_Composers – Beethoven

Beethoven / Concerto No. 4 / Rubinstein – Our Shootout Winner from 2011

This Super Hot Stamper pressing has superb RCA Living Stereo sound, with an exceptionally clear, solid, tonally correct piano.

We recently did a major shootout for all of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos, pulling pressings from the three major Golden Age labels — RCA, London, Mercury — and this Fourth came out near the top of the heap.

Most pressings of Rubinstein’s Beethoven concertos simply do not have this kind of open, big and bold sound.

Side one earned a grade of A++ and side two was actually a bit better at A++ to A+++. That makes this a very special piano recording indeed. (more…)

Beethoven / Piano Sonatas / Backhaus (CS-6535)

Hot Stamper Classical and Orchestral Imports on Decca & London

CS 6535. This is the best sounding Backhaus LP I’ve ever heard.

The piano is natural and full-bodied, with solid weight, as would be expected from the Decca engineers of the day.

Decca was still making good records in 1967, long after RCA had gone Dynagroove.

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Favorite Beethoven Concertos / Heifetz & Rubinstein – Reviewed in 2007

Hot Stamper Pressings Featuring the Violin

This is a very old listing and it is doubtful if we would agree with our rave review for the sound these days. The part about it beating the Classic Records pressing is probably still accurate.

If you see this record in the bins for cheap, give it a try, but don’t pay a high price for it on our say-so.

RCA Red Seal LPs. DEMONSTRATION QUALITY SOUND!

The first LP of this disc is the equivalent of LSC 1992 and sounds AMAZING. The mastering is right on the money.

This compilation was created in 1971. The tapes were still good then, because the transparency of this pressing is top notch. I wish I could say as much for the second record, which, like most of these reissues, is a disaster. It should go without saying that the LP here KILLS the Classic Records reissue.

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Various / Heart of the Piano Concerto / Rubinstein – Reviewed in 2008

More of the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Reviews and Commentaries for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos

This is an EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD SOUNDING Shaded Dog pressing with fairly quiet vinyl. What’s surprising about this pressing is how transparent and low distortion it is.

Just as with Destination Stereo (LSC 2307), the excerpts here frequently sound better than they do on the original complete performances. Rubinstein’s piano is solid and clear sounding, which is rarely the case, especially for his Beethoven concertos. Those almost never sound good, but the excerpt here for Concerto No. 3 is excellent. 

This is an Older Classical/Orchestral Review

Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we started developing in the early 2000s and have since turned into a veritable science.

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Beethoven / Symphony Nos. 1 and 8 / Ansermet – Good on Only One Side? Yes, It Happens

More of the Music of Ludwig van Beethoven

This Super Hot Stamper side one London Whiteback LP (CS 6388) gives you a wonderful sounding Beethoven First Symphony. It’s rich, sweet and Tubey Magical in the tradition of the best Ansermet recordings from the era.

Unfortunately the second side with the 8th Symphony is awful — hard, shrill and definitely not worth your time.

Good sounding Beethoven symphony recordings are few and far between, and this one is very good indeed. (more…)

Brahms / Trio & Beethoven / Sonata for Horn and Piano

This is an exceptionally good sounding chamber record on the RCA White Dog label, especially on side two, which earned a sonic grade of A++ to A+++. Side two has the Beethoven work for horn and piano, and it sounds about as real and natural as a chamber recording can. Side one is not quite up to the same sonic standards, but is quite good nevertheless, earning a very respectable grade of A+ to A++.

This title is so rare I had literally never seen one in my 25+ years as a dealer in audiophile-oriented recordings. The other bit of good news is that the vinyl is unusually quiet, playing as it does mostly Mint Minus. How many early RCA pressings can make such a claim? No more than five per cent I would think, if that. (more…)

Beethoven / The Five Beethoven Concertos / Rubinstein – Reviewed in 2011

This original Shaded Dog Five Disc Box Set (LSC 6902) contains all five of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos, with sound that’s predictably all over the map, from White Hot to Not-So-Hot and every grade in between. Yes folks, we actually listened to every one of these sides in a shootout with other RCA, London and Mercury pressings of the same music.

The best sound in the set was clearly the Third Piano Concerto, which had sides that were Super Hot and White Hot. (more…)

Milstein / Masterpieces / Susskind – Reviewed in 2013


This is a RARE and WONDERFUL SOUNDING original Capitol pressing of Milstein playing pieces for violin and orchestra by Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Saint-Saens and others. The recording of the Mozart Rondo on side one boasts DEMO DISC quality sound. Side one is amazingly rich, sweet and tubey magical. The violin is tonally correct, with the kind of immediacy few violin records (in our experience) manage to capture as well, while still retaining the correct size of the instrument. (more…)

Beethoven / Quartet in C-Sharp Minor / Julliard String Quartet

More Violin Recordings

This RCA White Dog pressing contains what many consider to be Beethoven’s greatest string quartet, with SUPERB better than Super Hot Stamper sound on BOTH sides, each of which rated grades of A++ to A+++.

The reason we held back on the full Three Plus White Hot Stamper designation is simple: each side had slightly more of a fairly important quality that the other side lacked. When you play this record at home see if you don’t agree with us that this is an AMAZING sounding chamber music record, with minor, albeit recognizable and appreciable, differences in its strengths on each side. (more…)