Rare recorded repertoire

[LeMartinPecheur]

Sometimes I come across recordings that I can't believe were ever made, and on closer checking they prove not to have been Such as "Boulez conducts Rave" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boulez-Condu...3339180&sr=1-6

Any other such choice rarities would be appreciated.

[Ferretfancy]

Pierre certainly knew how to rave back then !

I used to have the LPs of Boulez conducting Ravel with the NYPO, but they were very noisy copies. I still have a Columbia Masterworks Portrait on CD which comprises Bolero, Menuet Antique, Daphnis Suite No. 2, La Valse, Alborada and the Pavane. Unfortunately it does not include Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, which on LP was one the finest performance I have heard.
The performances were made between 1972 and 1974 and were highly praised on their first release. I'd better hang on to my CD seeing the current prices!

[JohnSkelton]

Unfortunately it does not include Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, which on LP was one the finest performance I have heard.

Ff - you might like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ravel-Boulez...3368545&sr=1-9

[umslopogaas]

I dont know how rare these are, but I have a number of LPs issued by the 'BBC Transcription Service' in the 1960s. These were recordings of concerts made by the BBC and sent out to BBC overseas stations for broadcasting. Interesting that they chose the rather complicated process of making recordings on LP when they could have used tape: does anyone know why they did this?

They include Colin Davis conducting the LSO in Berlioz Symph. Fant. and the Tippett piano conc. with John Ogdon; Britten conducting the ECO live at Aldburgh in Tchaik. Rococo Vars with Rostropovich; the Oistrakhs in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, cond. Kondrashin; and quite a few other big names.

They are two sided, but with an eccentric system of side numbering, presumably to allow two turntables to be used so that the end of side one could be faded into the beginning of side two without the need to break and turn the record over. They have a green, yellow and white label design with the words "Copyright Recording Made in England by the British Broadcasting Corporation; Reproduction Restricted to Broadcasting Stations Authorised by the BBC Only" round the edge. They were clearly never meant for sale and presumably ended up in the secondhand shop where I bought them after the original owner, most probably a BBC employee, died. They are the only examples I've ever seen in a lifetime of collecting LPs.

[Ferretfancy]

umslopogaas

BBC Transcription Service sent concerts to overseas broadcasting networks both on LP and on tape. It was also quite common to record material on 16' acetates, these were mostly speech discs and were often recorded at 33/1/3.

In the late fifties, when I worked in Broadcasting House we were still working largely with 78 acetates, and one of the disc cutting channels was rght next door to the Radio Newsreel Studio, with a hatch in the wall to pass the product through! Using two turntables or more, it was possibly to edit 78 material very quickly by cross -fading using a transcript ( If there was one ! )

One reason for sending concerts abroad on LP was that in hot and humid climates tape playback could be unreliable, and termites could chew tape!

Transcription Service regularly recorded the Proms, and used there own engineers and generally closer microphone placement. I used to think that their work often sounded better than the rather staid approach of the usual studio managers. It's worth remembering that in those days it was an iron rule that microphone outputs could not be adjusted in any way, no equalisation was allowed, a flat response was hopefully achieved by the maintenance engineers all down the line and anybody tampering could be for the firing squad!

One studio manager, Freddie Harris, used to balance the Ted Heath Band, and they were accustomed to bright Decca sound. Freddie always carried a large briefcase in which he conncealed doctored cables to plug into the desk to give them what they wanted!

Bws.
Ferret

[LeMartinPecheur]

This thread seems to have gone somewhere sensible, which of course I never intended! But so be it.

Charity-shop purchases I made over 10yrs ago were a couple of CDs issued by the Digital company (yes, really!). One is a Symphonie Fantastique by the EC Youth Orch under James Judd, the other is Prokofiev 3rd pf conc with the same orch and conductor, the soloist being Barry Douglas. A bit short measure for a CD, but he does slip in an encore, though I can't recall what it is and the booklet doesn't mention it. Must give it another spin: early playings found the performances on both discs to be at least decent. The discs were issued (C) 1990 and 1988 respectively.

I seem to recall that Mr Google revealed that Digital had sponsored the ECYO, hence presumably these recordings, which look quite professional in terms of their booklets. Were they just produced for doting parents of orchestra-members? Might they be worth millions in due course?

[Bryn]

This thread seems to have gone somewhere sensible, which of course I never intended! But so be it.

Charity-shop purchases I made over 10yrs ago were a couple of CDs issued by the Digital company (yes, really!). One is a Symphonie Fantastique by the EC Youth Orch under James Judd, the other is Prokofiev 3rd pf conc with the same orch and conductor, the soloist being Barry Douglas. A bit short measure for a CD, but he does slip in an encore, though I can't recall what it is and the booklet doesn't mention it. Must give it another spin: early playings found the performances on both discs to be at least decent. The discs were issued (C) 1990 and 1988 respectively.

I seem to recall that Mr Google revealed that Digital had sponsored the ECYO, hence presumably these recordings, which look quite professional in terms of their booklets. Were they just produced for doting parents of orchestra-members? Might they be worth millions in due course?

The Berlioz was "Recorded live on August 14, 1989, in Stockholm's Konserthus" and can be found (used) on amazon.co.uk.

[LeMartinPecheur]

The Berlioz was "Recorded live on August 14, 1989, in Stockholm's Konserthus" and can be found (used) on amazon.co.uk.

Yes, that's the one. Can't find it on Amazon though. Have I suddenly made it collectable??

[Bryn]

The one (used) copy that was there does seem to have gone in the interim. It was priced as £9 something.

[Ah. It's still there, at £9.71 plus £1.26 p&p. Just search for B003EG802C. Judd does not get a mention, but it is the "Digital" release. I originally found the listing via Google.]

[umslopogaas]

Ferretfancy #5, thanks for that, you've stirred a memory. I once worked for several years in a very hot and humid environment, a research station on an island off the north coast of Papua New Guinea. About six degrees south of the equator and six feet above sea level. The humidity was at its lowest in the early morning, rose steadily to near saturation by midday, was taken to 100% by rain in the afternoon and then stayed there until the sun came out next morning. Max temperature around 33 C, min around 18 C just before dawn. I soon got used to being permanently sweaty and learned to keep a sharp eye open for strange skin diseases. Mould grew on everything, my going-home-on-leave leather shoes buried in the wardrobe were green. And all my LPs in their polythene lined sleeves trapped condensation which encouraged mould, which stuck them to the surfaces, then corroded the grooves. I had them all cleaned when I returned to the UK, but the damage was done. I eventually learned to rip out the polythene liners, which helped, but not before a lot of them were wrecked.