UPDATE 2021
The discussion here is for a Oval label copy of Suites for Solo Cello (SR 90370) we reviewed in 2010. These days the Oval label pressings from the early 60s almost never sound very good to us. We no longer bother to put them in shootouts.
This record on the Oval Label would be very unlikely to qualify as a Hot Stamper pressing anymore, although we liked it just fine in 2010, as you can see from our old review.
In 2024 we actually put an Oval Label pressing of SR 90370 in a shootout and it did about as poorly as we would have expected. What a waste of time and money. Never again.
Excellent cello reproduction on side one, where you get Bach’s entire Suite No. 2 for Unaccompanied Cello. Hear how wonderful a cello can sound when recorded and mastered for maximum effect, live in your listening room.
The cutting is super low distortion on this later label copy as well. This copy will show you why these Starker Mercury records are so highly prized.
The sound of Starker’s cello here is humongous — it’ll fill up your room, wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling.
It’s also tonally correct from top to bottom, a quality we heard on none of the Mercury Heavy Vinyl reissues we played. They have some of the worst sound we had heard from Speakers Corner up to that time.
This is very much in keeping with the overly rich, overly smooth sound of the Heavy Vinyl records being made today. We despise that sound and want nothing to do with it.
Speakers Corner and the TAS List
Three Mercury recordings of Starker’s on Speakers Corner vinyl are currently on the TAS List, SR 90303, SR 90392 and SR 3-9016. I suppose we could order the first two up, audition them and list their many sonic shortcomings, since we do have nice copies of both albums in the backroom, just not enough to do a shootout. [We have since done shootouts for both.]
NOTE: The 3 LP Box Set is probably never going to go through a shootout. At $1000 and up for an original set, the price we would have to charge for the best of them would be outrageously high.
But there are so many other good pressings to play, why go out of way to play another second- or third-rate Heavy Vinyl pressing?
Another Link?
By the way, we have a new link for audiophile pressings that are tonally correct but are wrong in other ways, as they usually are. You can assume that our Hot Stamper pressings are tonally correct for the most part, as correct tonality is fairly key to high quality sound. Not essential, but important nevertheless.
Starker’s records are legendary for their sound, not to mention Starker’s way with this music. If anybody can make Bach’s solo cello pieces capture your interest, Starker can.
Further Reading