What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? IV

[Petrushka]

That’s helpful, but it is very unusual to have live stereo recordings from that era

I forgot to add that applause is retained throughout and the Tokyo audience, famously quiet, are unobtrusive apart from an occasional cough.

I don't know how far advanced the Japanese were in recording techniques in 1966 as we still tend to see things through Western eyes and I'd really appreciate any further information. Granted, there will have been a fair degree of remastering involved in the 1966 set (issued in 2019) but I have absolutely no reason to suppose that any serious manipulation has gone on.

[richardfinegold]

Googling on the subject I’ve seen some oblique references to these recordings were made by the companies themselves but then only issued decades later and only in Japan

[Petrushka]

Googling on the subject I’ve seen some oblique references to these recordings were made by the companies themselves but then only issued decades later and only in Japan

I also have a BPO/Karajan recording of the Beethoven 9th given in Tokyo in October 1979 and issued on the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2003 in Japan. There are also a number of CDs from other concerts given by Karajan on that same 1966 tour and I'm now seriously tempted.

[Roger Webb]

That’s helpful, but it is very unusual to have live stereo recordings from that era

My local transmitter Wenvoe started Stereo FM broadcasts in 1974. In 1975 I built my first stereo decoder for my Quad valve tuner using the famous 1310 chip, that it had been available suggests that somewhere in the world had had stereo for quite some time....in fact since '61! Japan not til '63 though!

[Petrushka]

My local transmitter Wenvoe started Stereo FM broadcasts in 1974. In 1975 I built my first stereo decoder for my Quad valve tuner using the famous 1310 chip, that it had been available suggests that somewhere in the world had had stereo for quite some time....in fact since '61! Japan not til '63 though!

The BBC were recording concerts in stereo as early as 1959 (the Horenstein Mahler 8, for one) but stereo broadcasts did not begin until 1966. The situation in Japan might be similar in that they recorded some performances in stereo prior to having the means to broadcast them. Having started in 1963 the Japanese, with their superb technical know how would have been ahead of the game.

All things considered, I'm confident that the discs I have are exactly what they say they are.

[smittims]

I remember going into the lounge of our house about 1962 to see my father adjusting the volume of the radio and the TV which he had placed about eight feet apart. He said that it was an experimental stereo broadcast. Some light music was playing and the TV screen showed a picture of reeds by a lake.

I first had a stereo radio in 1968, an 'HMV Stereogram'. Only Radio 3 was in stereo then , and not every programme . There was always a prominent hiss in FM stereo radio , though I found FM reception varied enormously over even a few miles. In 2021 we had our house enlarged and I moved my FM radio to a different room and since then the FM reception has been as good as DAB. If only the programmes were as good as they were in 1968!

There are still pleasures to be had, though. I'm currently catching up on Stephen Osborne's Aldeburgh recital from yesterday evening. So far it seems as profound Schubert interpretation as I've heard for many years. It's good to hear that the straightforward, live, gimmick-free piano recital is still around.

[Roger Webb]

Having been discussing early stereo releases on labels with slogans proclaiming the excellence of the new medium...Living Stereo, SonicStage (thanks Barbirollians!) etc., I've been trawling through my LPs for Mercury 'Living Presence' recordings and found my Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances Dorati/Phil. Hungarica. Lovely recording, and remarkable surfaces. I have the issue on CD, but, to me the mastering doesn't quite do justice to the original....although it has the Living Presence banner across the top! I wonder was Martha Fine involved with the CD mastering?

[richardfinegold]

Having been discussing early stereo releases on labels with slogans proclaiming the excellence of the new medium...Living Stereo, SonicStage (thanks Barbirollians!) etc., I've been trawling through my LPs for Mercury 'Living Presence' recordings and found my Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances Dorati/Phil. Hungarica. Lovely recording, and remarkable surfaces. I have the issue on CD, but, to me the mastering doesn't quite do justice to the original....although it has the Living Presence banner across the top! I wonder was Martha Fine involved with the CD mastering?

I’m pretty sure that Fine was involved with CD mastering, but she refused to be involved with SACD. Her son Tom Fine has been involved in the latest reissues

[Roger Webb]

I’m pretty sure that Fine was involved with CD mastering, but she refused to be involved with SACD. Her son Tom Fine has been involved in the latest reissues

Thanks for that. I'm not a, vinyl always better type, but in this case I find that the CD is a bit too bright and lacks the spatial quality that the original Lp has. I've just put the same on Qobuz (16/44.1) and it's better than the CD, although still a little strident in the upper strings and like the CD lacks that, looking into the studio, clarity that the Lp has.

I did a similar experiment with the original CBS WSS dances Bernstein/NYPO. This time the Lp is completely underwhelming, although I didn't think so when I got it...having nothing to compare it with. Now the revelation was when I got the 'Original Jacket Collection' CD box, these masterings are superb - feeling of looking in on the recording session is astonishing, and the amplitude of the basses and bass drum are quite magnificent. Qobuz (24/192) very good, on a par with CD...but perhaps without the bass excitement quite.

[richardfinegold]

Thanks for that. I'm not a, vinyl always better type, but in this case I find that the CD is a bit too bright and lacks the spatial quality that the original Lp has. I've just put the same on Qobuz (16/44.1) and it's better than the CD, although still a little strident in the upper strings and like the CD lacks that, looking into the studio, clarity that the Lp has.

I did a similar experiment with the original CBS WSS dances Bernstein/NYPO. This time the Lp is completely underwhelming, although I didn't think so when I got it...having nothing to compare it with. Now the revelation was when I got the 'Original Jacket Collection' CD box, these masterings are superb - feeling of looking in on the recording session is astonishing, and the amplitude of the basses and bass drum are quite magnificent. Qobuz (24/192) very good, on a par with CD...but perhaps without the bass excitement quite.

I used to have some of the Mercury LPs but now only the CDs and never made a direct comparison. My LPs were Phillips pressings and I remember complaints back then that they didn’t sound the same as the LPs. It seems like the Mercury catalog has always been the object of tinkering remasters

[Roger Webb]

I used to have some of the Mercury LPs but now only the CDs and never made a direct comparison. My LPs were Phillips pressings and I remember complaints back then that they didn’t sound the same as the LPs. It seems like the Mercury catalog has always been the object of tinkering remasters

That's right, I think the ones produced in Holland were called Golden Imports rather than Living Presence, and the rumour was that they were mastered using second generation stereo tapes derived from the three track masters. Wilma (did I put Martha above?!) Fine used to mixdown the three tracks actually in the cutting suite so as not to introduce another copy in between. Probably the CDs were mastered from better quality tapes than the Golden Imports, especially if Tom oversaw it.

The WSS LP I mentioned was also pressed in Europe and was very much from second (or third generation) tapes, That Original Jacket box shows how good the masters were.

[richardfinegold]

That's right, I think the ones produced in Holland were called Golden Imports rather than Living Presence, and the rumour was that they were mastered using second generation stereo tapes derived from the three track masters. Wilma (did I put Martha above?!) Fine used to mixdown the three tracks actually in the cutting suite so as not to introduce another copy in between. Probably the CDs were mastered from better quality tapes than the Golden Imports, especially if Tom oversaw it.

The WSS LP I mentioned was also pressed in Europe and was very much from second (or third generation) tapes, That Original Jacket box shows how good the masters were.

I don’t think Tom was involved in the original CD incarnation but the later big reissue boxes

[Roger Webb]

I've been tempted by the latest reissues in the boxes, but.....

That Tom didn't have a hand in the early CD reissue I have makes sense... it's quite course and flat compared to the original Lp.

[Mandryka]

Listening to the Heutling Quartet playing some Mozart quartets for Haydn -- sweet as a nut. Gemütlichkeit, Warm fuzzies. If you don't mind the dated style then this is a great bargain - 8 CDs for 11 smackers.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Complete-String-Quartets-Quintets/dp/B00004S1HT/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29IWS8P5X3PPP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.AlD R7s-zF59OTyP6SwjSiJPZs0qhwgymfB18m4V_-EefVZwratzk_hZXlvtPZi7jHDP3kWJTRMjUerXGtKBsYqHn4U2 vA6iyBPnWqJcwYPgbmqfxKehYzcHAOWRbx-zeERZB99MIjrj4X1jzYcjrob1tGpUWg5tIbmf5De8-4fbQFhx4MQjiYveN81u0noYBlgCfMso1iEmu4kD3hsPz6JxlNO Jutf55I6bo659TXRc.21syQCzFNXXyAIMo0pBjTn_j1Uey4SiJ LmBAtFDOOY4&dib_tag=se&keywords=heutling+mozart&qi d=1718822430&sprefix=heutling+mozart%2Caps%2C88&sr =8-1

[oliver sudden]

Spinning some LPs for the first time in ages.

Debussy and Ravel, BPO/Abbado. Lovely.

Planets, LAPO/Stokowski. Is it just me or is this terrible?