Whats on your turntable tonight?

07-04-11: Rushton
Nice records for today's listening, Al. Love 'em!

Thanks, Rush. Yes, all three are wonderful recordings, musically and sonically. Among a great many things that could be praised about them, two small specifics were so striking to me that I must single them out for mention:

1)In the Firebird Suite, the transition from Berceuse to Finale was absolutely magical, due to a combination of Leinsdorf's conducting and the crystal clarity that was maintained by the recording as the volume of the music descended to a near whisper, before building up beautifully.

2)Although the sonics of the Renaissance recording were outstanding in pretty much every respect, I particularly found the sonics of the drum to have been captured with definition that is simply amazing.

Best regards,
-- Al

Al, I'm glad to hear of someone else valuing this Leinsdorf/Sheffield LP. It is underrated, imo. I often hear it disregarded precisely because it so accurately captures the dry acoustic of the recording stage. Audiophiles are expecting the lush acoustics of the Concertgebouw or Vienna. Instead they get the dry non-reverberant acoustics of a large movie sound stage and don't know what to make of the sound. That acoustic environment contributes nicely to the crystal clarity of this recording - not necessary pretty, but you sure can hear everything that's happening.

The Pierre Verany recordings are typically marvelous and the "Images Galantes de la Renaissance" is certainly one of their best sonic efforts. I wish I had more of this label's recordings in my collection.
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I find those Sheffield recordings to be remarkable in how they portray the timbre of the instruments as well as their dynamics. I'm not bothered by the lack of a hall sound; in a way, I think many of today's classical recordings are focusing too much on that aspect of the sound.

By the way, I just played the Albeniz ORG record yesterday and was stunned at how much better it sounds than either the King or Speakers Corner reissues, which I thought were pretty good in their own right. Very similar in improvements to the Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture/Scottish Symphony 45 rpm reissue over the standard Speakers Corner reissue. Now if only you didn't have to get up every ten minutes to change records in a listening session to get that kind of sound (and don't tell me to get the Tape Project tapes, Joe, that's a bit beyond my current means!).

Thanks for the report on the Albeniz ORG 45, Russ. Sounds marvelous! Your experience with this record tracks with what I've heard privately from a few other friend's whose ears I trust. Now, where can I find the cash.....??? :-)

By the way, I just played the Albeniz ORG record yesterday and was stunned at how much better it sounds than either the King or Speakers Corner reissues, which I thought were pretty good in their own right.

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Thank God people are beginning to come out of the closet with respect to the Sheffield 24 "Firebird" It is my personal favorite, even over the Classic reissue of the Dorati/LSO. I have never even noticed the lack of a hall sound probably due to the fact that I am sucked into the performance that Leinsdorf wrings out of the orchestra and the enormous dynamic swings on that LP.

Russ - glad to hear you are enjoying the Albeniz from ORG. If it's any consolation, I played the TP tape head to head against the LP yesterday for a friend, and they preferred the LP.....