The commentary reproduced down below is from 2005. It is unlikely that the pressing we liked at the time, a Stereo Treasury LP of the famous Fjeldstad performance, would come anywhere close to winning a shootout these days. We simply don’t buy them anymore. We stick to the pressings that have done well for us over the last twenty years in shootout after shootout.
Peer Gynt is a Masterpiece that deserves a place at the heart of any classical collection of the greatest recordings of all time.
If you want to improve the quality of pressings in your collection, by far the best way to go about it is to start doing your own shootouts. A great deal of this blog is dedicated to helping you learn how to do that.
Oddly enough, there actually are budget reissues that win shootouts. They just happen to be Ace of Diamonds pressings and not Stereo Treasurys. (You can see a picture of the pressing we like at the bottom of this post.)
The Wonderful Peer Gynt
Our favorite recording of Peer Gynt is the one by Otto Gruner-hegge and the Oslo Philharmonic from 1959.
Speaking of budget reissues, we are on record as having been fans of a great many budget classical LPs stretching back decades. My catalogs from the 90s were full of reissues with exceptionally good sound.
Doing things as we do them now, by following rigorous testing protocols, has made it possible for us to discover some budget pressings that are so well-mastered they have the potential — accent on the word potential — to win shootouts.
Our Commentary from 2005
This is overall the best sounding pressing of the Fjeldstad / LSO we have ever played, with BETTER than Super Hot Stamper sound on both sides. For those of you who know your Londons, when you see the label on this LP you will no doubt be shocked: This is the last pressing in the world that one would expect to sound good.
Of course we here at Better Records don’t give a sh*t about any such conventional wisdom / collector bias. We like audiophile quality sound and we don’t give a damn where we find it. Up against the competition this copy was superb in practically every way, excelling with orchestral size, weight and energy like virtually no other.
This is to be expected from a recording of its renown. What was not to be expected was the actual pressing that delivered those sonic qualities
We’ve loved the Blueback pressings in the past; this time not so much (too crude and opaque with jello for bass).
Side One
A++ to A+++, better than Super Hot, very clean and clear with an extended top (the kind you hear on very few Golden Age pressings). It’s slightly dry and could use a bit more weight at the start, but about halfway through it becomes fuller, bigger and richer.
Great energy too, especially in the final movement. A touch more Tubey Magic and this side would have earned the full Three Pluses.
Side Two
A++ to A+++. Transparent, with good top end extension, as well as space and clarity. No smear, so the textures of the strings and brass are excellent as well. The percussion is especially clear.
We had a side that was a bit more Tubey Magical, so we took a half plus off of this copy’s grade.
The last movement has some Wagnerian touches; the sound at the end of this copy is bigger, more clear and more spacious than practically any other we played.
The overall sound in the climax is lively and exciting without ever crossing the line into hi-fi-ishness. This is the mark of an exceptionally good record!
To aid you in doing your own evaluations, here is a list of records that we’ve found to be good for testing Tubey Magic.
Further Reading
- New to the Blog? Start here
- Well recorded classical albums from the core collection available now
- More classical and orchestral recordings with advice on what to listen for
