# Sibelius/Violin conc./Oistrakh / Philadelphia / Ormandy (1959) -- CD reissue



## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

The YouTube video here is ripped from the Sony CD:





A comment on the YouTube page suggests the Sony CD may be digitally enhanced ("boosted"). It does sound pretty fat and bold for 1959. But, I can't really tell as I've never heard the orig. LP/recording.

If you have access to the Lp or CD (or can otherwise venture an opinion), can you tell if the Sony CD was enhanced?

A fine performance and recording in any case.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

I have the CD but haven't heard the lp in years.

Although I am a fan of Oistrakkh, there were two contemporaneous recordings on the same label that were finer:Francescatti/Schippers and Stern/Ormandy


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

I'm going thru some of my Sony/Ormandy/Phila. CDs now and they all seem to have that fat+big sound. The soundstage portrayed is large, but there's no razor-sharp imaging. Never really paid attn. to this until now. It may have been like this in the orig LPs (engineering) of that era for that orch./hall/conductor. 
Hmm ... I'll keep digging ... YouTube often has Lp rips, and I can use those to compare.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I've never liked that Oistrakh/Ormandy Sibelius VC- mainly for the sound - Oistrakh is one of my favorite violinists - great big rich sound - but on this disc - he sounds recessed, small, almost, and the orchestra sounds distant and wimpy....
There are far better versions with Oistrakh - one on video with Reiner/NYPO[??] from c 1946 - mvt II - gorgeous, rich...
and complete concerto with Oistrakh and Rozhdest'sky[??] I think.

my favorite Sibelius VC is Heifetz/Hendl/CSO. Heifetz is brilliant, Hendl rock-solid. I played this work in the orchestra with Walter Hendl when I was at school - he really knew the work..


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

Thx for all the useful fdbk thus far, folks!

While not Oistrakh/Ormandy Sibelius VC, the following two examples are the SAME recording (Lp and CD of Orff/Carmina Burana) from roughly that same period of Ormandy/Phila. doing Sibelius.

The LP sounds worn (and it was doctored up per the "diamondcut.com" de-noise process noted on the YT page) but I think it sounds better than the CD (dunno which mastering of the CD is used here as there are more than one)

LP:





CD:


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

13hm13 said:


> Thx for all the useful fdbk thus far, folks!
> The LP sounds worn (and it was doctored up per the "diamondcut.com" de-noise process noted on the YT page) but I think it sounds better than the CD (dunno which mastering of the CD is used here as there are more than one)


you have to remember that the Ormandy/Phila recordings were "doctored up" to promote the "Philadelphia Sound" hype that CBS wanted to market...
The strings were miked up - probably re-mixed to produce a lush, almost glassy sheen, while th ewoodwinds and brass were recessed...
The orchestra did not sound like this live, at all...I heard Ormandy/Philly many,,many times during those years, andthe orchestra sounded great....the strings were superb - but not all miked up front and processed - it was just a terrific string section. I don't know what went wrong with the Oistrakh/Ormandy Sibelius VC...


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

Heck148 said:


> you have to remember that the Ormandy/Phila recordings were "doctored up" to promote the "Philadelphia Sound" hype that CBS wanted to market...
> The strings were miked up - probably re-mixed to produce a lush, almost glassy sheen, while th ewoodwinds and brass were recessed...
> The orchestra did not sound like this live, at all...I heard Ormandy/Philly many,,many times during those years, andthe orchestra sounded great....the strings were superb - but not all miked up front and processed - it was just a terrific string section. I don't know what went wrong with the Oistrakh/Ormandy Sibelius VC...


On Amazon, you can preview clips, and that's what I did; along with various YouTube rips. I don't know why all myriad CD releases and the LP of the Oistrakh/Ormandy Sibelius VC sound _so_ different from each other ... esp. amongst the CD releases???

The "doctored up" I was specifically referring to is_ that_ YouTube LP rip upload with the "diamondcut" processing. (The LP the vlogger was ripping seems to be pretty worn, so digital doctoring was what the vlogger chose to reduce pops/clicks -- I think the overall loss of processing is usually worse-sounding than elimination of pops/clicks)

But, yes, I agree that live is different than recorded (and the engineering plays a big role in that). 
What I won't say is which is the better _experience_. Microphones and mixing _can_ take the listener into the music better than even premium orchestra-hall seats.

I'm a real fan of the London/Decca sound. And, those are highly-engineered recordings (they even used reinforcement speakers in the orch pit when necessary!!)

As an example of London/Decca's approach, take this 1976 recording of Mahler 5 Mehta/LAPhil:





I think this sounds better than premium seats


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