Who is your Favorite Historical Conductor?

@lowrider57 They're located in Canada so I'd suspect they'd been obligated to pay out royalties. However copyright laws only extend to about fifty years (at least with artwork). As far as DG recordings, I would be a skeptic but who knows? It always seemed odd to me that the Archive Production (a division of DG) pressings were superior to the DG pressings.

I'm looking at buying a DSD download of Bill Evans' 'Waltz for Debbie" and if I like that, then possibly Szell/Strauss. If you order something, then please share your opinion of the quality. You can always reach me direct too. Cheers.

@lowrider57

Yes, the subject of Furtwangler’s involvement with the Nazis has been examined thoroughly and could be a thread in itself. Do you remember The Sound Of Music and how the Von Trapp family escapes Austria after the Anschlus? The real story of their escape is less prosaic but it appears as if the book for the Play/Movie borrowed a few details from Furtwangler’s bio.

I listened to Pristine Audio’s transfer of the wartime Furtwangler Brahms 4 last night.  I think it may be from the same source as Music and Arts, as their is a fair amount of noise, like a generator hum, at the beginning that goes away about two minutes in.  I’m guessing the first acetate must of have been compromised but the rest were better.  The Germans were experimenting with the tape but I don’t know the origin of this recording and Pristine, contrary to their usual practice, doesn’t mention the original source.

I contacted High Def Tape Transfers for some info. There are a few options for download; DSD, DXD FLAC, PCM FLAC.

Since I no longer have a computer audio setup, I asked about discs. They stopped selling Hires DVD, I doubt there was much demand. Gold Redbook CDs are the highest quality discs from the master ($25). Next, they have what is referred to as "budget CD" ($8.99).

I like that they publish details of the original recordings; ie, Szell Mahler:

Source used for Transfer: Transferred from a Columbia 4-track Tape
Recorded October 1 and 2, 1965 at Severance Hall, Cleveland, Ohio

@mahler123 

I listened to the Pristine version of Furtwängler's Beethoven no. 3 (1944) and the sound is astonishing. Going from memory, it sounds way better than Music & Arts. I assume they're the same performance. Do u know if the rest of this cycle sounds this good?

It's pricey, maybe I can find a used CD.