Demo Discs for Orchestral Percussion

Mussorgsky & Ravel – Pictures at an Exhibition

More of the Music of Modest Mussorgsky

  • With two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, this British EMI import pressing is doing just about everything right – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Our favorite performance by far, with big, bold and powerful sonics like no other recording we know
  • The brass clarity, the dynamics, the deep bass and the sheer power of the orchestra are almost hard to believe
  • No vintage recording of these works compares with Muti’s – and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite is an extra special added bonus on side two
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we’ve awarded the honor of offering the best performances with the highest quality sound, and this record certainly deserve a place on that list.
  • If you like orchestral spectaculars, have we got amazing sounding records for you

This EMI import pressing gives you the complete Pictures at an Exhibition with a top performance and superb sonics.

As this is my All Time Favorite performance of Pictures, this record naturally comes very highly recommended. Pictures is a piece of music that has been recorded countless times, and I’ve played scores of different recordings, but the only one that truly satisfies is this one, Muti’s 1979 recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Much like Previn and the LSO’s performance of The Planets, he finds the music in the work that no one else seems to.

A Must Own Classical Record

This orchestral spectacular should be part of any serious Classical Collection. Other Must Own classical recordings can be found here.

For his 1979 review of the Mussorgsky, Robert Layton in the GRAMOPHONE writes of Muti and The Philadelphia Orchestra :

…what orchestral playing they offer us. The lower strings in ‘Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle’ have an extraordinary richness, body and presence, and “Baba Yaga”, which opens the second side, has an unsurpassed virtuosity and attack as well as being of demonstration standard as a recording. The glorious body of tone, the richly glowing colours, the sheer homogeneity of the strings and perfection of the ensemble is a constant source of pleasure.

Of the performance of Stravinsky’s Firebird, Layton writes:

…Muti’s reading is second to none and the orchestral playing is altogether breathtaking. The recording is amazingly lifelike and truthful.

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Herrmann – The Mysterious Film World of Bernard Herrmann

More of the Music of Bernard Herrmann

  • This vintage pressing of the National Phil’s performance of selections from three of Herrmann’s classic “phantasmagorical” film scores boasts solid Double Plus (A++) grades from first note to last
  • A superb recording with a huge three-dimensional stage, open, clear, extended up top and down low — the sound on this pressing is nothing short of amazing
  • 4 stars: “The sound glitters, some of the brightest and richest audio of its period (attested to by the album’s being part of Decca/London Phase 4 Stereo), and the performances have a dignity and intensity that makes the music — drawn from the key parts of Herrmann’s scores for the Ray Harryhausen-created fantasy films The Three Worlds of Gulliver, Mysterious Island, and Jason and the Argonauts — seem even more serious and profound than it originally did.”
  • If like us you’re a fan of blockbuster orchestral recordings, this is a killer album from 1975 that belongs in your collection.

Side one boasts some wonderful material from Mysterious Island and Jason and the Argonauts. Who else but Herrmann could have orchestrated such phantasmagorical goings on?

The Three Worlds Of Gulliver Suite takes up all of side two. The complete score from which the suite is taken can be found on the original Herrmann album The Three Worlds of Gulliver, a long-time and extremely rare member of the TAS Super Disc List.

This vintage London Phase 4 Stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for —this sound.

If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds. (more…)

Hi-Fi a la Espanola / Fennell

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings

  • An original Plum Label Stereo Mercury pressing (the first copy to ever hit the site) with a huge, powerful and tubey Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • Both of these TAS-approved sides boast an abundance of energy, loads of rich detail and texture, superb transparency and excellent clarity – the very definition of Demo Disc sound
  • Don’t expect to see anything but the real FR pressing when you get this one home — the RFR pressings are not remotely as good and did not even qualify for the lowest Hot Stamper grade on both sides
  • We owe a debt of gratitude to Harry Pearson for championing records such as this one – who is fit to carry his mantle today? (Besides us of course!)
  • We have been working up a shootout for this title for a very long time — after hearing how dubby and veiled the Classic Record pressing of the album was, we knew only the real thing would be worth doing

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Herrmann – The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann

More of the Music of Bernard Herrmann

  • This early British London pressing gives you plenty of blockbuster sound for those who can play a record like this good and loud, here with incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sonics on both TAS-approved sides – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • On the better copies, you will hear the power of the orchestra come to life right in your very own listening room
  • The soundfield is big, open and transparent, with the kind of wall to wall and floor to ceiling spaciousness that may just leave you in awe
  • A superb Phase 4 recording by Arthur Lilley, taking advantage of the legendary acoustics of Kingsway Hall
  • If like us you’re a fan of blockbuster orchestral recordings, this is a killer album from 1974 that belongs in your collection.

The soundfield is big, open and transparent, with the kind of three-dimensionality most orchestral recordings simply fail to reproduce. The brass here is weighty and powerful, and you can really hear the pluck of the strings on the harp.

Taxing the Limits

An orchestral dreadnought such as this requires mastering and pressing of the highest quality. It taxes the limits of LP playback itself, with deep organ notes (listen for the famous Decca rumble accompanying the organ if you have the deep bass reproduction to hear it); incredible dynamics from every area of the stage; masses of strings playing at the top of their registers with abandon; huge drums; powerful brass effects everywhere — every sound an orchestra can produce is found on this record, and then some. (You will hear plenty of sounds that defy description, that’s for sure. Some of the time I can’t even imagine what instrument could possibly make such a sound!)

Harry Pearson put the Decca pressing of this title on his TAS List of Super Discs. (We take issue with that choice below.)

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Rachmaninoff – Symphonic Dances / Johanos

Hot Stamper Pressings of Rachmaninoff’s Music 

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on both TAS-approved sides, this original Turquoise label pressing of this orchestral spectacular is doing just about everything right
  • Fairly quiet for a Vox pressing too – noisy vinyl is the rule and not the exception
  • It’s an extraordinary recording, and so wonderful on this pressing that after playing it, you may agree with us that few other classical Demo Discs are in its league (particularly on side two)
  • The bottom end on side two of this record is powerful and solid, and side one is not far behind in both those areas – this is the way to record tympani!
  • The sound is dynamic, lively and big – jumping out of the speakers and bringing the power and the vibrant colors of the symphony right into your listening room (also particularly on side two)
  • True, side one earned a minimal Hot Stamper grade of 1.5+, but we still guarantee that it will beat the pants off any Heavy Vinyl reissue, because every one of those that we played was opaque, muddy and thick enough to have us crying “uncle” after five minutes

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Prokofiev / Scythian Suite / Ansermet

More of the Music of Sergei Prokofiev

  • Both sides of this original London pressing of CS 6538 had the big, lively and rich sound we’d been waiting for, earning KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus grades or close them
  • It’s also remarkably quiet — at the high end of Mint Minus Minus — a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • Everything that we listen for in a great classical recording can be heard on this copy – it’s immediate, dynamic, very low distortion, spacious, and alive
  • The bass deserves special mention here – you rarely hear recordings from the 50s and early 60s, the kind of LPs that were mastered with tubes, of course, having this kind of truly deep, punchy bass

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Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique / Argenta

More Imported Pressings on Decca and London

  • With two INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, this copy of this orchestral spectacular (the first to hit the site in over two and a half years) is certainly as good as we have ever heard
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “big and spacious with textured strings”…”fully extended from top to bottom”…”tubey bass and brass”…”huge and open”…”rich and transparent”
  • We love the performance of The Paris Conservatoire Orchestra under Argenta, and this original London pressing shows you just how well recorded that performance was back in 1958
  • The sound is clear and open and wonderfully smooth and the bottom is big — the tympani and lower strings are powerful and dynamic
  • You will have a hard time finding better sound in the lower registers for this work — most of the pressings we’ve played were simply too anemic to take seriously
  • Marks and problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings, but once you hear just how stunning sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • It’s worth noting that this is the only copy from our shootout that will make it to the site this time ’round – all of the others had far worse issues that rendered them unacceptable for listing, so those of you hoping for a Nearly White Hot or Super Hot copy with audiophile surfaces and no marks that play are going to be almost as disappointed as we were

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Tchaikovsky / Nutcracker Suites 1 & 2 / Ansermet

More of the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)

Hot Stamper Pressings of The Nutcracker Available Now

  • A superb copy of Tchaikovsky’s classical masterpiece with top quality sound from first note to last
  • If you have never experienced a vintage pressing of a Roy-Wallace-engineered Decca Tree recording from Victoria Hall, this is your chance to hear sound that puts practically everything else to shame
  • The notes for the last shootout winner read “I think this is my favorite [compared to the complete ballet (2203). It has more room, more glow and more sweetness, and it’s the most dynamic.”
  • A record like this lets you get lost in the world of its music, and what could be more important in a recording than that?
  • This is an AMAZINGLY well recorded performance of one of the most famous ballets – probably THE most famous – ever committed to analog tape
  • Enchanting music and sound combine on this copy to make one seriously good Demo Disc, if what you are trying to demonstrate is how relaxed and involved vintage analog can make you feel

There is certainly no shortage of Audio Spectaculars available on the site. A record such as this, so rich, natural and effortless, has distinctly different qualities that we feel are every bit as vital to the serious audiophile’s enjoyment of Tchaikovsky’s music.

Ansermet breathes life into this ballet as only he can and the Decca engineering team led by Roy Wallace do him proud.

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Bob and Ray / Throw a Stereo Spectacular

More of the Music of Bob and Ray

  • With outstanding Double Plus (A++) grades from start to finish, this TAS-approved Living Stereo pressing will be very hard to beat, practically impossible even
  • Originally produced as a sampler record for the Living Stereo line, it is an absolute MUST OWN for serious audiophiles looking to take their system to the next level
  • Our reference copy here at Better Records is so vital to our operation that it would not be for sale at any (well, almost any) price
  • It has long been my personal favorite test disc, as well as one of our three best cartridge tweaking and turntable setup discs
  • 4 stars: “The gleefully cacophonous Guckenheimer Sour Kraut Band takes the prize for providing the most unusual musical selection, but the overall program is extremely diverse [and] the comedy and music are enjoyable.”

Bob and Ray Throw A Stereo Spectacular just happens to be our favorite Test Disc, eclipsing all others in the areas of naturalness and difficulty of reproduction. Any tweak or new room treatment — we seem to do them almost weekly these days — has to pass one test and one test only: The Bob and Ray Test.

This record has the power to help you get to the next level in audio like no other.

Six words hold the key to better sound: “The Song of the Volga Boatman.”

For the purpose of mounting new carts, our favorite track is “The Song of the Volga Boatman” on Bob and Ray Throw A Stereo Spectacular (LSP 1773). It’s by far the most difficult track we know of to get to sound right.

There are about twenty places in the music that we use as tests, and the right setting is the one that gets the most of them to sound their best. With every change, some of the twenty will sound better and some will sound worse. Recognizing when the sound is the biggest, clearest, and most balanced from top to bottom is a skill that has taken me twenty years to acquire.

It’s a lot harder than it looks. The longer you have been in audio, the more complicated it seems, which may be counterintuitive but comports well with our day-to-day experience extremely well.

All our room treatments and tweaks must pass The Bob and Ray Test. It’s the one record we have relied on more than any other over the course of the last several years.

Presenting as it does a huge studio full of brass players, no record we know of is more dynamic or more natural sounding — when the system is working right. When it’s not working right, the first thirty seconds is all it takes to show you the trouble you are in.

If you don’t have a record like that in your collection, you need to find one. It will be invaluable to you in the long run.

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Varese / Arcana, Ionisation and more / Mehta

More Decca and London Pressings

  • This wonderful orchestral spectacular returns to the site after a 2+ year hiatus, here with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on this vintage London pressing
  • Both sides are open, high-rez, and spacious, with depth like you will not believe – this recording of the LA Phil is truly spectacular (and we say that about very few LA Phil recordings outside of this one)
  • Dynamic, huge, lively, transparent and natural – with a record this good, your ability to suspend disbelief will require practically no effort at all

Superb sound for this crazy 20th Century music, featuring wild and wacky works which rely almost exclusively on percussion (not one, not two, but three bass drums!). My favorite piece here may be Ionisation, which uses real sirens (the Old School ones cranked by hand) as part of Varese’s uniquely specialized instrumental array.

The speed of the percussion is also critical to its accurate reproduction. No two pieces of electronics will get this record to sound the same, and some will fail miserably. If vintage tube gear is your idea of good sound, this record may help you to better understand where its shortcomings lie.

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