BaL 1.04.23 - Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances

[Bryn]

That simply isn’t true. I started collecting CDs on the day they were launched in Europe and most of that first batch of CDs were very fine indeed. Some of the DG ones weren’t up to the mark - Franck: Symphony in D minor (Bernstein) & Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (Karajan) - in terms of audio quality, but that was the same on the LP transfers too.
Meanwhile, some detractors at the time suggested that taping the CDs resulted in a “friendlier” sound - meaning people liked what they were used to: a degraded sound, complete with hiss and distortion.

While some early CDs did fit RobP's description, many did not. Back in the late 1970s, I found a copy of the Denon stereo vinyl LP of Cage's Sonatas and Interludes played by Yuji Takahashi. The sleeve proudly announced that it was a "Digital" recording dating from 1975. Several years later I found a CD of the same recording. This time there was an apologetic note to the effect that due to it being a very early digital recording, some slight audio deficiencies might be encountered. The recording was made before the 44.1kHz sampling and 16-bit quantization regime became standard, so it had been converted for the CD release. The LP sounded pretty good but the CD, despite the conversion process, still sounded better to my ears. The audio quality available via CD has certainly increased since the early days, as technology has advanced and higher mastering levels of both sampling frequency and quantization have increased but even most early CDs offered a more pleasant listening experience than their equivalent vinyl LP versions.

Se, also: http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...622#post432622

[Alison]

That simply isn’t true. I started collecting CDs on the day they were launched in Europe and most of that first batch of CDs were very fine indeed. Some of the DG ones weren’t up to the mark - Franck: Symphony in D minor (Bernstein) & Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (Karajan) - in terms of audio quality, but that was the same on the LP transfers too.
Meanwhile, some detractors at the time suggested that taping the CDs resulted in a “friendlier” sound - meaning people liked what they were used to: a degraded sound, complete with hiss and distortion.

Agreed. The first CDs in our household were Bruckner 9 Concertgebouw/Haitink (Philips), Haydn Piano Sonatas Brendel (Philips) and Elgar Overtures SNO/Gibson (Chandos). The improvement of sound quality was pretty staggering at the time.

[Bryn]

Agreed. The first CDs in our household were Bruckner 9 Concertgebouw/Haitink (Philips), Haydn Piano Sonatas Brendel (Philips) and Elgar Overtures SNO/Gibson (Chandos). The improvement of sound quality was pretty staggering at the time.

Surprise, surprise, my first CD was Beethoven's 9th (LCP/Norrington).

[TBuckley]

One of the earliest CD releases and still one of the best:

https://www.discogs.com/release/2691519-Leo%C5%A1-Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek-Wiener-Philharmoniker-Sir-Charles-Mackerras-Sinfonietta-Taras-Bulba

[Alison]

One of the earliest CD releases and still one of the best:

https://www.discogs.com/release/2691...ta-Taras-Bulba

Yes!

[Alison]

Surprise, surprise, my first CD was Beethoven's 9th (LCP/Norrington).

Our ingrained preferences were established early on, Nethersage.

[Nick Armstrong]

... is this the one referred to by RobP at #79 supra (et various seqq)-


.

It must be. Good old YouTube.

[Bryn]

Our ingrained preferences were established early on, Nethersage.

Not in this case. The early Nimbus Beethoven Symphony releases with the Hanover Band had already grabbed my attention. I also find Norrington's later recording of the 9th with 'his' Stuttgarters preferable to that with the LCP.

[smittims]

I was late buying a CD player and starting a collection, and the first few were catching up on what I'd missed: things unavailable on LP.

The first one I played was Bob Simpson's second symphony. Having plugged everything in and pressed play I thought at first it wasn't working , as I couldn't hear anything! Then the music started out of the absolute silence, and I was converted.

Nothing is perfect of course and I've since revived my gramophone with much pleasure. But I count myself fortunate to have lived in an age when so many fine performances have been available. It's easy to forget how many historic recordings were unavailable for years in the LP
era (Beecham for instance), while the influence of CDs on the Early Music movement is surely undeniable .

[symphony1010]

The Svetlanov seems, to my ears, too fast. It's marked Non Allegro at the start and many including him just seem to ignore this. It might be simplistic but I generally feel the 'rightness' of a performance in just a few minutes . Is the tempo right, do the horns snarl on first entry, are the pull-ups just right. Is the bass clarinet sounding good and the piano tonally satisfying. I offer you Minnesota Orchestra with Eiji Oue - easily my favourite recording. https://music.apple.com/gb/album/rac...lise/160252589

[Mal]

Svetlanov didn't sound too fast for me, but I found him slightly too romantic, and the coughing did become a bit tedious. I preferred it to the rather staid Ashkenazy. But more snarling, and less coughing, required to make it into my library! Kondrashin for my next attempt...

[Barbirollians]

Listened to Previn/LSO again today - what a joy to hear this played by the crack 1970s LSO in such good sound. Still very much my favourite on this listening.