Top Engineers – Christopher Parker

Holst and Previn – A Planets for the Ages

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Holst Available Now

Fortunately for audiophiles who love The Planets but are disappointed by most performances, a group that includes us to be sure, the amazing sound found on this copy is coupled with a superb performance.

As you might imagine, on a big system this would make for a powerful listening experience, which is exactly the experience we ourselves had during our recent shootout. This copy actually deserves its place on the TAS List.

The brass is so BIG and POWERFUL on EMI’s recording that other orchestras and recordings frankly pale in comparison. Until I heard one of our top EMI pressings show me brass with this kind of weight and energy, I simply had no idea it was even possible to play the work this powerfully. The lower brass comes in, builds, gaining volume and weight, then calms down, but soon returns and builds relentlessly, ever and ever louder. Eventually the trumpets break out, blasting their way forward and above the melee the heavier brass has created below.

Quite honestly I have never heard anything like it, and I heard this work in concert in late 2012! In live performance, the members of the brass section, being at the back of the stage, were at least 100 feet away from me, perhaps more. When playing the best EMI pressings, the brass were right there in front of me, eight to ten feet away. In a way this is of course unnatural, but that fact takes nothing away from the subjective power of the experience.

Only the conductor can stand at the podium, but the EMI producers and engineers (the two Christophers in this case) have managed to put the listener, at least in this movement, right there with him.

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Holst – The Planets / Previn

More of the Music of Gustav Holst

  • An early British EMI pressing of Holst’s magnum opus, here with very good Hot Stamper sonic grades on both sides
  • Previn’s and the LSO’s performances are without peer in our estimation
  • We guarantee there is more space, richness, presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard or you get your money back – it’s as simple as that
  • A TAS list Super Disc, with a performance that’s as spectacular as the recording (thanks to the work of the two Christophers)
  • Marks and problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs, but once you hear the sound of this copy, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and pops and just be swept away by the music
  • This link will take you to more of our favorite orchestral performances with top quality sound

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Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 1 / Previn

More of the Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 returns to the the site with outstanding sound throughout this original British EMI pressing
  • These sides are clear, full-bodied and present, with plenty of space around the players, the unmistakable sonic hallmark of the properly mastered, properly pressed vintage analog LP
  • The only Rachmaninoff symphonies we know of with the potential for audiophile sound are the ones Andre Previn made for EMI in the 70s
  • However, we have quite a large number of reviews and commentaries for Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos

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Prokofiev / Symphony Nos. 1 & 7 – Our Favorite “Classical” Symphony

More of the music of Sergei Prokofiev

  • This stunning classical recording returns to the site for only the second time in three years, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound throughout this British EMI import – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Previn has a spritely take on the first symphony, which is precisely what it needs and, every bit as important, the LSO has the chops to bring his vision to life
  • “[The Classical Symphony] is rather a brilliant display of charm, gaiety and good humor as well as a delightful and respectful homage to the early masters whom Prokofieff had at one time so scornfully rejected.”
  • 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.

This superb release contains one of my favorite performances of the Classical Symphony, and it also carries the distinction of having the best combination of sonics and performance that we have ever heard on vinyl. (There is a recording by Previn and the LA Phil from 1986 with a performance to die for; unfortunately, it comes with the kind of mid-80s tear-your-head-off digital shrillness that makes the CD medium the worn-out joke we analog lovers know it to be.)

The First Symphony happens to be one of my favorite classical works of all time, right up there with The Planets and Pictures at an Exhibition. I wouldn’t want to go to a desert island without all three.

This remarkable pressing has exceptional transparency and dynamics, allowing the energy and precision of the performance to shine through. Truly a sublime recording that belongs in any music collection, whether you’re a fan of classical music or not.

If I had to choose one piece of classical music that I would never want to live without, it would have to be the performance of Prokofiev’s First Symphony found on this very side one. It’s a work of such joy that I’ve never failed to be uplifted by it (except when the performance is too slow, which it often is).

This is a difficult piece to pull off. Most of the time either the orchestra is not up to the task or the conductor misunderstands the work. Previn has a spritely take on the piece, which is precisely what it needs and, every bit as important, the London Symphony has the chops to bring his vision to life.

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Holst – The Planets / Previn – Our 2022 Shootout Winner

More of the Music of Gustav Holst

  • This early British EMI pressing is guaranteed to be the best copy of Holst’s Magnum Opus you have ever heard, with both sides earning top quality sonic grades
  • The vinyl on these mid-70s EMI pressings is never as quiet as we would like – with such a dynamic recording, one with so many quiet sections, lightly ticky vinyl is unavoidable
  • Previn’s and the LSO’s performances are without peer in our estimation
  • These sides are rich, clear and dynamic, with weighty brass, and the kind of dynamic power that lifts the energy level right into space
  • A TAS List Super Disc, with a performance that’s as spectacular as the recording (thanks to the work of the two Christophers)
  • This link will take you to more of our favorite orchestral performances with top quality sound

These sides have some of the best sound we have ever heard for the work, and that’s saying something considering the scores of recordings we have played of this famous and famously well-loved piece.

Fortunately for audiophiles who love The Planets but are disappointed by most performances, a group that includes us to be sure, the amazing sound found on this copy is coupled with a superb performance.

As you might imagine, on a big system this would make for a powerful listening experience, which is exactly the experience we ourselves had during our recent shootout. This copy actually deserves its place on the TAS List.

Both sides earned strong grades for their powerful energy and orchestral excitement, especially from the brass section, a subject we discuss at length below. (more…)

Mozart / Haydn – The Best Toy Symphony on Vinyl

More of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings

  • An early EMI UK import pressing with STUNNING Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from first note to last – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • The amazingly well recorded Toy Symphony on side two (which is fairly quiet by the way) is the real reason to own this record – you will be shocked at how realistic the toys sound, and how spaciously they are arrayed in the soundfield
  • These sides are clear, full-bodied and present, with plenty of live venue space around the players, the unmistakable sonic hallmark of the properly mastered, properly pressed vintage analog LP
  • The first pressing of the album I ever played, back in about 1995, was on the Japanese Soundphile Series, and it blew my mind at the time
  • Fast forward 25 plus years and now we know that, as good as the Japanese pressing can be, the real EMI can be even better.  That’s what shootouts are for, right?

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Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 3 / Previn

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

  • An outstanding His Master’s Voice pressing with Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both sides are big, rich, transparent, spacious and dynamic – no Heavy Vinyl pressing can do what this record is doing
  • You will have a very hard time finding a quieter copy — we did, and we had half a dozen to play — and of course the sound with grades like these simply cannot be beat
  • A wonderful 1977 recording by the two Christophers
  • This powerful work is played with feeling – we know of no better performance or any with Rachmaninoff symphony with better sound

This is the first Rachmaninoff Symphony we have ever offered in Hot Stamper form, mostly because the second symphony with Previn that is so highly regarded by audiophiles has never sounded very good to us, and the first and fourth are not that easy to find.

We’ve never cared for The Bells, a TAS List record with music that does nothing for us.

We love the piano concertos of course, and have done shootouts for them all.

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Tchaikovsky / Capriccio Italien – Boult

ASD 3093. EMI Postage Stamp Label LP with DEMO QUALITY SOUND and a performance to match! I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed these pieces more.

[This was written long ago, and in the meantime we have heard many amazing recordings of excellent performances of these works. Please visit the site to see them.]

The energy of the playing complements the dynamic, powerful and rich sound. A great EMI.

Recorded by the Two Christophers, this record features selections from Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. 

Beethoven / Symphonies 8 & 9 – Giulini – Reviewed in 2005

SLS 841. Two fairly quiet (for EMI anyway) LPs with BIG SOUND — the kind of sound this work demands.

This is obviously a huge orchestra and chorus. It sure sounds like it anyway. The production is first class all the way.

The soloists sound particularly real, surrounded by dozens of other musicians in a big hall.

I like the way Giulini plays this as well.

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.

We found the records you see in these older listings by cleaning and playing a pressing or two of the album, which we then described and priced based on how good the sound and surfaces were. (For out Hot Stamper listings, the Sonic Grades and Vinyl Playgrades are listed separately.)

We were often wrong back in those days, something we have no reason to hide. Audio equipment and record cleaning technologies have come a long way since those darker days, a subject we discuss here.

Currently, 99% (or more!) of the records we sell are cleaned, then auditioned under rigorously controlled conditions, up against a number of other pressings. We award them sonic grades, and then condition check them for surface noise.

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