Bargains

[salymap]

Shame, I was looking forward to it.

But wasn't CC the pianist who had good and bad days playing, to put it kindly? May soften the blow a bit perhaps ????

[Parry1912]

Play.com have started their clearance:

http://www.play.com/Music/CD/6-/Search.html?searchstring=&searchtype=&searchsource=2&searchfilters=ae212{646493,646493,639056,651990,639138,652109,652106,651899,652102,652103,638625,638626}+c{34}+c{2908}+&ob=4

[hafod]

My least favourite supplier Archiv (I am still waiting for the final item of my order paid for on 25 November), have EMI Icon boxes very favourably priced. For example, Cantelli at £13.79, Silvestri at £22.79, Schuricht for £11.99......

https://arkivmusic.eu/music/onsale/albums/On-Sale/search:icon

[antongould]

But wasn't CC the pianist who had good and bad days playing, to put it kindly? May soften the blow a bit perhaps ????

I am sure as ever you are correct - but to add insult to injury my email was in French

[Parry1912]

to add insult to injury my email was in French

Moi aussi!

[salymap]

I am sure as ever you are correct - but to add insult to injury my email was in French

Anton I'm sure your French is better than mine. The war years meant that we learned no languages at school* and I'm far happier with my smatterings of Italian and German that I picked up when working.

Clifford Curzon was a wonderful musician but I gather he suffered from nerves when performing.

bestio. *because we were sent home early becuase of raids and shortage of teachers, I presume.

[Ferretfancy]

In this month's IRR, Nigel Simeone gives positive reviews to a couple of bargain boxes from Sony. The first is a 12 disc set, Ormandy Conducts 20th Century Classics, the second is a ten disc set, Stokowski - The Columbia Stereo Recordings. I've bought both sets.
There are some interesting items. With Ormandy we get Prokofiev's 2nd Violin Concerto with Issacx Stern, Rubinstein in Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Ives's 2nd Symphony, Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra etc.
With Stokowski, there's his famous version of Ive's 4th Symphony, a splendid Sibelius 1, a rather odd performance of the Emperor with Glenn Gould, plus the well known version of El Amor Brujo with Shirley Verret.

Now, here's the snag. I already have a few of these recordings in earlier incarnations, and I've made some comparisons. In almost every case the sound on the bargain boxes is inferior to the ones I already own.All the recordings that I've sampled so far have acquired a harsh mid range emphasis and a significant narrowing of the soundstage, losing what space and depth the recordings have.

Nobody would argue that any of these performances had audiophile sound to begin with, they all had that brashness that we often endured on CBS LPs, but the current re-mastering seems to have exaggerated the inherent faults in them, which is a great pity. Buyers beware!

[salymap]

Now you've frightened me Ferret. I'vejust opened a Beecham Box, recordings from late 1920s to about 1955.

I almost hoped they wouldn't be remastered, but they are. Ah well.

[Ferretfancy]

Now you've frightened me Ferret. I'vejust opened a Beecham Box, recordings from late 1920s to about 1955.

I almost hoped they wouldn't be remastered, but they are. Ah well.

I imagine that the Beecham box is from EMI, and I've never had a problem with his remastered recordings, so fear not!

[Don Petter]

I imagine that the Beecham box is from EMI, and I've never had a problem with his remastered recordings, so fear not!

It's a 'Documents' (Membran) box, not EMI:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maestro-Sir-Thomas-Beecham/dp/B000GUK03G

[Mandryka]

I wouldn't advise people to go to the Steve Hoffman Music Forum: it's supposedly a site for audiophiles, but many of those who post there would appear to be clinically insane.

'Remastered' recordings are out of fashion these days, aren't they? Most listeners just seem to want to have a copy of the vinyl recording they knew and loved, only one that won't scratch or deteriorate. EMI seems to get a lot of flak for the supposed shoddy quality of its remasterings, but I'm currently listening to the big 2010 Mahler compilation, all of which sounds great.

[MrGongGong]

I wouldn't advise people to go to the Steve Hoffman Music Forum: it's supposedly a site for audiophiles, but many of those who post there would appear to be clinically insane.

Whereas on here folk are just undiagnosed ?
You make it sound worth a trip (using my oxygen free copper magic woo slipmat I bought from a wizard in Totnes)

[amateur51]

Whereas on here folk are just undiagnosed ?
You make it sound worth a trip (using my oxygen free copper magic woo slipmat I bought from a wizard in Totnes)

I'm taking me meds, dammit

[Flosshilde]

RE: On further inspection, Sainsbury's appear to be the place to go for quite a few of the EMI Icons series -

Sainsbury's is worth browsing, although it can be very frustrating as they provide next to no information about performers. They have 'Vaughan Williams - The Collector's Edition' for £28.99 (less than a pound per CD), but only say that there are 'various performers'. http://www.sainsburysentertainment.c...duct=E10312672

You have to go to Presto http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/EMI/2066362 to get the details - but there it costs £70 (although that's still only just over £2 per CD)!

[PJPJ]

Free of charge, and out of copyright, a nice transfer of Weber's Bassoon concerto with:

Gwydion Brooke
Liverpool PO
Sir Malcolm Sargent
r. 1947

http://shellackophile.blogspot.co.uk/