haydn94

This Budget Surprise Symphony Is Our Favorite

This vintage RCA Living Stereo Camden LP has Super Hot Stamper sound on both sides. It’s one of the best Camdens, if not actually THE best.

In true Living Stereo fashion, a natural, realistic concert hall perspective unfolds before you. As we noted about side one: it’s rich, smooth, sweet and tubey — what’s not to like? 

Fjeldstad’s performance is excellent as well. Fjeldstad, you may remember, is the man behind the definitive Peer Gynt on Decca (SXL 2012). His recordings may not be common but they have never disappointed. If you can’t own all 104 of Haydn’s symphonies, make sure that at least this one is in your collection.

Side One

A++, rich, smooth, sweet and tubey — what’s not to like? Lovely sheen on the strings. The loudest parts get a bit congested — what Golden Age recordings don’t suffer from compressor distortion? — but other than that this side has the Living Stereo sound we love.

Side Two

A++, and interesting in this respect: the highs are missing at the beginning, making the sound somewhat dark, but about one inch in on the side they come back, and they come back so nicely, along with many other fine qualities, that the overall sound is actually better than side one! We averaged it out to A++.

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