Best "Hungarian Rhapsody" on vinyl?

I have one on Mercury (from Europe, the Golden Inports series), by Antal Dorati and the London Symphony Orchestra, # SRI 7508. I haven't listened to it for a long time, but if my memory serves me well, it is a good recording. Will let you know after I listen to it.

Hi Carl, after listening last night, the Fiedler probably would satisfy your wishes. It's LSC 2442, a Mohr-Layton recording, called The Music of Franz Liszt. I have a 1S/1S shaded dog, and the strings are quite lush, the bass is excellent (a little full, but sounds good on this music), and the dynamics are very good--startling, in fact, on some of the other cuts. A little bit of compression or distortion with the brass on side two in the loudest parts. Surface noise can be obtrusive on this one--I also have a 7S/9S shaded dog that was rated M- which has that sandpapery crackle behind the music that I hear on a lot of the old RCAs. Probably pricey on the used market, but if you run across one at a reasonable price it's worth picking up. The Stokowski re-issue is a little less lush in the strings, but has far better transparency, excellent low end and dynamics, and has a few of Stokowski's variances from the score that made him the unique conductor he was. You might check with some of the record dealers to see if they have any of those left over--I remember Classic was selling them for $15 each when they were cleaning out their old stock. Haven't heard the Dorati; probably a very good performance, but not sure of the sound on the Golden Imports series. Interested in hearing from Dacostab on that one.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you guys.... The Dorati version is nicely done (the best, according to an old Penguin Record Guide), but the recording is not the best. The strings are not as lush as a typical Mercury, and I wouldn't mind a bit more bass. The large dynamics that Carl requires are not there. One caveat, however, is that I am using fairly new speakers (ML SL3) and tonearm (i.e. not broken in). The cartridge is a Koetsu Rosewood, with all tube electronics. The Koetsu is one voluptuous cartridge !

Yes, my friend Albert Porter has the signature of that cartridge, and I hope to own one at some point (or else by that time, maybe just bypass it and get the Platinum Signature). I have the Benz Lo4 now, but I like it very much. I'll definitely get a great table before I get a Koetsu, though. I heard an older Urushi in a bright system, and it sounded very liquid and captivating. The guy's digital rig in that system was very rough and low-fi sounding (it was an older Proceed, I think)..............As for the LP, I think I'll get a reissue (if they're still available), and possibly also an original of the LSC (the original Mercurys seem to be harder to come by than the LSC's).

The Koetsu is a wonderful cartridge; I almost bought one from Victor Goldstein years ago (he had a private stash of them, I think). If you can't get great string sound out of that, it could be the Golden Imports pressing, which generally were not up to the standards of the earlier Mercs. Carl, that's a nice cartridge you've got too--I've got a Ruby 2, and I like the immediacy and musicality of the Benz line. Plus, on a practical note, I like their re-tipping policy compared to other cartridge manufacturers.