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Review by Ivymike September 11, 2005 (6 of 9 found this review helpful)
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Sonics:  |
Two great war-horses to sure. I've never been keen on the Fifth; heresy, I know, but I'll come clean right away amidst much hissing and cries of, "Foul!" The Sixth is more my style, and I enjoyed the peformance on this SACD.
I'll stick to sound quality. The engineer of these two recordings, one John Crawford, was unknown to me. (I've since discovered that he engineered the November, 1954 recording of Munch and the BSO interpreting the Symphonie Fantastique of Berlioz). Both works were recorded in 1955, the first in May and the second in August. Both are two-track recordings and show both the strengths and weaknesses of that medium.
The soundstage is large and reverberant, a plus to such simple recording. Width is fine; depth is a bit foreshortened on the Fifth, which is the lesser recording overall. The dreaded Hole-In-The-Middle effect is noticeable on both but is not as bad as that present on recordings engineered by Leslie Chase, and the Sixth suffers from less than the Fifth. Tape noise is moderate in level. The recording of the Sixth is very pleasant and "listenable," even if not absolutely first-rate, and that of the Fifth is just a rung lower than that of the Sixth. Not classic Living Stereo sound, to be sure, but solid nonetheless.
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