Decca/London/Argo

Albeniz / Suite Espanola on Decca

More of the Music of Albeniz

  • With two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, we guarantee you’ve never heard Suite Espanola sound remotely as good as it does on this vintage Decca pressing – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This is our best sounding Decca pressing – the best Londons will always win the shootouts we do, but the best Deccas can come close and sound truly amazing in their own right
  • The orchestral power on display is positively breathtaking – few recordings we know of are this dynamic and exciting
  • Wilkie’s Decca Tree recording is overflowing with the kind of clear, spacious, realistic sound that can only be found on the better vintage vinyl LPs
  • Performances and sound like no other – De Burgos’s Suite Espanola is practically in a league of its own

Wow, is this record ever dynamic! I would put it right up there with the most dynamic recordings we have played over the course of the last twenty five years. It also has tons of depth. The brass is at the far back of the stage, just exactly where they would be placed in the concert hall, which adds greatly to the realism of the recording.

Note that careful VTA adjustment for a record with this kind of dynamic energy is a must. Having your front end calibrated to this record is the only way to guarantee there is no distortion or shrillness in even the loudest passages.

What to Listen For

Clear castanets.

Big bass drum thwacks.

Crescendos that build to intense climaxes.

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Debussy – Images for Orchestra / Ansermet (Decca)

More of the Music of Claude Debussy

More of the Music of Maurice Ravel

  • Solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it brings Ansermet and the Suisse Romande’s performance to life on this original Decca Stereo pressing
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, and for recordings of Debussy, that is quiet indeed
  • We often run into condition issues with this title – the two copies with the highest grades had problems in the vinyl that make them unsuitable for audiophiles (especially at these prices)
  • If you want to go digging for your own copy, we tell you how to do that on the blog, and we wish you good luck, you’re going to need it
  • This copy is remarkably lively and dynamic, particularly on side two – the RCA with Munch is also excellent, but you will find very little to fault in the sound of this record if you don’t have precisely the right stampers for that one
  • It’s worth noting that only the London pressings ever win the shootout, which is something that we run into on a regular basis but for some reason surprises audiophile record lovers to this very day
  • Why the disparity, we have no idea – they are all mastered by Decca in England from the same tapes, and by the same engineers!

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Delibes / Coppelia / Ansermet

More Music Conducted by Ernest Ansermet

  • Superb sound from the Master Ballet Conductor, with both sides of this early London pressing earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them
  • It’s also impossibly quiet at Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus, a grade that practically none of our vintage classical titles – even the most well-cared-for ones – ever play at
  • Lovely string tone and texture, rich bass, a big hall, no smear, lovely transparency – the sound here is hard to fault (particularly on side one)
  • Recorded in Geneva’s exquisite Victoria Hall in 1957, this is a top performance from Ansermet and the Suisse Romande, the best we know of
  • 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?
  • Enchanting music and sound combine on this copy to make one seriously good Demo Disc (also particularly on side one), if what you are trying to demonstrate is how relaxed and involved vintage analog can make you feel

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Argenta Is the King of Espana

More of the Music of Chabrier

  • This TAS list London LP containing two of the most exciting orchestral showpieces ever composed is guaranteed to blow your mind with a KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • For the longest time we thought that Ansermet’s España could not be beat, but here is a performance that can go head to head with his and might even come out on top
  • The Capriccio Espagnol is easily one of the best on record – I always thought it was the best reason to own this album, but now I see that both sides are better than most for orchestral spectacular recordings
  • This record is absolutely, positively guaranteed to shame any Heavy Vinyl pressing of orchestral music you own
  • If you’re a fan of orchestral showpieces, this London from 1957 belongs in your collection.

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Shostakovich / Symphony No. 5 – Kertesz

More of the Music of Dmitri Shostakovich

  • This stunning classical release returns to the site after a four year hiatus, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides of this early London UK pressing
  • It’s also impossibly quiet at Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus, a grade that practically none of our vintage classical titles – even the most well-cared-for ones – ever play at
  • The sound of the orchestra is dramatically richer and sweeter than you will hear on practically all other pressings – what else would you expect from Decca’s engineers and the Suisse Romande?
  • The sonics here are glorious, full of all of the qualities that make listening to classical music in analog so involving
  • The RCA with Mitchell has a bit more of the vintage Living Stereo Tubey Magical sound from back in the day compared to this London with Kertesz, which, although a bit more modern, is every bit as good, maybe better depending on the system playing it and the preferences of the listener

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Bartok / Concerto for Orchestra / Solti

More of the Music of Bela Bartok

  • Huge hall, massive weight and powerful energy, this is Demo Disc quality sound by any standard
  • The sound here is glorious, full of all of the qualities that make listening to classical music in analog so involving
  • There are many great recordings of the work, and we had plenty to choose from, but for sonics and performance combined, Solti’s Decca recording from the mid-60s could not be beat
  • “Solti’s Concerto for Orchestra with the LSO was one of the finest of its day and remains so. Highly recommended.”
  • If you’re a fan of Bartok’s orchestral masterpiece, this London from 1965 belongs in your collection.
  • Watch out for Solti’s later recordings for Decca – they usually have an obvious shortcoming which we cannot abide in the classical records we play

Solti breathes life into these works as only he can and the Decca engineering team led by Kenneth Wilkinson do him proud.

“Solti was regarded as, above all, a superb Wagnerian. His performances and countless recordings of other nineteenth century German and Austrian music were also well-regarded, as were his Verdi and his frequent forays into such twentieth century repertory as Bartók, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky.”

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.

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Chabrier / Orchestral Music – Ansermet

More of the Music of Emmanual Chabrier

  • This vintage London pressing of the Suisse Romande‘s performance of Chabrier’s most famous compositions boasts incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • It’s also impossibly quiet at Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus (or close to it), a grade that practically none of our vintage classical titles – even the most well-cared-for ones – ever play at
  • Contains our favorite “Espana Rhapsody” on side one, and we guarantee you’ve never heard it sound remotely as good as it does on this very copy
  • This spectacular Demo Disc recording is big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic – here is the sound we love
  • All the energy and power of Chabrier’s remarkable orchestration, thanks to the brilliant engineering of Roy Wallace
  • Ansermet’s Chabrier disc has long been a favorite of ours here at Better Records – this copy will show you why
  • We have a section of classical recordings that we think offer the best performances with top quality sound, and this record is one of its founding members. (Some might say that this one might even be ever so slightly better for the Espana Rhapsody.)

If you want a classical record to TEST your system, if you want a classical record to DEMO your system, you will have a hard time finding a better pressing than this very copy.

Who can resist these sublime orchestral works? To quote an infamous (around here) label, they are an audiophile’s dream come true.

So clear and clean, and spread out on such a huge stage, either one or both of these sides will serve you well as your go-to reference disc for Orchestral Reproduction.

Listen for the waves of sound in Espana — only the best copies bring out the energy and power of Chabrier’s remarkable orchestration.

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Borodin / Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 / Ansermet

More of the Music of Alexander Borodin

  • An early London Stereo pressing of these two symphonic masterworks with very good Hot Stamper sound on both sides
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • We guarantee there is more richness, fullness, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you own whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market, made from who-knows-what tapes
  • These originals are selling for hundreds of dollars on ebay these days, so don’t expect many early London pressings to make it to the site

We’ve long considered the album one of the greatest of all the Decca / London recordings.

Big, rich and dynamic, this is the sound of LIVE MUSIC, and it can be yours, to enjoy for years to come — if you’ve got the stereo to play it and the time to listen to it.

The powerful lower strings and brass are gorgeous. Ansermet and the Suisse Romande get that sound better than any performers I know. You will see my raves on record after record of theirs produced during this era. No doubt the world renowned Victoria Hall they recorded in is key. One can assume Decca engineers use similar techniques for their recordings regardless of the artists involved. The only real variable should be the hall.

Ansermet’s recordings with the Suisse Romande exhibit a richness in the lower registers that is unique in my experience. His Pictures At Exhibition has phenomenally powerful brass, the best I’ve ever heard. The same is true for his Night On Bald Mountain. Neither performance does much for me — they’re both too slow — but the sound is out of this world. Like it is here.

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Schubert – The Trout Quintet / Curzon / Vienna Octet

More of the Music of Franz Schubert

  • Boasting two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, this vintage Ace of Diamonds pressing is doing just about everything right
  • It’s simply bigger, more transparent, less distorted, more three-dimensional and more REAL than most of what we played – this is music you cannot help but be drawn into
  • The 1958 master tape has been transferred brilliantly using “modern” cutting equipment (from 1968, not the low-rez junk they’re forced to make do with these days), giving you, the listener, sound and surfaces that are hard to fault
  • When you hear how good this record sounds, you may have a hard time believing that it’s a budget reissue from 1968, but that’s precisely what it is.
  • Some budget reissues are so good, they can actually win shootouts

The cello does not have that “fat” sound some audiophiles seem to like – Decca knew more about recording chamber music in 1958 than practically all the audiophile labels that would come along later, the ones that managed to make a mess of the very idea of audiophile quality sound (you know who I mean)

The piano and the strings have that Golden Age Tubey Magical sound we love. It’s been years since I’ve had the opportunity to play this record; most copies are just too beat up to bother with, so I was glad to find a number in minty condition.

Now what I hear in this recording is sound that is absolutely free from any top end boost, much the way live music is. There’s plenty of tape hiss and air; the highs aren’t rolled off, they’re just not boosted the way they often are in a recording.

A few years back I had a chance to see a piano trio perform locally; they even played a piece by Schubert. The one thing I noticed immediately during their live performance was how smooth and natural the top end was. I was no more than ten feet from the performers in a fairly reverberant room, and yet the sound I heard was the opposite of what passes in some circles for Hi-Fidelity.

This is the opposite of those echo-drenched recordings that some audiophiles seem to like, with microphones placed twenty feet away from the performers so that they are awash in “ambience.” If you know anything about us, you know that this is not our sound.

I have never heard live music sound like that and that should settle the question. It does in my mind anyway. The Chesky label (just to choose one awful audiophile label to pick on) is a joke and always will be. How anyone buys into that phony sound is beyond me, but any audio show will prove to you that there is no shortage of audiophiles who love the Chesky “sound,” and probably never will be.

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Rossini-Respighi / La Boutique Fantasque / Solti

More of the Music of Respighi

  • An early London pressing of Solti and the Israel Phil’s performance of this wonderful ballet suite, here with seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them from first note to last
  • It’s also remarkably quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • An abundance of energy, loads of rich detail and texture, superb transparency and excellent clarity (particularly on side one) – the very definition of Demo Disc sound
  • After trying a few years ago, we knew the best copies had the potential to be knockouts in the Decca canon – after that it was only a matter of finding enough clean copies
  • No other performance or recording we played could hold a candle to this one – the Fiedler we used to like years ago was especially disappointing this time around
  • The best sides were always the biggest, clearest and most three-dimensional, assuming they were able to retain the rich, natural, balanced tonality that is inherently key to a good record, or a great one in this case
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.

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