More of the music of Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
More Stamper and Pressing Information
In 2015 we wrote:
There are certain stampers that seem to have a consistently brighter top end. They are tolerable most of the time, but the real magic can only be found on the copies that have a correct or even slightly duller top. Live classical music is never “bright” the way recordings of it so often are.
On the other hand, it’s rarely “rich” and “romantic” the way many vintage recordings are — even those we rave about — but that’s another story for another day.
We recently did the shootout again, and now with a much more resolving, clear, accurate upper midrange and an even more extended top end, the stampers that we used to find “brighter than ideal” are almost always just too damn bright, period.
We will never buy another copy with those stampers if we can help it.
We was wrong and we don’t mind admitting it. We must be learning something in our shootouts, right?. We ran an experiment, we discovered something new about this album, and that should be seen as a good thing.
If you have been making improvements to your system, room, electricity, etc., then you too own records which don’t sound as good as you remember them. You just don’t know which ones they are, assuming you haven’t played them in a while.
One Stamper to Rule Them All
Which leaves one and only one stamper that can win a shootout. There is another stamper we like well enough to offer to our discriminating customers, but after that it is all downhill, and steeply.
Of course the right stampers are the hardest ones to find too. All of which explains why you rarely see a copy of the album for sale on our site.
Our Hot Stamper Commentary from 2015
Superb! Big brass, so full-bodied and dynamic, yet clear and not thick or overly tubey. Lots of space as is usually the case with Ansermet’s recordings from this era.
Both sides here are BIG, with the space and depth of the wonderful Victoria Hall that the L’Orchestre De La Suisse Romande perform in. As a rule, the classic ’50s and ’60s recordings of Ansermet and the Suisse Romande are as big and rich as any you’ve heard. On the finest pressings (known around these parts as Hot Stampers) they seem to be the ideal blend of clarity and richness, with depth and spaciousness that will put to shame 98% of the classical recordings ever made.
The solo violin is present and so real you will have a hard time believing it.
This copy is huge in every dimension, just as all the best ones always are, with maximum amounts of height, width, and depth.
The transparency is also superb — you really hear into this one in the way that only the best Golden Age recordings allow.
Side Two Coupling Work
Borodin: Prince Igor – Polovtsian Dances
The Borodin is amazing on this pressing’s side two.
Huge scope — depth and width like you will not believe, perfect for this music. The voices in the chorus are clearly separated out and so big and rich!
Open and sweet in the best Golden Age tradition, as well as smooth and natural, like live music should be.
Further Reading