More of the music of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
LSC 2271 is one of the great RCAs. Classic Records did a passable job with this title, which is about the best they ever do. It’s a far cry from the sound heard on our Hot Stamper pressings but for those of you who do not want to spend that kind of money, or insist on quiet surfaces, the Classic is not a bad record.
The performance is excellent as well, and of course the Ravel Concerto is a piece of music that belongs in any serious collection.
This record also includes d’Indy’s Symphony on a French Mountain Air.
What do you get with Hot Stampers compared to the Classic Heavy Vinyl reissue?
Dramatically more warmth, sweetness, delicacy, transparency, space, energy, size, naturalness (no boost on the top end or the bottom, a common failing of anything on Classic); in other words, the kind of difference you almost ALWAYS get comparing the best vintage pressings with their modern remastered counterparts, in our experience anyway.
Now if you’re a Classic Records fan, and you like that brighter, more detailed, more aggressive sound, our Hot Stampers are probably not for you. We don’t like that sound and we don’t like most Classic Records. They may be clean and clear but where is the RCA LIVING STEREO Magic that made people swoon over these recordings in the first place? Bernie manages to clean that sound right off the record, and that’s just not our idea of hi-fidelity.
Our Hot Stamper Classical Pressings will be dramatically more transparent, open, clear and just plain REAL sounding than practically any record Classic Records ever made, if only because these are all the areas in which heavy vinyl pressings tend to fall short in our experience with the hundreds we’ve played over the years.
Advice – What to Listen For on Classical Records