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.
