Yesterday was a listening adventure at Walker Audio listening to some enhancements Lloyd has made to his incredible Proscenium Turntable with his new Black Diamond ceramic tonearm. Among the many LPs we listened to were:
Stravinsky: Petrouchka, Oscar Danon/RPO, Chesky reissue (CR42) from the Reader's Digest series, recorded by Kenneth Wilkinson. The recording continues for me to be the best record Chesky ever issued. The recording by Wilkinson is simply a phenomenal capturing of an orchestra, one of the best in my rather large collection. The presentation is rather laid back, in the traditional Wilkinson way (which I enjoy and find very natural), but the instruments are captured with superb resolution and tonal accuracy, with no unnatural spotlighting. There are portions of this music where all of the instruments come into play in a cacophonouss fortissimo that cause most turntables to shut down into a congested mush. Not the Walker! which sailed through the passages with clear articulation of all the overlaid competing sounds. If you enjoy Stravinsky, and if you value have fantastic performances in great sound, you owe it to yourself to have this recording in your collection. (Note that this performance uses the original 1911 orchestration, so it may sound a bit different to what you may be used to hearing in this piece. Another good reason to have it in your collection.)
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 ("Scottish"), Maag/LSO, Speakers Corner 45 rpm reissue of Decca SXL 2246. Another Kenneth Wilkinson recording, from 1960 in Kingsway Hall. I've posted about this recording before, but my enthusiasm for the performance, the engineering, and this particular mastering/pressing has not waned. Some reviewers of the "earliest original pressings are always the best" ilk have not liked this 45 rpm pressing, and I am completely at a loss to understand why. The sonic presentation of the orchestra is superb, the tonality of the instruments is captured supremely well, and the harmonic overtone structures are well reproduced. The 45 rpm mastering additionally brings all the expected benefits of 45 rpm, making this an extremely satisfying LP of a great symphonic performance. This LP is still available new: Highly Recommended.
Therese Juel, "Levande" Opus 3, 7917. The "Tiden Bara Gar" cut on side two of this record has always been a simple, and utterly consistently accurate test for my and my wife as to whether a system is going to rise to our expectations. This cut is also found on the Opus 3 "Test Record 1: Depth of Image" (7900). My wife first described this to me: there is a "chuckle" in Therese Juel's voice as she sings certain phrases. Systems that "get it" are able to reproduce this "chuckle," other systems just don't: they leave her voice flat. Once you've heard that chuckle reproduced correctly, it's easy to pick it out and deadly noticeable when it's not there (even though she's singing in Swedish and we don't have a clue what she's saying). Add to that the simple natural miking, the huge variety of acoustic instruments, both string and percussion, and you've got a great single test cut that quickly differentiates they systems that will make the cut from those that won't. (Oh yes, Lloyd's system made the cut in spades.)
Eva Cassidy, "Songbird" S&P Records reissue, SNP 501. Yes, it's really good, and she's really good. My wife likes this album for the song "Fields of barley" - a great example of how a single artist in a very simply arrangement can make compelling music that just "sucks you in" because she is such a good musician and performer. A great lesson in simpler often being better. The reisses from S&P have been extremely good and consistent in quality. Highly recommended.
Other LPs included:
Laudate II, Drottingholm Baroque Ensemble with Anna Sophie von Otter, Proprius 7860. Marvelous. Get the LP just to listen to the supremely good von Otter when she was starting her career.
Il Cornetto, Klimo Open Window OW004. Baroque music that is very subtle and very fine, highlightly the unique timbre of the baroque cornette, accompanied by viola da gamba. Another outstanding recording from this too-short-lived Klimo series of extremely natural sounding recordings of baroque music.
Louis Armstrong, "Satchmo Plays King Oliver: St. James Infirmary," Classic Records 45 rpm reissue. And Satchmo was in the room!
Enjoy your listening!
