_Composers – Mendelssohn

Mendelssohn & Schubert / Symphony No. 4 & Symphony No. 5 – Reviewed in 2014

More of the music of Felix Mendelssohn

The strings are rich, with lovely rosiny texture and virtually no tube smear. Played with zest and the recording is every bit as lively.

The grade on side one could even be better than Two Pluses — we just don’t have enough clean copies to know. Big bass at the end, powerful dynamics too.

Side two was good but nothing like this amazing side one. Too much smear hurts it badly, and the mark is not helping either.

We’re pricing this one for just the one side. Fortunately it’s the complete symphony, one of Mendelssohn’s most famous works.

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Bach, Mendelssohn, Widor / Discovery / Welch

More of the music of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

This is an INCREDIBLY RARE Wilson Audio LP in IMMACULATE condition, with works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Widor and others.

This is actually an amazing sounding record. I’ve owned a copy for over 20 years. It’s some of the best sounding organ music with the deepest bass I’ve ever heard.

Fantasy-Impromptu – An Undiscovered Gem from 1966

The subtitle of the album reads Philippe Entremont Plays Best-Loved Piano Pieces.

After hearing this one as well as another exceptionally good sounding copy, we would like to amend that to Philippe Entremont Plays the Hell Out of These Best-Loved Piano Pieces.

Truly this is an undiscovered gem from Columbia in 1966.

Side two of this copy blew our minds with its nearly White Hot Stamper sound. Musically and sonically this record is nothing short of amazing. Who knew Columbia could record a piano this well? You could play fifty vintage piano recordings and not find one as good as this!

Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Debussy, Gershwin — these shorter pieces and excerpts were composed by those with the greatest gift for melody, men who have produced works that stand the test of time, enchanting audiences over the centuries with works of great beauty and charm.

Side Two

It’s clear and clean and solid, yet big, rich and warm the way a piano really sounds in recital. There is no trace of smear on the transients whatsoever.

The transparency is simply amazing — you are there! There aren’t many solo piano recordings that sound this right. When you hear one it’s shocking how good it can be.

The extended top results in lovely space and harmonic extension. The dynamic contrasts in these works are captured like few piano recordings we have ever heard.

Side One

With a huge, rich, open sounding piano. Lovely warm tone too. Though not the best we heard (hence the grade), the sound here is still good enough to beat practically any solo piano record you are likely to own. Let us know if it doesn’t!