# 1950s-70s: The "Golden Era" for recorded classical music???



## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

On an Amazon.com "Editorial Reviews". section, I came across this blurb for particular conductor/orchestra/record-company box set:



> There were occasions during the three decades when the LP record ruled supreme - from the 1950s to the 1970s - when the chemistry between an orchestra, its conductor and their record company combined to work a magic that the commitment of long-term recording contracts quite often made possible. Karajan and the Philharmonia; Ansermet and the Suisse Romande; Dorati and the Minneapolis; Münch and the Boston Symphony; Cluytens and the Paris Conservatoire; and Previn and the London Symphony are all prime examples of such collaborations. All of these produced recorded performances that are as fine today as they ever were and are all well-represented in the current CD catalogues .....


I reveal the rest of the blurb later (which reveals the particular conductor/orchestra/record-company of this product page).

Anyway, what do you think of the _claim_ above? Is this just marketing talk?


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

There was also another resurgence in the 80s and early nineties, as the record companies scrambled to re-record, and resell, the standard repertoire with the newfangled digital technology. Many fine recordings and cycles from that era as well. I think it was only about the year 2000, when the economics of classical music recording and classical music catalogs slumped. Of course they completely collapsed once music streaming, music piracy and under $1 CDs of major artists and orchestras affected them more recently.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

13hm13 said:


> On an Amazon.com "Editorial Reviews". section, I came across this blurb for particular conductor/orchestra/record-company box set:
> 
> I reveal the rest of the blurb later (which reveals the particular conductor/orchestra/record-company of this product page).
> 
> Anyway, what do you think of the _claim_ above? Is this just marketing talk?


That particular set of discs (20) - part of EMI's "Icon" series - from what many would (somewhat unfairly) consider to be a "second-tier" conductor/orchestra is recommended. The original label provided quality recording facilities and it is reflected in this reissue.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I would have to agree with that, and not just for the reasons given but for another: there was a market for those classical recordings. A larger percent of the population was buying them, encouraging record companies to produce them. Not so much since then. That's not to say there haven't been superb recordings since; the basic repertoire has been re-recorded again and again and there are many newer recordings that hold their own against anything older and often in vastly superior sound. 

While the conductor/orchestra combinations given are excellent, the Previn/LSO seems out of place. Yes, they made some great recordings, but they made a lot of dogs, too. Previn, despite his many talents, was no match for Reiner, Bernstein, Walter, etc.


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

Just to focus this topic a bit, I think we should concentrate on pure PERFORMANCE ... and not recording quality (engineering) or repertoire itself.
As far as the repertoire, many composers did not receive deserved attention until well after 50s-70s "LP era". Barber, Mahler, RvW, etc., etc. are examples of this.


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

The blurb in question is from the William Steinberg 20-CD EMI box set from 2011. The selections are all from the 1950s Capitol Records catalog (mostly Pittsburgh SO, I think).
Obviously, the blurb favors EMI/Warner releases. But raises a curious issue that is not isolated to EMI.

As promised, the rest of the blurb ...



> ....
> Until now there has been one successful recording collaboration that seems almost to have slipped under the radar: the Pittsburgh Symphony, William Steinberg and the Capitol Records producer, Richard C. Jones.
> 
> This set of 20 CDs presents virtually everything that was recorded by Steinberg during the seven years that he recorded for Capitol: from the Schubert Second Symphony, recorded on 9 February 1952, to the Italian Serenade by Wolf, from 16 April 1959. There are some exceedingly good performances in this set and the recordings show that Capitol Records were at the technical forefront when it came to sound quality and production values.
> ...


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

there's a lot to the basic point....the 1950-70 period was very productive for fine-sounding recordings of much of the basic repertoire....for prime examples, I'd be looking elsewhere tho....


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Of course, this is a box set that has resided on my disc shelving for some while now, as I remain a strong fan of the Pittsburgh Symphony and recordings by William Steinberg. Especially treasurable are the set of Brahms symphonies Steinberg recorded for Command Classics, a box set of which vinyl LPs is one of my earliest acquisitions and still great sounding on my VPI/Clearaudio-Maestro-Wood rig.









In fact, I have many of the EMI box recordings in their original LP configuration. They are indeed fine releases.

The era of these Steinberg recordings was truly one of flux and invention in the recording industry. There was much that was new, including the LP record format and recording/engineering technique and improvements in pressing. Classical music was ripe for the picking, but would soon be challenged by the rock-n-roll industry and the need for recordings for AM radio airplay. Recording studios expanded in number and dissipated in quality and, in some sense, the most important aspect of the industry became not sound-quality but economic bottom line.

We who collected records from those ubiquitous record clubs of the late 70s and through the 80s and into the age of the rise of the CD and the demise of the LP recall the lessening production quality of both the vinyl and the sound. But at least we had access to the music. I, for one, would pick up scores when I could to enhance my listening pleasure, the score reading allowing for a greater sense of what instruments and lines of music are available if not necessarily salvageable by way of the ears by way of the recording and the equipment (I could afford in those days).

The records I have from the 1980s still surprise me for their general lack of quality compared to so many earlier era vinyl pressings. Since I've managed to take good care of the records, even my oldest acquisitions, with exceptions here and there, prove satisfyingly listenable, and the sound quality (due both to recording engineering and manufacturing engineering) is still fine. Such as on those Command Classics Brahms symphonies with Steinberg and the PSO.

When CD technology first came along, many of us felt is would be a great step forward. Unlike many, however, I never relinquished my LPs, and as I was able to acquire better and better playback equipment (including the aforementioned VPI Scoutmaster II turntable and the Clearaudio Maestro Wood cartridge) I was able to realize that there was truly a sound difference (for the better) between the LP and the CD, with the LP, in my opinion, retaining the edge. Early CDs, especially, seem harsh in comparison to their vinyl versions, and I've been able to make comparisons since I had added many of my treasured favorite LPs in the medium of the CD (including those Steinberg Brahms symphonies).

Just yesterday I replaced my cartridge (my sub cartridge, a very fine Sound Smith) with my newly retipped Clearaudio Maestro Wood, and I noticed the up-peak in the sound of the records I chose to play, the Clearaudio stylus capable of reaching deep into the grooves and retrieving information I hadn't quite remembered was there. It was one of those evenings where I couldn't pull records off the shelves fast enough as I strove to hear one favorite after another and to experience the refreshed sound of the new stylus. Recordings included classical (among them; a Vermeulen String Quartet on Composers' Voice 8384/1, Pachelbel Suites on Spectrum SR-170, and Roberto Gerhard's Symphony No. 1 with Antal Dorati and the BBC Symphony on Seraphim S-60071), jazz (selections from Getz/Gilberto and from Patricia Barber _Live A Fortnight in France_, Dave Grusin's "Sweetwater Nights" on _Out of the Shadows_, and Joe Henderson's "Canyon Lady" on Canyon Lady), and rock (side one of Van Morrison's _Astral Weeks_, John Martyn's "Solid Air" from _Solid Air_, and selections from Dylan's Freewheelin', the Beatles Abbey Road, the Grateful Dead's _American Beauty_, and Cat Stevens's _Collected_, the 2017 pressing on Universal). Needless to say, I'll be at it again for the next several weeks, rehearing and exploring both old and new discs with that sense of something improved in vinyl sound because of the refurbished cartridge. Which also explains why my cartridges need refurbished. (I intend to now send the Sound Smith back to the factory for a re-tip or a trade-up, and keep my secondary stereo cartridge up to snuff, for when it is again needed.)

So, when someone suggests recordings (CD or vinyl) are "as fine today as they ever were", I'll let my ears be the judge. The range of quality is enormous, on both vinyl and CD, but there is some very good out there, and the Steinberg/PSO recordings often rank with the best.

If you don't yet have that box set, you might consider it a fine resolution for the New Year. I would probably be listening to something from that box right now if it weren't for that newly re-tipped cartridge that is currently playing ... guess what? The Fourth Symphony of Beethoven as performed by William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from the vinyl box set on Command Classics of _The Nine Complete Beethoven Symphonies_.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

13hm13 said:


> Anyway, what do you think of the _claim_ above? Is this just marketing talk?


No. "Golden" is usually associated with that which is 50 years or older.
2021 - 1971 = 50, so anything recorded prior to 1971 can be labeled as 'golden' simply due to its age.

Even if something is garbage - it's 'golden' to some folks.


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

SONNET CLV said:


> William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from the vinyl box set on Command Classics of _The Nine Complete Beethoven Symphonies_.


Yeah, I've wondered about that CC set of releases from the WS/PSO powerhouse. How does it compare to the orig 50s (Capitol/EMI ) versions? I have few decent analog rigs in my hifi setup (VPI, Rega, etc), but I'm too lazy to play records these days. Even CD are ripped to my PC, and those are files are put in FLAC playlists that are (literally) weeks long!
Hopefully, whomever has rights to CC stuff can dig out the masters and digitize them .

I do have the DG LvB Symphs box by WS/PSO. Not sure whether these are SAME as CC??????


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

Prodromides said:


> No. "Golden" is usually associated with that which is 50 years or older.
> 2021 - 1971 = 50, so anything recorded prior to 1971 can be labeled as 'golden' simply due to its age.
> 
> Even if something is garbage - it's 'golden' to some folks.


The use of the word 'Golden" was mine. As in Golden age (the best years).


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

13hm13 said:


> I do have the DG LvB Symphs box by WS/PSO. Not sure whether these are SAME as CC??????


Yeah .. DG seems to have acquired the CC tapes not too long ago... at least for LvB ...
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8768411--beethoven-the-symphonies










...and, yeah, some very good performances here.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

13hm13 said:


> Yeah .. DG seems to have acquired the CC tapes not too long ago... at least for LvB ...
> https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8768411--beethoven-the-symphonies
> 
> 
> ...


are these Steinberg/PSO recordings from the original Command classics LPs?? there are some excellent performances - LvB #5 was esp good, IIRC


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## George P Smackers (Jan 5, 2021)

I really like records from that era and still collect them. They're often very cheap and can sound great.

Many things contribute to the sense that it was a "Golden Age." Of course, it was the origin of high fidelity and stereophonic sound in the first place, and labels in the US like RCA Living Stereo Mercury Living Presence put a lot into pushing well-recorded classical music. European labels, especially Decca (London in the US), Telefunken, etc., made great-sounding records with top-tier performers. DG had just as high-quality artists then, though they don't sound as good (to my ears).

The notion of the "Big Five" American orchestras was much stronger then, I think, than now. These made producing and promoting these records a natural: you had Munch/Boston, Szell/Cleveland, Ormandy/Philadelphia, Bernstein/New York, and Reiner/Chicago. (Sadly the Columbia recordings don't sound anywhere near as good as the RCA ones.) As noted, great conductors like Steinberg/Pittsburg, Dorati/Minneapolis, etc., also produced fine records too.

The scene was just a lot more coherent and easy to promote, supported by more reviewers, more attention to hi-fi, and more attention to top-tier recording projects. Big prestige sets like Karajan's first Beethoven cycle (1963, DG) and Solti's _Ring_ (1958-64, Decca) were expensive-to-produce blockbusters; Bernstein's Mahler cycle (1960-69, Columbia) gave a fresh excitement to the composer.

I love more recent recordings too, of course, and listen to a lot of CDs, SACDs etc. But the scene seems more dispersed. You have older orchestras, new orchestras, the HIP people, and a seemingly endless supply of very pretty-faced young soloists doing appealing things on all sorts of labels you've never heard of. Do people even talk about a "Big Five" in the US any more?


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## MusicInTheAir (Apr 21, 2007)

I think the golden age spilled into the 70's. But as the decade went along, around 1975 or so, at least with the American labels, things started going downhill. Just think of all the previous "stars" of those labels, many of them passed away between 1960 and 1975. Musicians such as Szell, Klemperer, Walter, Reiner, Beecham, Bjoerling, Wunderlich, Monteux, Munch, Scherchen, Martinon, Ristenpart, among quite a few others, all passed away. Ormandy's time in Philadelphia was obviously winding down. All of the major American orchestras, except for Philadelphia had changed conductors at least once. And the replacements weren't as highly respected and loved as those who were gone.
I agree that once LPs stopped being made and the market was completely made up of CDs, record companies tended to do what they did once the stereo age began, re-record everything in the repertory. But if one looks on Amazon, the proliferation of the big box made up of everything ever composed or recorded by such and such composer or musician seems to increase every year. That's fine for me because these are still my favorites. And I love the CD boxes which offer the original record jackets. I think it's important to have these earlier recordings around (the ones from the 78s age too). I do, however, wonder how current musicians feel, having to deal with the "ghosts" of these previous giants.


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## Axter (Jan 15, 2020)

I would say 40ies till mid 90ies.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

13hm13 said:


> On an Amazon.com "Editorial Reviews". section, I came across this blurb for particular conductor/orchestra/record-company box set:
> 
> I reveal the rest of the blurb later (which reveals the particular conductor/orchestra/record-company of this product page).
> 
> Anyway, what do you think of the _claim_ above? Is this just marketing talk?


Marketing talk.


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

George P Smackers said:


> Many things contribute to the sense that it was a "Golden Age." Of course, it was the origin of high fidelity and stereophonic sound in the first place, and labels in the US like RCA Living Stereo Mercury Living Presence put a lot into pushing well-recorded classical music. European labels, especially Decca (London in the US), Telefunken, etc., made great-sounding records with top-tier performers. DG had just as high-quality artists then, though they don't sound as good (to my ears).
> 
> The notion of the "Big Five" American orchestras was much stronger then, I think, than now. These made producing and promoting these records a natural: you had Munch/Boston, Szell/Cleveland, Ormandy/Philadelphia, Bernstein/New York, and Reiner/Chicago. (Sadly the Columbia recordings don't sound anywhere near as good as the RCA ones.) As noted, great conductors like Steinberg/Pittsburg, Dorati/Minneapolis, etc., also produced fine records too.
> 
> ...


Yes, there were MANY variables that were involved in the putative Golden age ....
Post-war boom( economy ) , technology (hi-fidelity, stereo, micro-groove LP) .... lucrative contracts ... and the "newness" and novelty of the home-audio arena. 
It's similar to widescreen CinemaScope films that revitalized the movie industry (which, in early 50s was severely undercut by TV).
And, perhaps, CDs that revitalized shrinking LP/tape sales.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

George P Smackers said:


> The notion of the "Big Five" American orchestras was much stronger then, I think, ...... Do people even talk about a "Big Five" in the US any more?


the "Big Five" was pretty much fictitious promo-hype...financially, I guess it had some relevance for a time...as far as musical excellence, I'm not sure it ever really applied...
at present, (pre-covid) the highest paying orchestras are Chicago, San Francisco, LAPO, NYPO, BSO....the order changes as each orchestra negotiates anew contract....covid, of course, has altered the picture completely nobody is presenting live concerts.


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