More of the music of Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
More of the Music of Alexander Glazounov (1865-1936)
More Recordings Featuring the Violin
Stick with stereo on this album.
The Mono pressings — at least the ones we’ve played — aren’t worth anybody’s time (scratch that: any audiophile’s time).
TRACK LISTING
Dvorak: Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53
Glazounov: Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82
This record sounds best this way:
Hot Stamper Classical and Orchestral Pressings Available Now
Advice – What to Listen For on Classical Records
The Classic reissue of LSC 1903 is a disaster: shrill, smeary and unmusical.
In these four words we can describe the sound of the average Classic Records Living Stereo pressing.
The best Heifetz records on Classic were, if memory serves, LSC 2734 (Glazunov), LSC 2603 (Bruch) and LSC 2769 (Rozsa).
They aren’t nearly as offensive as the others. If you can pick one up for ten or twenty bucks, you might get your money’s worth depending, I suppose, on how critically you listen to your classical records.
The CDs are better for all I know. That’s probably the first place to go, considering Classic’s generally poor track record.
The Living Stereo CD of Reiner’s Scheherazade is dramatically better than the awful Classic Records pressing of it.
Audiophiles who cannot hear what is wrong with the Classic pressing need to find themselves a nice — even one that’s not so nice — RCA White Dog pressing to see just how poorly the Classic stacks up.
The solo violin in the left channel at the opening of the first movement should be all it takes.
Anyone has ever attended a classical music concert should recognize that the violin on any of the Heavy Vinyl pressings of the recording is completely wrong and sounds nothing like a violin in a concert hall would ever sound.
And I mean ever.
No matter where you sit.
No matter how good or bad the hall’s acoustics.
It is dark and veiled and overly rich, lacking in overtones.
Solo violins in live performance never sound that way.
They are clear, clean and present. You have no trouble at all “seeing” them clearly.
My best sounding White Dog pressing had that kind of clear and present sound for the violin.
Neither of the Heavy Vinyl reissues I auditioned did.
A pressing of Scheherazade that fails to reproduce the solo violin, the voice of the young lady herself, fails utterly and completely, no matter how big and powerful and rich the opening brass may be.
(more…)
Hot Stamper Pressings with Jascha Heifetz Performing
Hot Stamper Pressings Featuring the Violin
This is a 180g Classic LP with very good sound, the best of the violin concertos Classic has released to date and one of the best Classic Records classical titles ever.
It’s one of the early 180 pressings which tend to be quieter than the later 200 gram pressings.
The Classic Records Liner Notes say:
Original pressings of this late Heifetz/Hendl/CSO performance tend to be edgy, which has been remedied on this reissue through cutting directly from the three-track masters by Bernie Grundman. Grundman has also tuned the balance between Heifetz and the Orchestra to better integrate the phenomenal bowing and intonation that Heifetz is famous for with the power of the Chicago Symphony. Another 10++ performance and recording – not to be missed!
Super Hot Stamper sound on side two of this Shaded Dog pressing, which is the side with Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante for violin and viola. The sound is wonderful, with lovely 1964 RCA Living Stereo Tubey Magic, presenting the violin solidly with spot-on timbre.
Side one, the Glazounov, earned a nearly-as-good sonic grade of A+ to A++. The violin on this side is full-bodied and present just the way we like it.
Side Two
A++, the body of the violin is reproduced here especially well, along with the rosiny texture of the strings. This side is a bit smooth and dark compared to the best we played, so we are calling it Super Hot. Its faults are few, its strengths many.
Side One
A+ to A++. The orchestra is rich, but there is some Old School smear to the strings and an Old School lack of top end. Overall the sound is quite good within these limitations. (more…)
This London Whiteback LP (CS 6509) has a Super Hot Side Two, flowing with Decca / London richness and sweetness. As we’ve said on the site many times, the London pressings with catalog numbers that start with 6400 and 6500 are some of the best recordings we’ve ever played.
Side two gives you that sound. There are two lovely Concert Waltzes that complete the program and they are just wonderful here, with quiet vinyl to boot. (more…)
This rare, hard to find original Blue Angel stereo pressing has exquisite sound. As we noted in our listing for Milstein’s Saint-Saens Third, it is the rare Heifetz album on Shaded Dog (or any other label) that could hope to compete with it.
We would rank this Angel recording/pressing with the best of Rabin and Milstein on Capitol, as well as the wonderful Ricci and Campoli discs on London/Decca. (more…)