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samayoeruorandajin said:
Which says nothing of it being a different performance than the DG recording from the 1960 stereo recording (not the 1956 mono recording that is on another DG disc which is in mono). You just stated a bunch things that speak to sound, but nothing of performance that would indicate it is different than the 1960 DG recording(which is the recording of contention from the Amazon site).
Please read what I actually wrote. Quote - completely different... READING.
Whoops, sorry- double posting.
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akiralx said:
Sounds like William Barrington-Coupe has come out of retirement...
Geez, he lived damn close to my last house in St Albans. So, we were clearly in a dastardly conspiracy to bamboozle SACD.net members.
OK, I confess it all! The voices told me to do it.
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Jonalogic said:
Please read what I actually wrote. Quote - completely different... READING.
Whoops, sorry- double posting.
In your two other points all you said was "these are revelatory performances. That doesn't suggest anything how the two (DG and Praga) are different performances.
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samayoeruorandajin said:
In your two other points all you said was "these are revelatory performances. That doesn't suggest anything how the two (DG and Praga) are different performances.
How are any two performances different? No great - or even indifferent - performer ever performs the same piece in exactly the same way. Just a fact of life. Otherwise music would sure be a lot more boring than it is.
Shortly to follow - a treatise on why apples and oranges are different.
Why not just buy it and listen for yourself? You won't be disappointed.
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Post by huizhu55 March 7, 2013 (35 of 64)
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Jonalogic said:
No problem. I purchased the Esoteric but sold it, being profoundly dissatisfied with the SQ. The Universal was far superior, so I have kept it.
So, my SQ references for Mravinsky performances of Tchaik 4 are 1) Late DG vinyl 2) The DG RBCD and 3) The Universal SHM-SACD.
I have to say I think the Praga sounds better than all three. But that's just my opinion, of course.
Thanks! I have both Esoteric and Universal SHM-SACD, and I agree with you that the latter sounds better the former.
Looks like I'll have to get the Praga then.
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Considering the age of the recording, Praga has done an amazing job with the Tchaikovsky 4. Not quite so good for the Schubert. Hard to believe that they were recorded at the same concert.
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I think one of the truly remarkable things about this recording is - paradoxically - the sound. Listening to 'the Art of Mravinsky' set shows a string of magnificent performances of just about anything from Mozart to Bartok and back. Great music-making seems to be a 'given' with this band and their conductor.
However, owners of that set will also know that those live Moscow performances from 1965 and 72 sound pretty horrible. By contrast, this 1959 recording is far superior sounding. Chalk and Cheese, in fact.
I can only conclude that this shows up-front the effects of the first dark age of reproduced sound - the 60's and early 70s, when transistors were introduced to replace tubes and it took about 15 years before engineers actually learnt how to use them properly.
Tube sound is more forgiving and musical when things go wrong, and also enforces a simple approach to sound recording that brings its own benefits. I think that's what we're hearing on this recording. But, as always, I could easily be wrong!
Some classic Eastern European recordings of this era from Supraphon which also used valve electronics - the Ancerl Shostakovich 5 leaps to mind here - also sound stunning for their age.
Needless to say, the second dark age of recorded music started in the 1980s, with the introduction of 'perfect sound forever' CDs.... wish we could go back in time and assassinate the folks who not only thought 16-bit PCM/44.1 KHZ sounded pretty neat, but better than analogue?
But I digress. Bottom line - this is a stand-out SACD. I only wish other Praga re-issues from this era sounded as good!
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Post by hiredfox March 14, 2013 (38 of 64)
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Jonalogic said:
Needless to say, the second dark age of recorded music started in the 1980s, with the introduction of 'perfect sound forever' CDs.... wish we could go back in time and assassinate the folks who not only thought 16-bit PCM/44.1 KHZ sounded pretty neat, but better than analogue?
True but then as now when we allowed convenience to triumph over common sense and quality. We shouldn't pretend we have learned anything in the meantime as a once hostile music and hi fi buffs just lie back and 'enjoy' the further denigration of their art through down-loading.
When will they ever learn?
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hiredfox said:
True but then as now when we allowed convenience to triumph over common sense and quality. We shouldn't pretend we have learned anything in the meantime as a once hostile music and hi fi buffs just lie back and 'enjoy' the further denigration of their art through down-loading.
When will they ever learn?
Totally agree. And, talking about the triumph of convenience above quality, I didn't even mention MP3, and the onset of the 3rd Dark Age of recorded music.
It is chastening to think that - in an era of ever-accelerating technical and scientific advancement - the vast majority of folk are now listening to recorded music which sounds poorer than it did 50 years ago.
I find it difficult to think of many other fields of human endeavour where mediocrity has triumphed so completely.
(OK, I can think of a very few, but I risk engendering even more controversy if I mention them!)
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Post by Claude July 21, 2013 (40 of 64)
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