Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Borodin Available Now
This commentary was written way back in 2005. Still holds up though.
The Borodin title you see pictured has demonstration quality orchestral sound of the highest order.
The performance by Ansermet is definitive, IMHO, and this recording ranks in the Top Ten Decca/ Londons we’ve ever played.
The powerful lower strings and brass are gorgeous. Ansermet and the Suisse Romande get that sound better than any performers I know. You will see my raves on record after record of theirs produced in this era.
No doubt the wonderful hall they record in is the key. One can assume Decca engineers use similar techniques for their recordings regardless of the artists involved. The only real variable should be the hall.
Ansermet’s recordings with the Suisse Romande have a richness in the lower registers that is almost unrivaled in my experience.
His Pictures at an Exhibition has phenomenally powerful brass, some of the best I’ve ever heard. (Click here to see our favorite performance of the work.
The same is true for his Night On Bald Mountain. (Our favorite may be considered a surprising choice — it’s this one.)
Neither performance does much for me — they’re both too slow — but the sound is out of this world. Like it is here.
Further Reading