# Looking for "echoey" orchestral recordings



## humanbean (Mar 5, 2011)

I recently started listening to the Hanover Band's (conducted by Roy Goodman) performance of Schubert's 4th, and I must say it is very impressive. One thing that makes it great, in my opinion, is the way they recorded it. It sounds to me like it was recorded in a grand hall, with the mics capturing every moment of reverberation. Every second of sforzando gives me the goosebumps. This method of recording really brings out a lot of the horns, as you'll see in the following example:






My question is, can anyone suggest any other recordings of orchestral works that capture this as well?


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Welcome on TC! It is a bit peculiar that you like recordings with great reverberation, because mostly such recordings (except for organ-recordings) are regarded as no-gooddies. But you're fully entitled to your own musical taste. I remember, that some Italian orchestras (Claudio Scimone is a name to remember) like to play & be recorded in grand halls, so I would say: look in the direction of Vivaldi & other Italian composers performed on modern instruments by Italians.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I don't mind the type of acoustic you describe either, as long as the recording is clear & I can hear everything. In the 1950's, Sir Eugene Goossens conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in a series of recordings made in the Great Hall of Sydney University. I heard a number of these recordings on a radio program a few years ago, & one thing I remember about this is a slight (or maybe more than slight, hard to remember) "echo" effect. I particularly remember them performing Goossens' own music, as well as some Spanish modern composers, including Turina. I'm not sure if these recordings are commercially available, or whether they're only on vinyl, or if they were/are on CD but out of print. Anyhow, here is some information below (on the Sydney University website).

http://sydney.edu.au/senate/Goossens_GreatHall.shtml

As for other music which has an "echo" effect, you can't go past Monteverdi's _Vespers of 1610 (Vespro Della Beata Virgine)_. In a number of the "concertos" for solo voices and small ensemble in the first part of that work, there is a "dialogue" between some of the singers close to the microphones and at the other end of the hall (one of these concertos is called "The Two Seraphims" - so you must get the drift even from that title). In the concluding mighty _Magnificat,_ Monteverdi employs this "echo" effect again with brilliant impact, especially with his use of the trumpets. I think, given the tenor of your request member humanbean, you may definitely end up liking this masterpiece - in fact, that "echo" effect is one of my favourite aspects of it...


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