto, bleak and spare... quite a disc!

May cost me an arm and a leg this one, but thought I'd give it a try. The discounted price was actually even lower (1883 Yen), but then the price of the CDs was almost doubled by the postage charges (1500 Yen). Not sure about the customs costs. If based only on the purchase price it's low enough that it should get through, but if the customs price includes the postage then it'll be more than that. I think the former case should apply though. This may turn out to be very expensive, but I've never done it before, so hope that it's a worthwhile experience.

[jayne lee wilson]

Don't worry Dave, customs charge is based only on the cost of the goods! Enjoy it!

May cost me an arm and a leg this one, but thought I'd give it a try. The discounted price was actually even lower (1883 Yen), but then the price of the CDs was almost doubled by the postage charges (1500 Yen). Not sure about the customs costs. If based only on the purchase price it's low enough that it should get through, but if the customs price includes the postage then it'll be more than that. I think the former case should apply though. This may turn out to be very expensive, but I've never done it before, so hope that it's a worthwhile experience.

[Dave2002]

The CDs have got through Customs OK, and are now duly ripped to hard disc. Amazing service. Only one glitch though - I was phoned by the credit card people who queried not just one payment, but two to Japan. The total seemed more or less OK, but why two charges? Maybe one was a fraud? On the other hand perhaps they forgot something and added it in later.

Of course the documents which came with the CDs are very helpful! Anyone read Japanese?

So far the CDs definitely seem clearer (quite a lot) than the cheap MP3s. I've not taken the equivalent EMI LP of Symphony 5 out of its packaging yet. It's just possible that might have better sound still.

On the back of the CD box there is a comment which reads "This excellent disc which has has historical value was made from the original master tape in the best condition as of today. Please understand that dropout, distortion, noise, pop and flutter of this disc were caused by the original master tape." This seems to have been dated 2010. The EMI LPs originate from around 1970, and could well sound better if played on a very good system. This could be particularly interesting, as quite a few of the audio problems seem to be in the Symphony 5 release. Indeed, now I might expect the LP to sound better if it's in the good condition it's supposed to be in.

Some of the problems in the MP3s are still there, but these are still much better.

It is possible that the recording of Symphony 5 on the CDs is not the same as the EMI LP, though here it's not perhaps possible to be sure. Apparently Fedoseyev recorded all the symphonies for Eurodisc, while symphonies 5 and 7 were released by EMI - see http://www.musicweb-international.co...iscd166364.htm

On the other hand it seems more likely that there was one set of master tapes, and these were released by different companies on LPs.
ASD 3993 - Symphony 3 - evidence from ebay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GLAZUNOV-S...#ht_667wt_1091
ASD 3504 - Symphony 7 - text evidence from ebay
ASD 3386 - Symphony 6 - evidence from ebay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ASD-3383-G...2#ht_616wt_858
ASD 3363 - Symphony 5 -details from http://www.vinylconnections.co.uk/asd.htm

Interestingly there are other versions also issued by EMI - e.g Svetlanov in number 8, and Symphony 4 with Rhozdestvensky.

If the BBC have any of these LPs maybe they could have a go at playing them and comparing them with transfers from firms such as Venezia. Or even EMI!?

I do think that if some company wanted to tidy these up, looking for the LPs might be a good thing for them to try, as I suspect that the best job has been done with the original master tapes now.

Fedoseyev is still alive, though now must be nearly 80. If he's still conducting, perhaps he could be invited to do a repeat set - but maybe that's just too cruel.