More of the music of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Hot Stamper Classical Imports on Decca & London
Our general notes for the recording seen below explain why the typical copy in our shootout fell short.
This is an LP with lots of tube compression, and some added brightness.
Without the added brightness, the piano would probably be mud.
The added brightness and compression results in a piano that always sounds rich and natural in the quieter passages.
The average copy also has some veiling or smearing that make the solo piano parts sound like they are coming fom behind a curtain. On these copies, the big peaks can often get strident and very messy.
It’s difficult to find a copy that has all the top end extension and space required to reproduce both a realistic piano and the massive live sound the orchestra is capable of.
All of which adds up to a difficult shootout in which relatively few copies had the sound we were looking for.
Production and Enginneering
John Culshaw produced and Kenneth Wilkinson engineered this recording for Decca in 1962 in the wonderful Kingsway Hall that the LSO perform in. If you know much about Golden Age classical recordings, you recognize these names as giants who strode the earth many years ago.
Further Reading
- What Exactly Are Hot Stamper Pressings?
- Record Collecting for Audiophiles from A to Z
- More Records with Specific Advice on What to Listen For
