Vintage Asylum Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Vintage Asylum ] [ Return to Search Results ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

RE: Different ERA

Posted by Dr. Fuse (A) on June 12, 2021 at 09:26:30

In Reply to: RE: Different ERA posted by sony6060 on May 11, 2021 at 07:32:54:

Performance-wise, I agree. "Difficult" repertoire was given extensive rehearsals and sound checks (I recall something like 20 rehearsals for the Stravinsky conducts Rite of Spring of 1960, for instance), so musicians were not "phoning in" their performances. And lots of the recordings from the 50s and 60s were premiere recordings (Bartok's Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion for Columbia, c. 1967; my late friend Jaroslav Karlovsky's Supraphon recording of the Bartok Viola Concerto was the first recording after Primrose's 15-year "exclusivity contract" [as commissioner] expired, and he told me with typical Czech good humour "Izz terrible recording! It vas NEW MOOSICK back zhen!" It is a very respectable recording, BTW).

Sound-wise, it is open for debate, I suppose. I like the sound of the Golden Age, more than the current "only two microphones at 2/3 from the back of the hall for maximum authenticity!" dogma, which makes current recordings sound different more for the sound of the hall than the sound of the interpretation. I generalize, but there is a contemporary fetish with being "correct", rather that trying to rediscover a work on one's own dime, with the performing artist's own imagination and creativity.

And I do agree, it doesn't get better than a good pressing of Reiner and Chicago on RCA, or a few of those Mercury recordings (generally a bit too hot for my taste, but when it works, and the mood is right, it can be magic).

As an orchestral player, and because I grew up with many Columbia recordings that I played over and over as a kid and teenager (and still do, LOL!) I do like the now out-of-fashion close-mic'd/multi-mic'd approach. Hearing the magnified articulations like rosin hair exploding on steel string, and brass bells buzzing and extraneous breath leaking past reeds, just sounds right to me. I rarely get to sit in a hall and listen to an orchestra, and when I do, most often it feels like listening to a bad public speaker - in a hall you really have to articulate with molto exaggeration or you sound like Mikey the Mumbler.

Having said all this, when a friend puts out an exceptional release (mon ami Yannick Nezet-Seguin's Rite of Spring on DGG, 24/96 FLAC, for instance) it is quite spectacular. Now if only they would record them with tube-powered analog tape and press them on vinyl!

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---