# The Grand RCA "Living Stereo" Review Thread



## MatthewWeflen

RCA's Living Stereo imprint was something of a legend in Hi-Fi circles back in the 50s and 60s. Here is a video containing some history:






RCA began releasing records under this imprint in 1958, initially focusing on classical repertoire, but eventually broadening horizons to pops and jazz. The whole collection has been lovingly remastered by Sony Classical, and I can say that the results are splendid from a technical standpoint. I own Volume 1, and that is what I shall be reviewing here (I am skipping disc 1 because it is a demo disc without complete pieces).

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 2
LP#LSC-2341









Camille Saint-Saëns, Symphony No. 3 "Orgel," op. 78
Claude Debussy, La Mer
Jacques Ibert, Escales*

Boston Symphony, orchestra
Berj Zamkochian, organ
Bernard Zighera & Leo Litwin, pianos
Charles Munch, conductor

Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston April 5-6 1959 (St. Saens), December 9 1956 (Debussy), December 10 1956 (Ibert)
Recording Engineer: Lewis Layton
Mastering Engineer: Mark Donahue
Total time: 1:11:49

*Review: *The highlight here is clearly the Organ Symphony. I own one other version (HVK/BPO 1981 digital), and this one trounces it for both performance and audio quality, which is pretty amazing given the vintage. The tempo is brisk and exciting, the percussion is beautifully represented in the 3 microphone mix, and the organ... the organ! The way it provides the foundation in the Adagio movement is spine tingling, and then the big moment in the finale is clear and gorgeous. Just a magical recording from start to finish.

The other recordings, while nice renditions, are not as brilliant technically, giving a bit of a muffled sound. They are of course three years older, which likely explains a lot. Technology was proceeding by quantum leaps at the end of the 1950s. The Ibert is a bit clearer, perhaps owing the the sparer orchestration - but the bass is a little flabby and muffles things a bit.

The St. Saens is a 10 no doubt, the other recordings are less so.

*Rating: 9/10
*
*Videos:*





If you're going to give this a listen, listen on the best equipment you can (e.g good headphones or bookshelf speakers)! The bass reproduction is truly magical.


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## Strange Magic

A wonderful recording! I also had the Mercury with Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony with Marcel Dupre at the keyboard--another fab recording.


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## Allegro Con Brio

Great thread idea! In terms of sound quality these recordings are pretty much a gold standard for me, even though I find the interpretations from the likes of Rubinstein, Reiner, and Heifetz to be bland. That Munch Organ Symphony is indeed great, but I think it’s a bit overrated; all sorts of critics have called it “definitive” and I’m not quite sure why; I think the organ in the finale actually sounds better in the Barenboim, Paray, de Waart, and Dutoit recordings; all of which I prefer.


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## MatthewWeflen

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Great thread idea! In terms of sound quality these recordings are pretty much a gold standard for me, even though I find the interpretations from the likes of Rubinstein, Reiner, and Heifetz to be bland. That Munch Organ Symphony is indeed great, but I think it's a bit overrated; all sorts of critics have called it "definitive" and I'm not quite sure why; I think the organ in the finale actually sounds better in the Barenboim, Paray, de Waart, and Dutoit recordings; all of which I prefer.


Yeah, I may have to supplement. Which modern digital recording would you say is the tops in terms of sound quality?


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## Allegro Con Brio

MatthewWeflen said:


> Yeah, I may have to supplement. Which modern digital recording would you say is the tops in terms of sound quality?


Hmm, probably the Dutoit. My Sennheiser headphones even have a tough time handling the organ entrance in the finale on that one (the bottom pedal notes cut out). You could also try the 1980 Ormandy on Telarc, which I have not heard but Telarc is known for their stellar sound.

But one thing that is so often passed over is that Saint-Saëns notated that famous organ entrance a single _forte_, not _fortississisissimo_ like most recordings do for the sake of showmanship. Not that I think it matters all that much. In that sense, I think Paray and Munch get the dynamic right.


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## MatthewWeflen

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Hmm, probably the Dutoit. My Sennheiser headphones even have a tough time handling the organ entrance in the finale on that one (the bottom pedal notes cut out). You could also try the 1980 Ormandy on Telarc, which I have not heard but Telarc is known for their stellar sound.
> 
> But one thing that is so often passed over is that Saint-Saëns notated that famous organ entrance a single _forte_, not _fortississisissimo_ like most recordings do for the sake of showmanship. Not that I think it matters all that much. In that sense, I think Paray and Munch get the dynamic right.


I wonder if my Sony Z1R's would be able to get that low. I may have to sample it on Presto Classical.

Is this the Dutoit you're referring to (Montreal 1982)?

https://www.prestomusic.com/classic...aint-saens-organ-symphony-piano-concerto-no-2


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## Allegro Con Brio

MatthewWeflen said:


> I wonder if my Sony Z1R's would be able to get that low. I may have to sample it on Presto Classical.
> 
> Is this the Dutoit you're referring to (Montreal 1982)?
> 
> https://www.prestomusic.com/classic...aint-saens-organ-symphony-piano-concerto-no-2


Indeed!

.............


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## MatthewWeflen

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Indeed!
> 
> .............


Just downloaded it (at 6.50 I couldn't refuse). The sound is indeed splendid, probably slightly better than the Munch. The organ is beautiful on my Z1R's. But the first movement is slightly pokier and the percussion is a little less forward (I'm a tympani-head). I'd probably call them even on balance (and both better than the HVK/BPO).


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 3
LP#LSC-1893









Maurice Ravel, Daphnis et Chloe (Ballet in One Act)*

Boston Symphony, orchestra
Charles Munch, conductor
New England Conservatory Chorus And Alumni Chorus

Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston January 23-24
Engineer: Leslie Chase, Lewis Layton
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 54:15

*Review: *This is an aural extravaganza as far as percussion and atmospheric sounds from the chorus, wind machine, etc. The playing is excellent, and the level of recording is really astonishing here given the 1955 vintage. With that said, I must say that at least so far this is not my preferred repertoire. I find listening to this pleasurable from an aesthetic experience standpoint, but none of it sticks in my head. So that's where my ultimate rating comes from.

*Rating: 8/10
*
*Videos *(this is the first part but there looks to be a playlist):


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## NoCoPilot

MatthewWeflen said:


> Producer: John Pfeiffer


One of the unsung heroes of early stereo, he released only one album of his own, the iconic "Electronomusic." 









I don't know whether "Living Stereo" is supposed to be any better that "Phase 4 Stereo" or not.


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## NoCoPilot

MatthewWeflen said:


> If you're going to give this a listen, listen on the best equipment you can (e.g good headphones or bookshelf speakers)! The bass reproduction is truly magical.


Indeed. The sound of trucks driving by the studio is clearly audible!


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## MatthewWeflen

NoCoPilot said:


> Indeed. The sound of trucks driving by the studio is clearly audible!


Where in the recording is that evident? I didn't notice it in my two listens, but I'm happy to try again


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## Bill Cooke

Coincidentally, I recently bought all three volumes of the RCA Living Stereo boxes. I decided to enjoy them slowly, chronologically as presented in the boxes - at least one a day, sometimes up to 3, depending on my schedule. I'm on #36 in the first box - Reiner's renditions of Viennese waltzes. Some of my all-time favorite classical recordings are presented here - among them Reiner's takes on La Mer, Pictures at an Exhibition, Respighi and Bartok. 

Munch's recording of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony is a great one; but I also love Paray and Barenboim equally. Monteux is tops for me with Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe (such a sensual reading), but Munch comes in a close second with his vividness... however, in the bacchanal finale, I give Dutoit the edge. 

Great idea for a thread. I will be revisiting often.


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## MatthewWeflen

Bill Cooke said:


> Coincidentally, I recently bought all three volumes of the RCA Living Stereo boxes. I decided to enjoy them slowly, chronologically as presented in the boxes - at least one a day, sometimes up to 3, depending on my schedule. I'm on #36 in the first box - Reiner's renditions of Viennese waltzes. Some of my all-time favorite classical recordings are presented here - among them Reiner's takes on La Mer, Pictures at an Exhibition, Respighi and Bartok.
> 
> Munch's recording of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony is a great one; but I also love Paray and Barenboim equally. Monteux is tops for me with Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe (such a sensual reading), but Munch comes in a close second with his vividness... however, in the bacchanal finale, I give Dutoit the edge.
> 
> Great idea for a thread. I will be revisiting often.


I was listening to Reiner/CSO's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" last night. The Einleitung was just a bit wan for me, but boy oh boy, the middle movements were ravishing.

Please do comment! Maybe you can take over for Vol. 2


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## NoCoPilot

Okay, having downloaded and previewed closely the Charles Munch 1959 recording, I'm going to say it's not the best recording out there. Yes, it has a nice full bottom, almost too fat to the point of being flabby. As Matthew Weflen notes above, the timpanies are flabby and poorly miced. The balance is an impressive racket, but the recording is very much of its time -- i.e. sixty years old.

I previewed the Dutoit/Montreal SO recording listed above, and it sounds better to my ears. But it's a bit strident, and the stereo image is little better than mono.

My absolute favorite recording, of the several others I have heard, remains this one. It is tight and full and utilizes the full capability of modern digital recording.


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## MarkW

Anecdote: Haitinck recorded Daphnis et Chloe with the BSO in the early '80s, and came away remarking in amazement: "Munch is still there!"


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## NoCoPilot

MatthewWeflen said:


> Where in the recording is that evident? I didn't notice it in my two listens, but I'm happy to try again


00:04 - 00:27 in the first movement
04:14 - 04:42 in the second movement (sounds like a propeller airplane going overhead actually)

The Münch is a nice full recording, but it doesn't include the first octave (16-32Hz) that only digital can reproduce.


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## Heck148

The Munch/BSO Saint-Saens #3 is good, but not my favorite...Munch did record this work in '47 or ' 48 with NYPO, his first American recording, iirc...
For S-S Organ - I like Barenboim, Ormandy
..I know the Barenboim organ was piped in, dubbed in, but it sounds great...Paray is OK , but there is some wimpy brass playing and thin woodwind and string sound....a rather common characteristic of many of those recordings.
For Daphnis & Chloe, again, Munch/BSO is ok, but I like Bernstein, Monteux and Abbado better...more power in the big moments and more attractive solo playing...


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## david johnson

I do not have the "Living Stereo" boxes, but I have many of the recordings as singles. They are always fun to hear. Most of the Reiners are included in my "Living Stereo" collection.


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## bharbeke

I have the Organ symphony saved to watch later. I am mostly typing this comment so that this thread pops with the green marking until I have a chance to listen to that one.


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## NoCoPilot

Heck148 said:


> I know the Barenboim organ was piped in, dubbed in, but it sounds great.


I wonder how many symphony halls have a pipe organ built in.


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 4
LP#LSC-1806









Richard Strauss, Also Sprach Zarathustra op. 30, Ein Heldenleben op. 40
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Fritz Reiner, conductor*

Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - March 8 1954 (ASZ); March 6 1954 (EH)
Engineers: Leslie Chase, Mark Donohue
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 75:38

*Review:* Another sonic triumph for such an early recording. The bass goes deep, though on occasion becomes a tad overblown. There is some analog hiss present, but it is relatively innocuous. On ASZ, I find the Einleitung just a bit restrained. After that, though, the playing is superb and involving, and this stands toe to toe with my recordings by HVK/BPO and Kempe/Dresden. The same can be said, and more, for Ein Heldenleben. This is a very engaging, bold recording of the Hero's Life. The finale in particular is quite moving, aided in no small part by that rich bass.
*
Rating: 9/10

Videos:*


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## Allegro Con Brio

Impressive and virtuosic as Reiner’s CSO are, give me Karajan and Kempe any day for Strauss tone poems. They find a poetic opulence in the music where Reiner simply comes across as leading an etude for orchestra. I know that Fritz is beloved by many around here, but most of the time he leaves me feeling cold.


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## MatthewWeflen

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Impressive and virtuosic as Reiner's CSO are, give me Karajan and Kempe any day for Strauss tone poems. They find a poetic opulence in the music where Reiner simply comes across as leading an etude for orchestra. I know that Fritz is beloved by many around here, but most of the time he leaves me feeling cold.


Doing some spot comparisons, I definitely retain HVK/BPO 1970s as my top choice for ASZ (especially the Einleitung), and 1980s for EH. But it was closer than I thought it would be, and if someone had only this set as a foundation of their collection, they wouldn't be doing badly at all for these pieces.


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## Simon Moon

One important thing one should know about RCA "Living Stereo" vinyl, is that, the ones to own (the ones that gave the recordings their well deserved reputation) are the so called "Shaded Dogs". These are the 1st issues with the labels that look like this:









The later releases, the "White Dogs" versions used an inferior vinyl formulation, suffered from a "Dynagroove" mastering job, less dynamics and bass. They were easier to track, but sounded substantially inferior.

This is why, if you find "Shaded Dogs" in good shape in today's market, they go for a couple hundred dollars. They used to go for more, but since Analogue Productions reissued many of these, from the original master tapes (which were in perfect condition), on dead quiet vinyl, mastered and cut by the best.

I don't own any original "Shaded Dogs", but I own the Analogue Productions reissues of Reiner's "Scheherazade" and "Music for strings, percussion, and celesta", and they are both pretty amazing.

Detailed, transparent, expansive soundstage, good imaging. Proof that they captured a whole lot more information on that 'ancient' technology, than they had any clue about.


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## MatthewWeflen

Simon Moon said:


> One important thing one should know about RCA "Living Stereo" vinyl, is that, the ones to own (the ones that gave the recordings their well deserved reputation) are the so called "Shaded Dogs". These are the 1st issues with the labels that look like this:
> 
> View attachment 152681
> 
> 
> The later releases, the "White Dogs" versions used an inferior vinyl formulation, suffered from a "Dynagroove" mastering job, less dynamics and bass. They were easier to track, but sounded substantially inferior.
> 
> This is why, if you find "Shaded Dogs" in good shape in today's market, they go for a couple hundred dollars. They used to go for more, but since Analogue Productions reissued many of these, from the original master tapes (which were in perfect condition), on dead quiet vinyl, mastered and cut by the best.
> 
> I don't own any original "Shaded Dogs", but I own the Analogue Productions reissues of Reiner's "Scheherazade" and "Music for strings, percussion, and celesta", and they are both pretty amazing.
> 
> Detailed, transparent, expansive soundstage, good imaging. Proof that they captured a whole lot more information on that 'ancient' technology, than they had any clue about.


Yet another reason to stick with CD/FLAC download


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## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 4
> LP#LSC-1806
> 
> View attachment 152679
> 
> 
> Richard Strauss, Also Sprach Zarathustra op. 30, Ein Heldenleben op. 40
> Chicago Symphony Orchestra
> Fritz Reiner, conductor*
> 
> Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - March ]


The '54 Reiner ASZ is indeed a very good one, but the '62 remake is even better, in every respect - much better sound, amazing execution and great conducting....one of my former teachers rates the '62 ASZ as one of the very greatest orchestra recordings (of anything) of all time...along with the '60 Reiner "Don Juan" - a stellar single take recording...
The 54 " Ein Heldenleben is justly highly regarded but the sound spectrum is kind of weird...like a hole in the middle of the orchestra, and everything to the sides....use of a center channel speaker helps rectify this...
I wish they had recorded/released the 1958 Boston Symphony Hall " Heldenleben"....a legendary effort where "everything went right"....Reiner even liked it!!


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## Heck148

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Impressive and virtuosic as Reiner's CSO are, give me Karajan and Kempe any day for Strauss tone poems. They find a poetic opulence in the music where Reiner simply comes across as leading an etude for orchestra.


Interesting - find Kempe ok with Strauss but always on the pedestrian, rather uninvolved side...karajan is always too subdued for me, overly concerned with beautiful, string-heavy legato sound....the music begs for so much more....Reiner had the troops to do it, and he and they delivered....Solti, Toscanini and Zubin Mehta are some other great Strauss conductors.


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## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> Doing some spot comparisons, I definitely retain HVK/BPO 1970s as my top choice for ASZ (especially the Einleitung)


...
Interesting...the HvK version I listened to recently ('72BPO??), the Introduction was not well played at all, surprisingly - the 16th notes were not played clearly, marcato tenuto in accurate rhythm...in fact, it almost sounded like the orchestra was slurring one of them to the next downbeat...try Reiner or Solti for perfect execution- all 16ths marked off, clear rhythm and articulation... also, with vK, the trombones are nowhere near loud, powerful enough on their descending C major arpeggio ( try Reiner '62 -wow!!)
I'm not trying to be a pita, but I call 'em as I hear 'em....


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## NoCoPilot

Simon Moon said:


> I own the Analogue Productions reissues of Reiner's "Scheherazade" and "Music for strings, percussion, and celesta", and they are both pretty amazing.


Oh my yes. Those are quite wonderful! Thanks


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## Mark Dee

RCA teamed up with Reader's Digest in 1960 to do a boxed set of 12 LP's 'A Festival of Light Classical Music'. I picked up a stereo copy a few months ago and the sound quality is outstanding. Although it just refers to 'Long Play Stereophonic' on the labels, could these be 'Living Stereo' as well?


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## MatthewWeflen

Mark Dee said:


> RCA teamed up with Reader's Digest in 1960 to do a boxed set of 12 LP's 'A Festival of Light Classical Music'. I picked up a stereo copy a few months ago and the sound quality is outstanding. Although it just refers to 'Long Play Stereophonic' on the labels, could these be 'Living Stereo' as well?


Looks like that Readers Digest comp is in "Cylophonic MIRACLE Sound" which certainly sounds impressive!

My wager, though, would be that it was the same 3-mike process as Living Stereo and the difference was just marketing terminology.


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## Mark Dee

MatthewWeflen said:


> Looks like that Readers Digest comp is in "Cylophonic MIRACLE Sound" which certainly sounds impressive!
> 
> My wager, though, would be that it was the same 3-mike process as Living Stereo and the difference was just marketing terminology.


I have an orange label Reader's Digest/RCA LP with the 'Cyclophonic Miracle Sound' but this appears to be mono and not stereo.


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 5
LP#LSC-1934









Béla Bartók, Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Fritz Reiner, conductor*

Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - October 22, 1955 (Concerto); December 28-29, 1958 (Music & Sketches)
Engineers: Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 76:03

*Review:* These recordings have been endlessly reissued and it is easy to hear why. The sound quality is nearly holographic and the playing is top flight. Percussion is wonderfully miked and rings out crystal clear. The brass in particular is very positional and the sounds of bows hitting strings bring a lot of detail and "feeling like you're there" to the proceedings. I like the Concerto more than the other two pieces, but all three share the same technical strengths. HVK/BPO also recorded these pieces at the Jesus Christus Kirche, and they are quite nice, but this Chicago Orchestra Hall recording is superior.
*
Rating: 9/10

Videos:*


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## Allegro Con Brio

The Bartok disc is a rightful classic for the quality and precision of orchestral playing, but for more character and gusto, and a unique orchestral sound, I go for Ivan Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra, where the finale of the Concerto is a sheer whirlwind of fun. Matthew, you might enjoy the Fischer recording of Music for SPC - I listened to it last week with my good headphones and thought it was one of the most enjoyable audiophile experiences I've had in a while as well as being a fantastic performance.


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## MatthewWeflen

Allegro Con Brio said:


> The Bartok disc is a rightful classic for the quality and precision of orchestral playing, but for more character and gusto, and a unique orchestral sound, I go for Ivan Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra, where the finale of the Concerto is a sheer whirlwind of fun. Matthew, you might enjoy the Fischer recording of Music for SPC - I listened to it last week with my good headphones and thought it was one of the most enjoyable audiophile experiences I've had in a while as well as being a fantastic performance.


No download options on Presto or Amazon! I will check out the samples, though.


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## Bill Cooke

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 5
> LP#LSC-1934
> 
> View attachment 152728
> 
> 
> Béla Bartók, Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches
> Chicago Symphony Orchestra
> Fritz Reiner, conductor*
> 
> Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - October 22, 1955 (Concerto); December 28-29, 1958 (Music & Sketches)
> Engineers: Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
> Producer: Richard Mohr
> Total time: 76:03
> 
> *Review:* These recordings have been endlessly reissued and it is easy to hear why. The sound quality is nearly holographic and the playing is top flight. Percussion is wonderfully miked and rings out crystal clear. The brass in particular is very positional and the sounds of bows hitting strings bring a lot of detail and "feeling like you're there" to the proceedings. I like the Concerto more than the other two pieces, but all three share the same technical strengths. HVK/BPO also recorded these pieces at the Jesus Christus Kirche, and they are quite nice, but this Chicago Orchestra Hall recording is superior.
> *
> Rating: 9/10
> 
> Videos:*


A 10/10 for me! This is an amazing performance/recording and among my most played discs. I am sort of obsessive about Music for SPC and have collected a number of recordings. Reiner's remains a top favorite, but I have yet to find a single performance that does EVERYTHING just right for my tastes. Bernstein's NYP recording may be the closest to perfection for me - the gusto he brings to the final movement is quite thrilling. The Fischer recording that Allegro Con Brio mentions is also a favorite. And Karajan's three recordings offer a fascinating, evolving view of the piece. Karajan had a special affinity for the spooky third movement, and it's one of his recordings we hear in Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING, I believe.

For the Concerto for Orchestra, I nearly always choose to listen to Reiner.


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## Heck148

Bill Cooke said:


> A 10/10 for me! This is an amazing performance/recording and among my most played discs.
> For the Concerto for Orchestra, I nearly always choose to listen to Reiner.


Same here..the Reiner CfO is top of the line...Solti's is really fine also...
Let's not forget the delicious "Hungarian Sketches"...a delightful more folksy based work than the other two giants...Reiner's CSO tosses these sketches off with a winning "panache"....check out the "A little tipsy" one - a great depiction of one who has had a bit much to drink!!


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## starthrower

Oh, man! My local store had a copy of that Reiner/Bartok for 5 bucks and I left it in the racks. Probably gone by now but I'll check the next time I stop in.


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 6
LP#LSC-1992 & 2314









Beethoven, Violin Concerto, op. 61 (Cadenzas: 1. Auer-Heifetz, 3. Joachim-Heifetz)
Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto, op. 64

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Jascha Heifetz, violin
Charles Munch, conductor*

Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston - November 27-28, 1955 (Beethoven); February 23 & 25, 1959 (Mendelssohn)
Engineers: Lewis Layton, John Crawford
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 62:03
*
Review:* This set really started out on a roll, and the roll continues here. Munch has the BSO playing in crisp fashion behind a stellar performance by Heifetz.

I will confess to not knowing what a cadenza was before listening to this recording. At the end of the first movement (beginning at 16:58 in the appended video), I suddenly though "Wow! I don't remember this passage in my other recordings!" It was so arresting as a piece of solo work, I had to look it up. And thus I learned about the tradition of soloists being given a few minutes to improvise within a concerto. Heifetz's cadenza is the best of the three I own (Mutter and Ferras being the other two) because of one factor - Heifetz knows we want to listen to Beethoven. And so he truly created variations on the themes present in the work, all with a technical mastery that borders on wizardry. The Mendelssohn is equally fine.

I really can't give this anything but a 10, even when the recorded sound is occasionally a tad dodgy, with some hiss at the outset and some odd mic issues here and there. It's totally convincing and transporting.

*Rating: 10/10

Videos:*


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## SONNET CLV

As one who has the 60 CD Living Stereo box set in his collection, I'm immensely enjoying this thread. And I suspect I shall continue to do so. Thank you.


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## Bruckner Anton

TBO, I find many of RCA's "Living Stereo" recordings sound artificial. They may be great in terms of "fidelity", "dynamic", "sound stage" etc. But to my ears, in terms of "faithfulness" (reproduce the original real performance), they are less good than most stereo recordings of Decca, Philips or DG.


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## HenryPenfold

Bruckner Anton said:


> TBO, I find many of RCA's "Living Stereo" recordings sound artificial. They may be great in terms of "fidelity", "dynamic", "sound stage" etc. But to my ears, in terms of "faithfulness" (reproduce the original real performance), they are less good than most stereo recordings of Decca, Philips or DG.


I think you have a point, or at least my experience has a bit of what you say. I can't put my finger on it. Not sure why you say the recordings are good in terms of 'fidelity' but not good in terms of 'faithfulness'.


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## MatthewWeflen

Bruckner Anton said:


> TBO, I find many of RCA's "Living Stereo" recordings sound artificial. They may be great in terms of "fidelity", "dynamic", "sound stage" etc. But to my ears, in terms of "faithfulness" (reproduce the original real performance), they are less good than most stereo recordings of Decca, Philips or DG.


Well, it's been a year since I've been to a live concert. So, admittedly, I'm going purely by memory of what an unamplified live orchestra actually sounds like. But to my ears, the average level of these recordings has been higher than early 60s DG recordings. Decca to me had always been the pinnacle of the era (e.g. the 1961 HVK/VPO Planets), but these compete and frequently best Decca.

Is there one recording in particular so far that stands out as artificial? The one that was most "impressive" to me was the Bartok, probably followed by the St. Saens.

I wonder what equipment you are listening on and whether that has an effect? I am listening on high quality closed-back headphones - and I don't mean by this that my listening environment is _better_, just that the experience over cans might be perceived differently than the experience on a nice stereo or surround speaker system.


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## fluteman

Simon Moon said:


> One important thing one should know about RCA "Living Stereo" vinyl, is that, the ones to own (the ones that gave the recordings their well deserved reputation) are the so called "Shaded Dogs". These are the 1st issues with the labels that look like this:
> 
> View attachment 152681
> 
> 
> The later releases, the "White Dogs" versions used an inferior vinyl formulation, suffered from a "Dynagroove" mastering job, less dynamics and bass. They were easier to track, but sounded substantially inferior.
> 
> This is why, if you find "Shaded Dogs" in good shape in today's market, they go for a couple hundred dollars. They used to go for more, but since Analogue Productions reissued many of these, from the original master tapes (which were in perfect condition), on dead quiet vinyl, mastered and cut by the best.
> 
> I don't own any original "Shaded Dogs", but I own the Analogue Productions reissues of Reiner's "Scheherazade" and "Music for strings, percussion, and celesta", and they are both pretty amazing.
> 
> Detailed, transparent, expansive soundstage, good imaging. Proof that they captured a whole lot more information on that 'ancient' technology, than they had any clue about.


All true, though some of the pre-Dynagroove "white dogs" (no different from the shaded dogs except that the label design changed in 1964), and even a few of the later "red label" pressings of the pre-Dynagroove records, are still superb. Alas, many are not, thanks to lower quality pressings. I have about 30 of the original stereo shaded dogs, and a few of the Sound Mirror SACDs, and even some of those Japanese XRCDs that came in the fancy hard 'book' cases. All excellent, though the best of the original vinyl LPs still win out among those. I'm guessing the audiophile vinyl reissues are best of all. I bought one Mercury Living Presence vinyl reissue, and it is pretty amazing. I'm a big Charles Munch fan, and I have several of his BSO recordings in vinyl stereo shaded dog form, including both of the Daphnis et Chloe recordings, from 1955 and 1961. Why they made two is a mystery to me, the differences between them are not great.

But imho, the best overall sound quality of the early stereo vinyl LPs came from Everest, the earliest turquoise and silver and purple and gold labels especially. The company then turned into a budget reissue label, and the reissues range from slightly worse to a lot worse than the originals.


----------



## NoCoPilot

Bruckner Anton said:


> TBO, I find many of RCA's "Living Stereo" recordings sound artificial.


Is the "H" silent? :lol:


----------



## fluteman

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 6
> LP#LSC-1992 & 2314
> 
> View attachment 152869
> 
> 
> Beethoven, Violin Concerto, op. 61 (Cadenzas: 1. Auer-Heifetz, 3. Joachim-Heifetz)
> Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto, op. 64
> 
> Boston Symphony Orchestra
> Jascha Heifetz, violin
> Charles Munch, conductor*
> 
> Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston - November 27-28, 1955 (Beethoven); February 23 & 25, 1959 (Mendelssohn)
> Engineers: Lewis Layton, John Crawford
> Producer: John Pfeiffer
> Total time: 62:03
> *
> Review:* This set really started out on a roll, and the roll continues here. Munch has the BSO playing in crisp fashion behind a stellar performance by Heifetz.
> 
> I will confess to not knowing what a cadenza was before listening to this recording. At the end of the first movement (beginning at 16:58 in the appended video), I suddenly though "Wow! I don't remember this passage in my other recordings!" It was so arresting as a piece of solo work, I had to look it up. And thus I learned about the tradition of soloists being given a few minutes to improvise within a concerto. Heifetz's cadenza is the best of the three I own (Mutter and Ferras being the other two) because of one factor - Heifetz knows we want to listen to Beethoven. And so he truly created variations on the themes present in the work, all with a technical mastery that borders on wizardry. The Mendelssohn is equally fine.
> 
> I really can't give this anything but a 10, even when the recorded sound is occasionally a tad dodgy, with some hiss at the outset and some odd mic issues here and there. It's totally convincing and transporting.
> 
> *Rating: 10/10
> 
> Videos:*


I have the original vinyl stereo shaded dogs of the Heifetz Beethoven and Mendelssohn concertos. The Mendelssohn, while a great performance, probably isn't among my top favorites. The Beethoven, however -- I grew up with a cheap reissue, and thought the performance was too fast and superficial. Later, I got a German RCA issue from the 70s, also nothing special. But when I got the original shaded dog in near mint condition, I could hear all the detail and finally understood what he was doing. Yes, these old LPs lack the lowest lows, and probably some of the highest highs too, due to the way they were cut. But that isn't too much of a problem with a lot of classical music, and an LP like this one is vastly superior to later issues that no doubt used bad copies of the original master tapes. A new vinyl issue potentially would be better still, though presumably the original source tapes limit what can be achieved.


----------



## NoCoPilot

fluteman said:


> Yes, these old LPs lack the lowest lows, and probably some of the highest highs too, due to the way they were cut. But that isn't too much of a problem with a lot of classical music


Having now listened to several of these old Living Stereo recordings from 1959, as well as the Phase 4 recordings from the same era that we discussed last year, what you say is true. There's essentially no output below 50Hz.

But that's true of all LPs, and all recordings made before about 1996. After the mid-90s very very few recordings, even re-issued CDs, have any content below 40Hz.

The Living Stereos and Phase 4s make up for this with a subtle boost in the 50-100Hz frequency range, resulting in a full-sounding but not terribly boomy low end. They did a very good job of finding the right balance.

Digital recordings made after 2010, and mastered for CD specifically, are more likely to include that first octave, 16-32Hz. Telarc and Delos recordings were some of the first, but I've found it on many recent recordings. Being flat to sub-audible is a different experience than a boosted mid-bass, but I doubt too many people have really heard the difference. Even most headphones won't reproduce it.

And yes, violin concertos might not be the best showcase. Try Copland's "Fanfare" or Saint-Saëns 3rd.


----------



## perdido34

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 4
> LP#LSC-1806
> 
> View attachment 152679
> 
> 
> Richard Strauss, Also Sprach Zarathustra op. 30, Ein Heldenleben op. 40
> Chicago Symphony Orches*


*

I've had this 1954 Also Sprach in several incarnations, from budget Victrola LP to SACD. Remastering can't fix the annoyingly out of tune organ at the beginning, which is an unfortunate mark against a great performance.*


----------



## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 6
> LP#LSC-1992 & 2314
> 
> View attachment 152869
> 
> 
> Beethoven, Violin Concerto, op. 61 (Cadenzas: 1. Auer-Heifetz, 3. Joachim-Heifetz)
> Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto, op. 64
> 
> Boston Symphony Orchestra
> Jascha Heifetz, violin
> Charles Munch, conductor*
> 
> Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston - November 27-28, 1955 (Beethoven); February 23 & 25, 1959 (Mendelssohn)
> Engineers: Lewis Layton, John Crawford
> Producer: John Pfeiffer
> Total time: 62:03


*
This isn't my favorite Heifetz Beethoven Vln Cto recording...I have the Toscanini/NBC from 1940, and the Rodzinski/NYPO from 1945...the latter is my favorite, Heifetz sounding a bit more flexible, freer...he actually makes a little finger slurp in the cadenza!!..the orchestra sounds great, the NYPO woodwinds sound terrific and Rodzinski provides expert support..the Toscanini recording is fine also, more driven, more intense perhaps...the Munch version is good, Heifetz sounds great, Munch is right on it...the BSO woodwinds of that period were not my favorites, some of the playing sounds a bit "spongy", not esp full-sounding...it's ok, but I prefer the earlier ones...the Mendelssohn is very fine...Heifetz really into it, with zippy tempos, plenty of bravura, with exquisite phrasing.*


----------



## Heck148

How many different conductors did RCA record for "Living Stereo" productions?? I know Reiner and Munch were mainstays, Monteux and some Stokowski, iirc...anyone else??


----------



## Heck148

perdido34 said:


> I've had this 1954 Also Sprach in several incarnations, from budget Victrola LP to SACD. Remastering can't fix the annoyingly out of tune organ at the beginning, which is an unfortunate mark against a great performance.


The '62 Reiner ASZ is the greatest version...'54 is good, but the recording misses much of the detail...the '62 is quite spectacular...the best-sounding release, imo (I've heard tons of them) is the RCA "Papillon" version...some versions apply too much treble roll-off... which robs the brilliance...


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 7
LP#LSC-2252 & -2601









Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 23
RCA Symphony Orchestra
Kiril Kondrashin, conductor

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 2, op. 18
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Fritz Reiner, conductor

Van Cliburn, Piano*

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York - May 30, 1958 (Tchaikovsky); Orchestra Hall, Chicago - March 31 & April 2, 1962 (Rachmaninoff) 
Engineer: John Crawford
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 68:59

*Review:* The Tchaikovsky here is Van Cliburn's best-selling recording (one of the first ever classical recordings to reach 1 million sales) after he won the Soviet Tchaikovsky competition at age 23 and rocketed to stardom. It's definitely a top shelf performance. The acoustics are good, with nice deep tones from the orchestra and a wide range of color from the piano. The performance is exciting. Does it compete with a modern digital recording? It's close. The Rachmaninoff was released separately and is similarly excellent. I think both recordings show their age a tad, but are certainly competitive with the best 60s records available. If this were the only recording of each in your collection, you would not be suffering for it.

*Rating: 9/10

Videos:*


----------



## MatthewWeflen

Heck148 said:


> How many different conductors did RCA record for "Living Stereo" productions?? I know Reiner and Munch were mainstays, Monteux and some Stokowski, iirc...anyone else??


There are a good number of Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops records, too. Their Gershwin platter is phenomenal.


----------



## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> There are a good number of Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops records, too. Their Gershwin platter is phenomenal.


Nobody would accuse Fiedler of being a great conductor, but his contribution to concert music was considerable...his format for "Pops" concerts has become a national/international standard....classical, light classical works combined with "popular" works - show tunes. Rock, jazz, etc...virtually every pops program is based on the Fiedler formula...
The Boston Pops is contracted with the BSO....2nd chair, or assistants hold principal positions in the Pops....
I found Fiedler's Gershwin disc ok, but the brass is kind of wimpy, esp when compared with other versions, NYPO, Bernstein/Colimbia, etc....


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 8
LP#LSC-2367 & 2586









George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue
Concerto in F
An American in Paris
Variations on "I Got Rhythm"
Cuban Overture

Boston Pops Orchestra
Arthur Fiedler, conductor
Earl Wild, piano
Pasquale Cardillo, clarinet (Rhapsody)*

Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston - May 13, 1959 (Rhapsody), May 17, 1961 (Concerto), May 14, 1959 (Paris), May 18, 1961 (Rhythm, Cuban)
Engineer: Lewis Layton
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 1:19:26

*Review: *This disc collects two albums by Fiedler and the Boston Pops, a survey of Gershwin. I must say that I hadn't heard much Gershwin outside the American Airlines commercials, and I think this music is a worthy addition to the canon of classical music. The playing is energetic and accomplished, and the sound is never less than good, and occasionally veers into great, especially when the full depth of the orchestral sound backs up the piano. Percussion is particularly good, as are woodwinds. I find this set of recordings completely convincing, and find it hard to imagine better ones (though I remain open to the possibility). It would be an amazing album with just the original LP contents (Rhapsody and Paris). But as a complete disc with all of this material, especially the excellent Concerto? Smashing.

*Rating: 10/10

Videos: *


----------



## fluteman

NoCoPilot said:


> Having now listened to several of these old Living Stereo recordings from 1959, as well as the Phase 4 recordings from the same era that we discussed last year, what you say is true. There's essentially no output below 50Hz.
> 
> But that's true of all LPs, and all recordings made before about 1996. After the mid-90s very very few recordings, even re-issued CDs, have any content below 40Hz.
> 
> The Living Stereos and Phase 4s make up for this with a subtle boost in the 50-100Hz frequency range, resulting in a full-sounding but not terribly boomy low end. They did a very good job of finding the right balance.
> 
> Digital recordings made after 2010, and mastered for CD specifically, are more likely to include that first octave, 16-32Hz. Telarc and Delos recordings were some of the first, but I've found it on many recent recordings. Being flat to sub-audible is a different experience than a boosted mid-bass, but I doubt too many people have really heard the difference. Even most headphones won't reproduce it.
> 
> And yes, violin concertos might not be the best showcase. Try Copland's "Fanfare" or Saint-Saëns 3rd.


Yes, really nearly any orchestral music with double basses will noticeably lack the lowest lows. The old LPs also had a high noise floor, only in part due to tape hiss. In the late 60s, better cutting heads for the LPs and Dolby noise reduction came along and the noise floor dropped way down, improving things at all frequencies.

But in the area of fine or low level detail, critical in classical music, the old RCA LPs beat even the Sound Mirror SACDs, as I found in careful A/B comparisons, though the difference wasn't very significant.


----------



## NoCoPilot

Regarding noise floors:

These old 1959 Living Stereo albums were recorded on a machine with a fairly loud noise floor, but it's all rumble. Hiss is not so much a problem, because there's hardly any signal above 8,000 Hz. Or maybe the rumble was the sound of the recording studio -- maybe there was a train station underneath the studio or something. Anyway, making CD-Rs of these I had to decide whether to leave the rumble in, between movements, or zero it out.

I elected to leave it in. It's not objectionable.


----------



## NoCoPilot

Oops sorry...........


----------



## fbjim

that Fiedler/Wild Gershwin disc is the best one to get, instead of the inexplicably cut Bernstein one that sold 8 billion copies or something.


----------



## perdido34

Reiner's Beethoven symphonies and Verdi Requiem are wonderful performances in very good to excellent sound. The best incarnation of the symphonies was the JVC xrcd discs; they are better than the Japanese SACD releases.


----------



## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 8
> LP#LSC-2367 & 2586
> 
> View attachment 153121
> 
> 
> George Gershwin
> Rhapsody in Blue
> Concerto in F
> An American in Paris
> Variations on "I Got Rhythm"
> Cuban Overture
> 
> Boston Pops Orchestra
> Arthur Fiedler, conductor
> Earl Wild, piano
> Pasquale Cardillo, clarinet (Rhapsody)*
> 
> Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston - May 13, 1959 (Rhapsody), May 17, 1961 (Concerto), May 14, 1959 (Paris), May 18, 1961 (Rhythm, Cuban)
> Engineer: Lewis Layton
> Producer: Richard Mohr


This was one of the first LPs I ever owned (along with Bernstein/NYPO "Le Sacre).....it was a favorite until I heard far better versions..
Bernstein/ColSO (Eastcoast - NY freelancers) - really rocks with bold, brassy, swaggering, jazzy approach...I remember a Kostelanetz/NYPO version that really swung as well...
Levine/CSO (dare I mention the name??) Is really outstanding as well, uses original jazz orchestra instrumentation....GREAT opening clarinet solo...Larry Combs..complete with lip slurs, scooping, glisses, etc....
I'd give Fiedler/Boston Pops maybe 6/10, maybe 7
(I'm a tough grader, I know, performance is crucial to me)...Wild was a great pianist...he gets a 9 or 10...but the orchestra just needs more balls, more swagger....
BTW, The Boston Pops is a great sight-reading orchestra...they've always done so much on -0- or minimal rehearsal...and some of those arrangements are tough!! Newt Wayland, Nelson Riddle, John William's, etc....these guys aren't fooling around!!...


----------



## MatthewWeflen

NoCoPilot said:


> Regarding noise floors:
> 
> These old 1959 Living Stereo albums were recorded on a machine with a fairly loud noise floor, but it's all rumble. Hiss is not so much a problem, because there's hardly any signal above 8,000 Hz. Or maybe the rumble was the sound of the recording studio -- maybe there was a train station underneath the studio or something. Anyway, making CD-Rs of these I had to decide whether to leave the rumble in, between movements, or zero it out.
> 
> I elected to leave it in. It's not objectionable.


So, I will not claim to be a stat-head. I don't run my music through Audacity to look at the waveform or anything. But just perusing the spectrum analyzer on my WM1A DAP while listening to Pictures From An Exhibition, I see plenty of activityin the lowest band (50hz) and the highest band (16khz).









I go by ear, though. If it sounds rich across the spectrum, I don't really care what the numbers say. And these recordings thus far have come across to my ears as rich. I might have some that go deeper (the Vorspiel of HVK/BPO's Rheingold, for instance), but it's not a night and day difference.


----------



## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> I go by ear, though. If it sounds rich across the spectrum, I don't really care what the numbers say. And these recordings thus far have come across to my ears as rich.


Yes, definitely agree..I tho by what I hear...


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 9
LP#LSC-2201









Modest Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) - Pictures at an Exhbition
Modest Mussorgsky - A Night on Bald Mountain
Tchaikovsky - Marche miniature (from Suite No. 1 op. 43)
Tchaikovsky - Marche slave
Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor: Polovtsian March
Dmitri Kabalevsky - Colas Breugnon, op. 24: Overture
Mikhail Glinka - Russian and Ludmilla: Overture

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Fritz Reiner, conductor*

Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - December 7, 1957 (Pictures); March 14, 1959
Engineer: Lewis Layton
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 70:48

*Review:* I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is fabulous. It is very possible that this collection is front-loaded, but this is another essential disc. This is now my favorite "Pictures," surpassing the two HVK/BPO renditions in my collection. The tempii are brisker and more exciting, and my attention wanders less. The sound is rich and detailed, with booming percussion and good definition on strings and brass. The rest of the disc is full of excellent playing and sonics as well, the highlights being A Night on Bald Mountain and the Borodin Prince Igor. There really aren't any duds, though, and this is a wonderful compilation all around.

*Rating: 10/10

Videos (highlights, there are complete playlists on YT):*


----------



## NoCoPilot

MatthewWeflen said:


> .. perusing the spectrum analyzer on my WM1A DAP while listening to Pictures From An Exhibition, I see plenty of activity in the lowest band (50hz) and the highest band (16khz).


Yep, 50Hz is the lowest the analyzer goes because that is the cutoff for most pre-2010 recordings.

And I notice your analyzer shows 16,000Hz at half volume of 8,000Hz. There's not musical content up that high anyway, but this kind of curve would be expected with an 8,000Hz cutoff at 6dB per octave.

Don't get me wrong: the Living Stereo recordings DO sound nice and rich. It's not a bad sound at all. And the stereo imaging is top-of-the-heap.


----------



## Bill Cooke

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 9
> LP#LSC-2201
> 
> View attachment 153215
> 
> 
> Modest Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) - Pictures at an Exhbition
> Modest Mussorgsky - A Night on Bald Mountain
> Tchaikovsky - Marche miniature (from Suite No. 1 op. 43)
> Tchaikovsky - Marche slave
> Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor: Polovtsian March
> Dmitri Kabalevsky - Colas Breugnon, op. 24: Overture
> Mikhail Glinka - Russian and Ludmilla: Overture
> 
> Chicago Symphony Orchestra
> Fritz Reiner, conductor*
> 
> Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - December 7, 1957 (Pictures); March 14, 1959
> Engineer: Lewis Layton
> Producer: Richard Mohr
> Total time: 70:48
> 
> *Review:* I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is fabulous. It is very possible that this collection is front-loaded, but this is another essential disc. This is now my favorite "Pictures," surpassing the two HVK/BPO renditions in my collection. The tempii are brisker and more exciting, and my attention wanders less. The sound is rich and detailed, with booming percussion and good definition on strings and brass. The rest of the disc is full of excellent playing and sonics as well, the highlights being A Night on Bald Mountain and the Borodin Prince Igor. There really aren't any duds, though, and this is a wonderful compilation all around.
> 
> *Rating: 10/10
> 
> Videos (highlights, there are complete playlists on YT):*


This beloved album contains my favorite recording/performance of PICTURES. I've collected many others, but this is the one that I repeatedly come back to. My only gripe is that Reiner conducts the "Gnomus" movement a little too fast for my tastes... but, then, so do a lot of other conductors. All I know is that I like my gnome to creep along rather than jog forward. But this is minor. Reiner's PICTURES has an atmosphere that grips me from the start; and despite the piece's over familiarity, I always feel compelled to listen all the way through. Other recordings don't involve me in quite the same way, though I do enjoy Theodore Kuchar's recording on Naxos as a more modern alternate.


----------



## NoCoPilot

MatthewWeflen said:


> I hate to sound like a broken record, but...


Oh the irony.


----------



## Heck148

Bill Cooke said:


> This beloved album contains my favorite recording/performance of PICTURES. I've collected many others, but this is the one that I repeatedly come back to. My only gripe is that Reiner conducts the "Gnomus" movement a little too fast for my tastes... but, then, so do a lot of other conductors. All I know is that I like my gnome to creep along rather than jog forward.


It's my favorite, too..a great effort..."Gnomus" is supposed to move along, 1 to a bar, basically, with some variation...
I esp like "Bydlo"....Reiner takes it slow, but with wonderful momentum, the stolid oxcart plodding forward with an inexorable motion...Bob Lambert's solo work on baritone horn is superb.


----------



## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 9
> LP#LSC-2201
> 
> View attachment 153215
> 
> 
> Modest Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) - Pictures at an Exhbition
> Modest Mussorgsky - A Night on Bald Mountain
> Tchaikovsky - Marche miniature (from Suite No. 1 op. 43)
> Tchaikovsky - Marche slave
> Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor: Polovtsian March
> Dmitri Kabalevsky - Colas Breugnon, op. 24: Overture
> Mikhail Glinka - Russian and Ludmilla: Overture
> 
> Chicago Symphony Orchestra
> Fritz Reiner, conductor*
> 
> Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - December 7, 1957 (Pictures); March 14, 1959
> Engineer: Lewis Layton
> Producer: Richard Mohr
> Total time: 70:48


A hidden "treasure" of this collection is the rip-roaring rendition of "Coca-Cola" overture (Kabalevsky - Colas Breugnon Ov)....this one just explodes, from the first stunning blast of sound thru it's fast-paced drive to the final conclusion...Nobody matches Reiner/CSO for shattering sonic impact on a marked downbeat...Toscanini, Mravinsky, Solti are all masters at it, but Reiner tops them all....and this Kabalevsky just roars along at headlong speed...there's no slowing down when the music gets soft....the middle section showcases the awesome CSO trumpet section, the long, soaring high line in the lead is accompanied by the frenzied chattering if the section underneath..great execution!!
It always amazes me how great conductors can take a common pot-boiler, and get their musicians to deliver it like it's the greatest masterpiece ever written!! "Coca-Cola", Marche Slav, Tannhauser Festspiele March are just a few that Reiner invigorated with an energy that truly elevates these works to unexpected levels...


----------



## MarkW

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 9
> LP#LSC-2201
> 
> View attachment 153215
> 
> 
> Modest Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) - Pictures at an Exhbition
> Modest Mussorgsky - A Night on Bald Mountain
> Tchaikovsky - Marche miniature (from Suite No. 1 op. 43)
> Tchaikovsky - Marche slave
> Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor: Polovtsian March
> Dmitri Kabalevsky - Colas Breugnon, op. 24: Overture
> Mikhail Glinka - Russian and Ludmilla: Overture
> 
> Chicago Symphony Orchestra
> Fritz Reiner, conductor*
> 
> Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago - December 7, 1957 (Pictures); March 14, 1959
> Engineer: Lewis Layton
> Producer: Richard Mohr
> Total time: 70:48
> 
> *Review:* I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is fabulous. It is very possible that this collection is front-loaded, but this is another essential disc. This is now my favorite "Pictures," surpassing the two HVK/BPO renditions in my collection. The tempii are brisker and more exciting, and my attention wanders less. The sound is rich and detailed, with booming percussion and good definition on strings and brass. The rest of the disc is full of excellent playing and sonics as well, the highlights being A Night on Bald Mountain and the Borodin Prince Igor. There really aren't any duds, though, and this is a wonderful compilation all around.
> 
> *Rating: 10/10
> 
> Videos (highlights, there are complete playlists on YT):*


 Just a question: My first "Pictures" was the Kubeiik/CSO on the old mono Mercury Living Presence which was also superb and state-of-the-art for its time. Since both were the CSO, not separated by many years, and had good sound, can someone compare the two for me? (mono vs stereo doesn't mean a whole lot to me)


----------



## NoCoPilot

MarkW said:


> (mono vs stereo doesn't mean a whole lot to me)


Sorry about your other ear.... :lol:


----------



## fbjim

i started to "appreciate" mono a lot more when a lot of my listening started happening on a tabletop bluetooth speaker, funny enough


----------



## Heck148

MarkW said:


> Just a question: My first "Pictures" was the Kubeiik/CSO on the old mono Mercury Living Presence which was also superb and state-of-the-art for its time. Since both were the CSO, not separated by many years, and had good sound, can someone compare the two for me? (mono vs stereo doesn't mean a whole lot to me)


It's a good question...the CSO has made several great recordings of Pix @Exhib...Kubelik, Reiner, Ozawa, etc....
I prefer the Reiner version to Kubelik's but it's a pretty close race....the orchestra plays better on Reiner's....he had made some personnel changes, stabilized the woodwinds and brass, and the sections were in tiptop shape...I also prefer Reiner's conducting, I think his choice of tempi, and his rhythmic drive and accuracy are preferable....Kubelik is very good, tho, and so is Ozawa from the 60s...


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 10
LP#LSC-2506









Verdi, Aïda: 
Ritorna Vincitor 
O Patria Mia

Verdi, Il Trovatore:	
Tacea La Notte
D'amour Sull'ali Rosee

Puccini, Madama Butterfly:	
Un Bel Dì, Vedremo
Tu, Tu, Piccolo Iddio (Morte Di Butteryfly)

Puccini, La Rondine	
Chi Il Bel Sogno Di Doretta

Puccini, Tosca	
Vissi D'arte

Puccini, Turandot	
Signore, Ascolta	
Tu Che Di Gel Sei Cinta	

Rome Opera Orchestra
Oliviero de Fabritiis, conductor
Arturo Basile, conductor (Il Travatore)
Leontyne Price, soprano
Laura Londi, 2nd soprano (Il Travatore)
*
Recorded at Rome Opera House, - June 27-29, 1960 & July 15/22, 1959 (Il Travatore)
Engineer: Lewis Layton
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 46:12

*Review:* I have many times indicated that vocal music and opera are not my bag. But, you know, this was a really enjoyable listen, and I think it's down to two factors. Firstly, Leontyne Price is obviously a transcendent generational talent. Her tone quality and the power of her emotional performance are undeniable. Second, and perhaps more important for me, the balance between orchestra and soloists is very good, frequently excellent. I'm after orchestral sound, and this recording really delivers it in a good balance with Price. The Aïda selections, for instance, had really nice brass, percussion and string sounds. So while I would not often be in the mood for opera, this would be a first choice from my personal collection.
*
Rating: 9/10

Videos*:




(I have set this to the first track as it demonstrates well my claims above, but there is also a complete playlist on YouTube)


----------



## NoCoPilot

fbjim said:


> i started to "appreciate" mono a lot more when a lot of my listening started happening on a tabletop bluetooth speaker, funny enough


There's nothing "wrong" with mono. Listeners enjoyed it immensely for forty years.

It's just not the state of the art anymore.


----------



## Subutai

MatthewWeflen said:


> Yeah, I may have to supplement. Which modern digital recording would you say is the tops in terms of sound quality?


I'd have to say either James Levine with Berlin Phil, or Eschenbach with the Philadelphia Orchestra (in 24/96 super duper surround sound if I'm not mistaken).


----------



## jegreenwood

Heck148 said:


> It's a good question...the CSO has made several great recordings of Pix @Exhib...Kubelik, Reiner, Ozawa, etc....
> I prefer the Reiner version to Kubelik's but it's a pretty close race....the orchestra plays better on Reiner's....he had made some personnel changes, stabilized the woodwinds and brass, and the sections were in tiptop shape...I also prefer Reiner's conducting, I think his choice of tempi, and his rhythmic drive and accuracy are preferable....Kubelik is very good, tho, and so is Ozawa from the 60s...


I have four with the CSO: Kubelik, Reiner, Solti and Giulini. All good.


----------



## Heck148

jegreenwood said:


> I have four with the CSO: Kubelik, Reiner, Solti and Giulini. All good.


Agreed!! They certainly know the piece...the Ozawa from the 60s is very excellent, too..


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 11
LP#LM-2370*









*Chopin
Ballades No. 1, Op. 23; No. 2, Op. 38; No. 3, Op. 47; No. 4, Op. 52
Scherzos No. 1, Op. 20; No. 2, Op. 31; No. 3, Op. 39; No. 4, Op. 54
Recorded at Manhattan Center, NYC, April 28-29 1959 (Ballades) & March 25-26 1959 (Scherzos)

Engineer: John Crawford
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 71:13

Review: *From a sound quality perspective, this is an excellent analogue recording of piano music, especially for the era (it doesn't compete with a well done modern digital recording, though). It is high fidelity enough to give us sounds like the pedals rising. It contains a good deal of range from the lowest frequencies to the highest and presents a very realistic piano sound that is well miked (not too close, not too far). The performance is also of a high quality, with a lot of feeling. All in all, a very good album.

*Rating: 9/10

Videos:*


----------



## AndorFoldes

Yes! So happy that this series is back.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

AndorFoldes said:


> Yes! So happy that this series is back.


I was taking a break and listening to a lot of other stuff, but yes, it's back


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 12
LP#LSC-1901









Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6, Op. 74, in B minor "Pathetique"
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, conductor
Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston, January 26, 1955

Engineer: Lewis Layton
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 44:13

Review: *This recording starts out brisk, but by the 3rd and 4th movements becomes quite stately and slow, though not in a bad way by any means. The playing is at a high level. The acoustic of the Boston hall and the recording technology lend this a rather dry and crispy feel, with a mild amount of tape hiss. But there is good detail and a fair amount of low end energy (though not as much as more advanced recordings).

I own four other renditions of this symphony - Karajan's 3 DG pressings and one by Michael Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra. Pletnev is the fastest throughout; Karajan is slower in the first 2 movements and faster in the last 2; this is the reverse of Karajan's take. Sonically this does beat the Pletnev (recorded digitally in 1995) and probably ties with Karajan's 60s account with BPO. Karajan's 70s (analog with BPO) and 80s (digitally with VPO) accounts win the sound quality competition. If this were your only Tchaikovsky 6, you wouldn't be suffering too badly. It's a very credible account with a good level of emotional weight. But for my money Karajan 70s or 80s are the way to go as all-round mixes of playing and technical excellence.

*Rating: 8/10

Videos:*


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 13
LP#LM-2080









Brass & Percussion
Morton Gould and his Symphonic Band
1 The Stars And Stripes Forever	3:35
2 Parade (For Percussion)	2:12
3 On Parade	2:45
4 Semper Fidelis	3:10
5 Jubilee	2:33
6 Fourth Of July	2:24
7 Hands Across The Sea	1:41
8 Battle Hymn (Based On Steffe: Battle Hymn Of The Republic)	3:24
9 National Emblem	2:05
10 On The Mall	3:08
11 The Thunderer	2:14
12 American Youth March	2:26
13 The Chimes Of Liberty	2:33
14 Happy Go Lucky	2:17
15 Washington Post	2:28
16 The Gladiator	2:02
17 El Capitan	2:20
18 The U.S. Field Artillery March	2:32
19 Dixie	2:48
20 The High School Cadets	1:56
21 Sound Off	2:15
22 The Corcoran Cadets March	2:26
23 American Patrol	2:40
24 Yankee Doodle	2:43
25 Manhattan Beach	2:11
26 National Fencibles March	2:36
27 Jericho	12:23

Recorded at Manhattan Center, New York, October 17-26 1956 (1-17) & January 22-23, 1959

Engineer: Lewis Layton
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 44:13*

*Review: *Well. This is more Sousa than you can shake a stick at. As such, it has a certain charm but is mostly insipid and repetitive. By far my favorite tracks on this album were Gould's own compositions, especially Fourth of July and Jericho.

Now, with that said, the sound here is mostly pretty good. I do think it starts to strain the capabilities of the recording technology when there is a lot of brass and percussion happening at once (which is reasonably frequent, given the title) but overall there is a nice stereo image and It's pretty enjoyable on good equipment. I imagine this was a big hit in the 60s when it premiered on vinyl.

*Rating: 7/10

Videos:*





I believe this should include a list of all 27 tracks on YouTube.


----------



## jegreenwood

I have all but one of the Living Stereo SACD series. If I had known the series would at the point it did I would have picked up the Mario Lanza disc to complete the set. (I refuse to pay a premium for it.)

Haven’t read every post, but has anyone heard any of the Analogue Productions Living Stereo releases? Also dual layer SACDs. A good deal of overlap with the BMG/Sony set, but also some other works. The AP only contain a single album of music. And they’re $30 bucks. So I haven’t convinced myself to pull the trigger.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 14
LP#LSC-2435









Sibelius Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Walter Hendl/Jascha Heifetz, soloist
recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago, January 10/12 1959

Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63
Boston Symphony Orchestra & Charles Munch/Jascha Heifetz, soloist
recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston, February 24 1959

Glazunov Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82
RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra & Walter Hendl/Jascha Heifetz, soloist
recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, California, June 3-4 1963

Engineer: Lewis Layton, John Crawford, John Norman, Leslie Chase
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 68:41

Review: *To call this recording a classic is to probably do it a disservice. We are presented with three masterful renditions of violin concertos, with the famous Sibelius being the highlight. Despite being captured in three different orchestra halls, all three recordings are top shelf in terms of sonics, matching even my modern example of the Sibelius piece, of which I have three. I was particularly impressed by the first two recordings, which makes sense given RCA's demonstrated ability at capturing sound in those venues. There is some really nicely layered orchestral sound from Chicago in particular, with some nice contrabass. Heifetz plays wonderfully, even at brisk tempii, with both great technical skill as well as emotional performance.

My other two Sibelius concertos are HVK/BPO/Christian Ferras and Thomas Dausgaard/Danish National Symphony/Christian Tetzlaff. I think I like Ferras the best as soloist, but it's not a runaway by any means, Heifetz is right there. RCA's Heifetz recording has better sound than DG's Ferras. There is more tape hiss and the Jesus Christus Kirche is a bit too reverberant. The Tetzlaff recording by Erato has the most modern sound, but it lacks a bit in the excitement - it all feels a bit remote.

Basically, you can't go wrong with this compilation. I think it's pretty close to a "must own."

*Rating: 10/10

Videos: *


----------



## amfortas

MatthewWeflen said:


> Basically, you can't go wrong with this compilation. I think it's pretty close to a "must own."


Just bought it for a quarter at the local library sale. Now I feel even better about my purchase.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

amfortas said:


> Just bought it for a quarter at the local library sale. Now I feel even better about my purchase.


Yeah, that's a pretty good return on investment in terms of pleasure:cost.


----------



## geralmar

I've been slammed for stating this; but RCA's "Living Stereo" was no more than an advertising slogan and had nothing to do with recording technology.-- unlike, for example, Mercury's "Living Pesence", which did describe a recording philosophy. It was slapped arbitrarily on RCA record jackets to boost sales.

Exhibit One was this L.P.:



The sound is flat, painfully shrill, and beset with roaring tape hiss. (It's also my favorite march collection; absolutely enthusiastic performances.)

I'm not criticising RCA recording engineering quality-- it was routinely more engaging than rival Columbia's. I just believe the slogan signified nothing.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 15-16
LP#LDS 6077 










Berlioz Requiem, Op. 5
Boston Symphony Orchestra/New England Conservatory Chorus, Charles Munch, contuctor
recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston, April 26-27, 1959

Engineer: Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 83 minutes

Review: *This was very engaging, and in spots the orchestral sound is really awesome, such as the Dies irae and the Rex tremendae. With that said, some other portions of the recording felt on the verge of "shattering" during the climaxes, such as near the end of the Lacrymosa. All in all, though, this was a pretty involving listen and I don't have a problem recommending it as an introduction to the piece.

*Rating: 8/10

Video:




*


----------



## perdido34

NoCoPilot said:


> I don't know whether "Living Stereo" is supposed to be any better that "Phase 4 Stereo" or not.


 They have very different recording philosophies. In general, Living Stereo recordings involved just a few microphones, which at its best (e.g., the Boston Symphony recordings) gave a realistic-sounding image of an orchestra in a hall. In contrast, Phase 4 involved _many_ microphones ("spot-miking"), which caused single instruments (such as a clarinet solo) to sound just as loud as a full orchestra. I much prefer the Living Stereo method; the only Phase 4 recording I've kept around is the Stokowski/LSO Scheherazade, and only because I love the performance enough to overlook the multi-miking.


----------



## Heck148

perdido34 said:


> They have very different recording philosophies. In general, Living Stereo recordings involved just a few microphones, which at its best (e.g., the Boston Symphony recordings) gave a realistic-sounding image of an orchestra in a hall. In contrast, Phase 4 involved _many_ microphones ("spot-miking"), which caused single instruments (such as a clarinet solo) to sound just as loud as a full orchestra. I much prefer the Living Stereo method; the only Phase 4 recording I've kept around is the Stokowski/LSO Scheherazade, and only because I love the performance enough to overlook the multi-miking.


Yes, spot-miking, highlighting can produce some stunning results, but they are often very unnatural sounding....instruments popping in and out of the sonic texture, weird balances, unrealistic dynamics.....I tend to favor fewer mikes, strategically placed - it shows more accurately the actual sound produced - which musicians are projecting, what sound is actually "hitting the mike" xxx feet out from the stage....Decca/London was [in]famous for the spot and multi-miking - esp noticeable in the Mehta/LAPO recordings of the 60s....also the Phase 4 recordings....


----------



## fbjim

That Berlioz requiem isn't my favorite - I like a little more hysteria in the Lacrymosa - but it has the best tenor for the Sanctus. Never heard anyone come as close to it as Simoneu does.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 17
LP# LM 1984*











Ravel, Bolero (recorded Jan. 23, 1956)
Ravel, La valse (recorded Dec. 5, 1955)
Ravel, Rapsodie espagnole (recorded Jan. 23, 1956)
Debussy, Images for Orchestra (recorded Dec. 16, 1957)
*
Boston Symphony Orchestra & Charles Munch, conductor
recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston

Engineers: Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 73:30 

Review: "*Bolero" is a somewhat divisive piece, to be sure. But boy howdy if it isn't played superbly here. The dynamic range is excellent, the bass tones are deep and rumbling, detail is through the roof, and the miking on percussion on Bolero and all of the Ravel pieces is really pretty amazing. It really beggars belief that these pieces were recorded in the mid 50s. The Debussy is no slouch, either, with some great castanet work, and excellent pizzicato string sounds. It's albums like these that make the "Living Stereo" hype easier to buy into. People must have been floored by this sound when they put the discs into their new "hi-fi" stereo record players back in the day,

*Rating: 9/10

Videos:












*


----------



## bharbeke

Matthew,

It's good to see this thread coming back. I don't listen to much Ravel or Debussy, so these will seem fresher to me.

Also, I'm enjoying your Enterprise reviews over on Treknobabble.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

bharbeke said:


> Matthew,
> 
> It's good to see this thread coming back. I don't listen to much Ravel or Debussy, so these will seem fresher to me.
> 
> Also, I'm enjoying your Enterprise reviews over on Treknobabble.


Thanks! We hit a zone with cranking those out, since Kevin contracted Covid (he's all better now, but the Enterprise remains).


----------



## bharbeke

Keith R.A. DeCandido is also writing reviews of Enterprise Season 2 on Tor right now, and it's interesting to get an additional perspective to add to yours and Kevin's.

I watched the videos last night besides Bolero, and I thought that they were fine but did not rock my world. The Rapsodie Espagnole was the best of those three to me.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

bharbeke said:


> Keith R.A. DeCandido is also writing reviews of Enterprise Season 2 on Tor right now, and it's interesting to get an additional perspective to add to yours and Kevin's.
> 
> I watched the videos last night besides Bolero, and I thought that they were fine but did not rock my world. The Rapsodie Espagnole was the best of those three to me.


I agree, the Rapsodie Espagnole was the best on that particular disc.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 18
LP# LSC 2490*












*Dvořák, Cello Concerto, op. 104 (recorded Feb. 22, 1960)
Walton, Cello Concerto, op. 104 (recorded Jan. 28, 1957)

Boston Symphony Orchestra & Charles Munch, conductor
Gregor Piatigorsky, Cello
recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston

Engineers: John Crawford (Dvořák), Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 71:20 

Review:* One of the joys of a project like this is going through a whole box and listening not only to new (to me) versions of repertoire I'm familiar with, but also to material I've never heard before. The Walton concerto is one such piece, and I loved it. As far as the Dvořák goes, I have two other versions (Bělohlávek/Czech Philharmonic and Karajan/BPO), and I would say the Bělohlávek beats the other two for recorded sound of both cello and orchestra, which is not a huge surprise given its being a 2013 digital recording. The cello in this rendition, played quite finely by Piatigorsky, just sounds slightly distant. The orchestral sound is good and has nice low tones, but lacks a bit of detail by comparison. This isn't to say it's not a fine performance, though, it is.

The Walton is another story. The different engineer must have miked the cello closer, because the inner voice is much more evident, and the recording thrills me to a greater degree as a result. I was so moved that I purchased a Walton set from Warner Classics, and the Munch/Piatigorsky stands toe to toe with 1989 Paavo Berglund/Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra recording, featuring Paul Tortelier on cello, included with that set. The third movement particularly has some incredible recorded sound with pizzicato plucking and deep inner tones captured, and some terrific recorded percussion (try 19:08 in the appended video and listen for a few minutes).

I think the Dvořák is an 8, while the Walton is a 10. So that makes this album a 9 overall. You wouldn't be doing poorly with this as your only rendition of either.

*Rating: 9/10

Videos:








*


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 19
LP# LSC 2214*














*Dvořák, Symphony No. 9, op. 95 (recorded Nov. 9, 1957)
Dvořák, Carnival Overture, op. 92 (recorded Jan. 7, 1956)
Smetana, The Bartered Bride, Overture (recorded Dec. 12, 1955)
Jaromir Weinberger, Schwanda: Polka and Fugue (recorded Jan. 7, 1956)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Fritz Reiner, conductor
recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago

Engineers: Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 64:03

Review: *I have a few recordings of most of these pieces. This New World is probably third in my collection behind HVK/VPO (1980s digital) and HVK/BPO (1960s analog) for sound quality and overall excitement. It's about equal with Jiri Belohlavek/Czech Philharmonic. But it isn't a runaway for any recording in terms of overall quality, as there is some very nice sound and playing on display here, especially in the Largo. I just find that the percussion in attacks in the outer movements is a bit soft for my liking. The Carnival Overture is very nice, and is probably the best of the versions I own (Kuchar/Janacek Phil; Hrusa/Prague Philharmonia), with really exciting attacks and great sound. The Bartered Bride Overture also takes the top spot in my collection for similar reasons (Stokowski/Orchestra of the Air; Kuchar/Janacek Phil). I don't have any other recordings of the Weinberger, and it is really exciting. So This album as a unit is sort of mixed - don't buy it for the New World, but the other pieces are all very good to great.

*Rating: 8/10

Videos:
















*


----------



## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 19
> LP# LSC 2214*
> 
> 
> View attachment 173231
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Dvořák, Symphony No. 9, op. 95 (recorded Nov. 9, 1957)
> Dvořák, Carnival Overture, op. 92 (recorded Jan. 7, 1956)
> Smetana, The Bartered Bride, Overture (recorded Dec. 12, 1955)
> Jaromir Weinberger, Schwanda: Polka and Fugue (recorded Jan. 7, 1956)
> 
> Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Fritz Reiner, conductor
> recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago
> 
> Engineers: Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
> Producer: Richard Mohr
> Total time: 64:03
> 
> I'd give it 10/10.....along withToscanini/NBC my favorite "New World"...beautifully played, thrilling, great dynamics...wonderful details...
> Carnival ny fave along with Kertesz//LSO..
> Wonderful "Battered Bride"...amazing woodwind execution...
> "Schwanda" is a real sound spectacular - the CSO has a rollicking good time depicting the beer- swilling peasants in the Polka, the Fugue is stunning for its sonic wallop and impact...trumpets are amazing!!*


----------



## MatthewWeflen

Heck148 said:


> *I'd give it 10/10.....along withToscanini/NBC my favorite "New World"...beautifully played, thrilling, great dynamics...wonderful details...
> Carnival ny fave along with Kertesz//LSO..
> Wonderful "Battered Bride"...amazing woodwind execution...
> "Schwanda" is a real sound spectacular - the CSO has a rollicking good time depicting the beer- swilling peasants in the Polka, the Fugue is stunning for its sonic wallop and impact...trumpets are amazing!!*


The Schwanda really was a hi-fi spectacular. I also agree there are some really nice details in the New World, the Largo especially. I just like a bit more high octane in brass and percussion.


----------



## bharbeke

Piatigorsky did a good job on the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor. It's not quite in my "best I've heard" group, but it comes close. For reference, those other versions I would recommend are Ma/Masur, Rostropovish/Karajan, Rostropovich/Ozawa, and Weilerstein/Belohlavek.


----------



## Heck148

MatthewWeflen said:


> The Schwanda really was a hi-fi spectacular. I also agree there are some really nice details in the New World, the Largo especially. I just like a bit more high octane in brass and percussion.


The brass ictane doesn't get much higher than Reiner/CSO...he lets it rip..Toscanini is powerful too...


----------



## wkasimer

bharbeke said:


> Piatigorsky did a good job on the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor. It's not quite in my "best I've heard" group, but it comes close.


I listened to both of Piatigorsky's recordings of the Dvorak yesterday - I think that his earlier, monaural recording with Ormandy is the better of the two by a pretty wide margin.


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 20
LP# LSC 2446*










*Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, op. 35 (recorded Feb. 8, 1960)
Stravinsky, Song of the Nightingale (recorded Nov. 3, 1956)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Fritz Reiner, conductor
recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago

Engineers: Lewis Layton, Mark Donohue
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 66:47

Review:* This recording of Scheherazade seems to be considered widely as an all-time classic in this piece, and I find it hard to argue. Just from a sonic perspective, the technical excellence on display is really exceptional, and stands toe to toe with modern digital recordings. But the playing also is top shelf, really exciting, brisk in many places, but lush and sensuous when it needs to be. Movement 4's shipwreck is really rip roaring, but the slower movement 3 is equally enchanting, with a surging romantic quality. Pretty much a must-own for this piece, I think.

I am not as familiar with the Stravinsky, but from a sonic perspective it's astounding that this was recorded in 1956. Hard not to recommend.

*Rating: 10/10

Videos:*


----------



## bharbeke

The Dvorak/Smetana/Weinberger disc was top shelf entertainment for me, with only the Weinberger being merely good.


----------



## Hogwash

I borrowed this Van Cliburn RCA Living Stereo from the library. The back cover mentions it was "digitally remastered using UV22 Super CD Encoding which delivers 20-bit resolution and quality on any standard CD player." What exactly is this and does it make a actual difference in the sound qualities?


----------



## MatthewWeflen

Hogwash said:


> I borrowed this Van Cliburn RCA Living Stereo from the library. The back cover mentions it was "digitally remastered using UV22 Super CD Encoding which delivers 20-bit resolution and quality on any standard CD player." What exactly is this and does it make a actual difference in the sound qualities?


So, my research indicates that UV22 encoding is a noise-shaping dithering algorithm.

Digital audio has two basic components: sample rate and bit depth. Sample rate is like how many slices you take of an analog waveform per second (with CD audio, it's 44,100 slices per second). Bit depth is how deep those slices can be, basically the range from the quietest to the loudest part of the signal (CD is 16 bit, which is a range of 96dB from quietest to loudest). Apparently, audio is frequently mastered in higher sample rates and bit depths, and then down-rezzed to CD quality. This downsampling can introduce certain kinds of noise, which dithering is supposed to reduce or eliminate (dithering is kind of like noise canceling headphones - introducing artifical noise into the signal that counteracts the noise of downsampling, and is not destructive to the desired audio signal, i.e. the music). 

So that's what UV22 is getting at. The claim is that the music is mastered at some wonderful resolution, and then compressed onto a CD with the minimum of unwanted noise or distortion. As to whether it makes a difference, I couldn't rightly say. I have come to be a believer in the Nyquist-Shannon theorem, and that audio signals at "better than CD" bitrates and bit depths aren't really audible. Probably the dithering is necessary, and doing it better is good, but it's not going to sound any better than a pure CD quality audio stream (which was designed to be at the maximum quality for human hearing anyway).

Resources:








Understanding Sample Rate, Bit Depth, and Bit Rate | Headphonesty


Do you know what 192kHz/24-bit means? This is a simple-to-understand guide to the fundamentals of sample rate, bit depth and bit rate.




www.headphonesty.com










What is Dithering? — Sage Audio


Dithering is adding an inaudible noise layer to your mix when changing from one bit depth to another. It's an essential mastering tool for avoiding the quantization distortion that often happens when processing between two bit depths. Dithering is the process of adding noise to a signal, in an...




www.sageaudio.com













What are the sound characteristics that result from "Apogee Process" remasters?


If one finds a CD mastered with the Apogee UV22 process, what are the sound characteristics that result? And your thoughts re good or bad...




forums.stevehoffman.tv


----------



## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 21
LP# LM 1831 *












*Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 15 (recorded April 17, 1954)
Arthur Rubinstein, piano 
Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Fritz Reiner, conductor
recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago

Engineers: Lewis Layton, Leslie Chase
Producer: Richard Mohr & John Pfeiffer
Total time: 46:16

Review:* When the first movement started, I had an initial burst of revulsion. "Eew," I thought, "this sounds so early stereo." Well, it is - very early in fact. It sounded distant and blended, with the low end feeling crowded and lacking detail. But as the recording wore on, it won me over. No, it is not the absolute best sound you can get. But Rubinstein puts in a noble and technically excellent performance, and the CSO under Reiner plays with verve. My other recording of this piece is Chailly/Gewandhaus with Nelson Freire on piano. It is technically better, but artistically probably equal or slightly lesser. I think this performance is a 10, but the technical qualities are more of a 7 or 8. I make no apologies for being an audiophile, I want my music to sound just as good from a sensual standpoint as it is played from an artistic one.This recording just doesn't wow on that level as much as the Scheherazade, for instance.

*Rating: 9/10

Video:*


----------



## Hogwash

MatthewWeflen said:


> So, my research indicates that UV22 encoding is a noise-shaping dithering algorithm.
> 
> Digital audio has two basic components: sample rate and bit depth. Sample rate is like how many slices you take of an analog waveform per second (with CD audio, it's 44,100 slices per second). Bit depth is how deep those slices can be, basically the range from the quietest to the loudest part of the signal (CD is 16 bit, which is a range of 96dB from quietest to loudest). Apparently, audio is frequently mastered in higher sample rates and bit depths, and then down-rezzed to CD quality. This downsampling can introduce certain kinds of noise, which dithering is supposed to reduce or eliminate (dithering is kind of like noise canceling headphones - introducing artifical noise into the signal that counteracts the noise of downsampling, and is not destructive to the desired audio signal, i.e. the music).
> 
> So that's what UV22 is getting at. The claim is that the music is mastered at some wonderful resolution, and then compressed onto a CD with the minimum of unwanted noise or distortion. As to whether it makes a difference, I couldn't rightly say. I have come to be a believer in the Nyquist-Shannon theorem, and that audio signals at "better than CD" bitrates and bit depths aren't really audible. Probably the dithering is necessary, and doing it better is good, but it's not going to sound any better than a pure CD quality audio stream (which was designed to be at the maximum quality for human hearing anyway).
> 
> Resources:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Understanding Sample Rate, Bit Depth, and Bit Rate | Headphonesty
> 
> 
> Do you know what 192kHz/24-bit means? This is a simple-to-understand guide to the fundamentals of sample rate, bit depth and bit rate.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.headphonesty.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What is Dithering? — Sage Audio
> 
> 
> Dithering is adding an inaudible noise layer to your mix when changing from one bit depth to another. It's an essential mastering tool for avoiding the quantization distortion that often happens when processing between two bit depths. Dithering is the process of adding noise to a signal, in an...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.sageaudio.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What are the sound characteristics that result from "Apogee Process" remasters?
> 
> 
> If one finds a CD mastered with the Apogee UV22 process, what are the sound characteristics that result? And your thoughts re good or bad...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> forums.stevehoffman.tv


Matt

Thanks for taking the time to do the research and provide links for your sources. I took a look at everything and have to say I didn’t know buttkiss about dithering (until now) so thanks again! The Van Cliburn CD sounds good considering the date it was recorded. These Living Audio records seem to be high quality.

😁


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## MatthewWeflen

Hogwash said:


> Matt
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to do the research and provide links for your sources. I took a look at everything and have to say I didn’t know buttkiss about dithering (until now) so thanks again! The Van Cliburn CD sounds good considering the date it was recorded. These Living Audio records seem to be high quality.
> 
> 😁


It was fun figuring out the answer, and I learned things, too.


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## fluteman

geralmar said:


> I've been slammed for stating this; but RCA's "Living Stereo" was no more than an advertising slogan and had nothing to do with recording technology.-- unlike, for example, Mercury's "Living Pesence", which did describe a recording philosophy. It was slapped arbitrarily on RCA record jackets to boost sales.
> 
> Exhibit One was this L.P.:
> 
> 
> 
> The sound is flat, painfully shrill, and beset with roaring tape hiss. (It's also my favorite march collection; absolutely enthusiastic performances.)
> 
> I'm not criticising RCA recording engineering quality-- it was routinely more engaging than rival Columbia's. I just believe the slogan signified nothing.


Yes, but to be fair, that looks like a "Camden" budget reissue, even though it still has the original "Living Stereo" banner. You never know with RCA LP reissues, sometimes good but often terrible. I grew up with the RCA Victrola reissue of the Heifetz/Munch/BSO Beethoven violin concerto in my father's collection (he favored budget reissues regardless of sound quality). At some point after I reached adulthood, he got the German RCA reissue, so I inherited both of those versions (even he must not have been satisfied with the Victrola). When I finally found the original Living Stereo "shaded dog" in the dollar bins, it was like a breath of fresh air. I finally understood what Heifetz wanted to do. Of course, I'm not saying original "shaded dog" issues always deserve their reputation, but that one seemed to.


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## MatthewWeflen

fluteman said:


> Yes, but to be fair, that looks like a "Camden" budget reissue, even though it still has the original "Living Stereo" banner. You never know with RCA LP reissues, sometimes good but often terrible. I grew up with the RCA Victrola reissue of the Heifetz/Munch/BSO Beethoven violin concerto in my father's collection (he favored budget reissues regardless of sound quality). At some point after I reached adulthood, he got the German RCA reissue, so I inherited both of those versions (even he must not have been satisfied with the Victrola). When I finally found the original Living Stereo "shaded dog" in the dollar bins, it was like a breath of fresh air. I finally understood what Heifetz wanted to do. Of course, I'm not saying original "shaded dog" issues always deserve their reputation, but that one seemed to.
> View attachment 173731


Yeah, it's worth remembering that box sets like these typically represent the latest remasterings, and so will generally obviate the sorts of problems that older re-issues (especially budget ones) have. I believe Sony went through their whole RCA catalog and re-scanned all of the magnetic tapes to DSD for archiving, and then created CD and SACD masters from them, with various leveling and noise reduction algorithms applied. So the modern releases represent the best these can sound - allowing for imperfections in the original recordings.

I bought a HVK/BPO Schubert cycle budget re-issue, and then replaced it with a Warner Classics box set - the difference was night and day in terms of clarity.


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## fluteman

MatthewWeflen said:


> Yeah, it's worth remembering that box sets like these typically represent the latest remasterings, and so will generally obviate the sorts of problems that older re-issues (especially budget ones) have. I believe Sony went through their whole RCA catalog and re-scanned all of the magnetic tapes to DSD for archiving, and then created CD and SACD masters from them, with various leveling and noise reduction algorithms applied. So the modern releases represent the best these can sound - allowing for imperfections in the original recordings.
> 
> I bought a HVK/BPO Schubert cycle budget re-issue, and then replaced it with a Warner Classics box set - the difference was night and day in terms of clarity.


Yes, of course I wasn't referring to the relatively more recent 'audiophile' quality reissues, but to the reissues of the late 60s and 70s. I'm not an original issue snob, many of the more recent reissues (actually going as far back as the 90s), both digital and analog, are great. I have to remember I'm an old man living in the distant past. Feel free to disregard my outdated comments.


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## MatthewWeflen

fluteman said:


> Yes, of course I wasn't referring to the relatively more recent 'audiophile' quality reissues, but to the reissues of the late 60s and 70s. I'm not an original issue snob, many of the more recent reissues (actually going as far back as the 90s), both digital and analog, are great. I have to remember I'm an old man living in the distant past. Feel free to disregard my outdated comments.


I enjoy out of touch old man opinions, so it's all good.


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 22
LP# LSC 1817 *















*Jacques Offenbach: Gaite parisienne (recorded June 18, 1954)
Gioacchino Rossini & Ottorino Respighi: La boutique fantasque (recorded June 21-22, 1956)
Boston Pops Orchestra & Arthur Fiedler, conductor
recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston

Engineers: John Crawford, Leslie Chase
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 63:26

Review:* Look, Gaite parisienne is always going to be considered "pops." How many times can one hear the "can can" theme? So let it suffice to say you need to be "in the mood" for this repertoire. But wow, the recording is lively. The percussion is really superb in its detail, and the overall presentation of the orchestra from the lowest parts to the highest, and the stereo image, is really astounding for 1954. If someone had told me this was modern digital, I wouldn't bat an eyelash. The same goes for La boutique fantasque, which I am less familiar with. Overall, this is a feast for audiphiles who enjoy orchestral percussion. The wood blocks, the triangles, the xylophones.... it is really wondrous. Check out the Cancan from the La boutique, linked below (I couldn't really find unified recordings of each, they're all there in parts on YouTube). I give it an 8 just because of the repertoire - as recordings these are 10's all the way.

Also, not gonna lie, I love the cover.

*Rating: 8/10

Videos:








*


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## fluteman

MatthewWeflen said:


> *Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 22
> LP# LSC 1817 *
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 173812
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Jacques Offenbach: Gaite parisienne (recorded June 18, 1954)
> Gioacchino Rossini & Ottorino Respighi: La boutique fantasque (recorded June 21-22, 1956)
> Boston Pops Orchestra & Arthur Fiedler, conductor
> recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston
> 
> Engineers: John Crawford, Leslie Chase
> Producer: John Pfeiffer
> Total time: 63:26
> 
> Review:* Look, Gaite parisienne is always going to be considered "pops." How many times can one hear the "can can" theme? So let it suffice to say you need to be "in the mood" for this repertoire. But wow, the recording is lively. The percussion is really superb in its detail, and the overall presentation of the orchestra from the lowest parts to the highest, and the stereo image, is really astounding for 1954. If someone had told me this was modern digital, I wouldn't bat an eyelash. The same goes for La boutique fantasque, which I am less familiar with. Overall, this is a feast for audiphiles who enjoy orchestral percussion. The wood blocks, the triangles, the xylophones.... it is really wondrous. Check out the Cancan from the La boutique, linked below (I couldn't really find unified recordings of each, they're all there in parts on YouTube). I give it an 8 just because of the repertoire - as recordings these are 10's all the way.
> 
> Also, not gonna lie, I love the cover.
> 
> *Rating: 8/10
> 
> Videos:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *


Of course, Gaite parisienne is a string of high-energy Offenbach "hits" strung together in an arrangement by Manuel Rosenthal to accompany a Massine ballet of that name. It's a lot of fun, but I think we should remember it isn't what the composer originally wrote.

Fiedler, though in some ways not the most sophisticated or nuanced of conductors imvho, is ideal for this kind of thing, and the other splashy sonic spectaculars he did for RCA Living Stereo. He was a fine technician, and treated this material absolutely seriously, making sure ensemble discipline never wavered in these wild and noisy show pieces.

So, wholehearted agreement from me. A fun record and deserving classic. Plus, the cover! What more can be said? 8/10 indeed.


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## jegreenwood

MatthewWeflen said:


> Yeah, it's worth remembering that box sets like these typically represent the latest remasterings, and so will generally obviate the sorts of problems that older re-issues (especially budget ones) have.* I believe Sony went through their whole RCA catalog and re-scanned all of the magnetic tapes to DSD for archiving, and then created CD and SACD masters from them*, with various leveling and noise reduction algorithms applied. So the modern releases represent the best these can sound - allowing for imperfections in the original recordings.
> 
> I bought a HVK/BPO Schubert cycle budget re-issue, and then replaced it with a Warner Classics box set - the difference was night and day in terms of clarity.


I'm pretty sure the Living Stereo SACDs were done under the auspices of BMG. This from a Michael Fremer article in Stereophile. (The reference is to Pictures at an Exhibition.)

"This famous 1957 “Living Stereo” three-track recording (originally LSC-2201, issued in 1958) was among the first series of bargain-priced BMG SACD's issued last year. A second set has recently been released. By focusing on the “audiophile community,” doubling up the content (two full LP's worth) and selling them for 12 bucks, BMG hit all the right notes, and apparently these are selling well-in the context of what that means in today's shrunken record biz."


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## Otis B. Driftwood

I collected many of those Living Stereo SACD's when I was first getting into classical. Was always impressed by their lush sonics. My personal favorites are the recital discs by Anna Moffo and Leontyne Price.


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## jegreenwood

Otis B. Driftwood said:


> I collected many of those Living Stereo SACD's when I was first getting into classical. Was always impressed by their lush sonics. My personal favorites are the recital discs by Anna Moffo and Leontyne Price.


The founder of another audio website (named after him) has offered special praise for the Price disc.


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## Hogwash

Found this brief history of Living Stereo in the CD book of a Arthur Fielder Boston Pops RCA record:


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## Hogwash

And a good time was had by all…


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 23
LP# LM-2355 & 2507 *










*Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3, op. 30
Kiril Kondrashin/Symphony of the Air
(recorded live, May 19, 1958, Carnegie Hall, New York) 

Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 3, op. 26
Walter Hendl/Chicago Symphony Orchestra
(recorded October 22 & 24, 1960, Orchestra Hall, Chicago)


Engineers: John Crawford, Leslie Chase
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 73:10

Review:* There's a reason I tend to steer clear of live recordings, especially ones of this vintage, and this recording is the absolute prototype example. The number and audible level of coughs, sneezes, and other upper respiratory ailments is so distracting that it ruined the performance for me. Add to this the wonky balance between orchestra and piano, which led to any orchestral part being too quiet by half, had me checking the time remaining during every movement and just wishing for it to end. I will never voluntarily listen to this recording again for as long as I live. If you want to torture yourself, check out the passage around the 16 minute mark at the end of the first movement.

What a contrast the Prokofiev provides, then! Here we have a "studio" recording, albeit one performed in Chicago's Orchestra Hall, with nigh-on perfect sonics, a wonderful balance between solo instrument and orchestra, and beautiful playing throughout. I can't really think of a criticism of this recording from either a sonic or artistic perspective. It was wondrous, and easily matches my other set of these concertos, Neeme Jarvi/Royal Concertgebau (which is also tremendous by the way).

As individual units, I would give these recordings a 3 and a 10, respectively. As a group, I cannot go above the following...

*Rating: 6/10

Videos:*


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 24
LP# LSC 2100*












*Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Le Coq d'or - Suite
(recorded Nov 25, 1956)
Gioachino Rossini, William Tell Overture
(recorded Nov 26, 1956)
Piotr Tchaikovsky, Marche slave
(recorded Nov 26, 1956)
Emmanuel Chabrier, España 
(recorded June 26, 1958)
Franz Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody #2
(recorded Jan 3, 1960)
Franz Liszt, Rákóczy March 
(recorded Jan 4, 1960)

Engineers: Lewis Layton & Mark Donahue
Producer: Richard Mohr
Total time: 69:33

Review: *This disc is a real tragedy. So much of it is great to listen to, but nearly every piece is undone during the climaxes - when it seems clear that mics were not able to capture all of the information going on, and the mix was too hot. The Rimsky-Korsakov distorts in the 4th movement. The Tchaikovsky distorts about 3/4 of the way through. Both of the Liszt pieces distort when things get loud. It was to the point that I was worried it was my equipment - but quick listens to the same passages in my other recordings of the same pieces reveal those to be better mastered, better miked, and better sounding. The quieter passages are quite lovely, though, and things like triangles and percussion are really pleasing to the ear. What a shame. It's amazing to me that this was released in this state, with the intention of having it be a "demo" disc.

*Rating: 6/10

Video:*





You will note distortion even in this, the mono release of the same album (check out the passege around minute 24). So it's not just me, or just the modern re-release.


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## Neo Romanza

The first RCA Living Stereo recording I bought was this one with Fritz Reiner, but also this recording was the first classical recording I ever bought:










Here's a quick review and some boring personal backstory:

Around '06 or '07, I started to yearn for some other music besides the rock and jazz genres. I come from a classical family, so it was only a matter of time before I started to receive recommendations or suggestions of composers to check out. Every time I'd see my grandfather around this period, he would say I need to check out Rachmaninov, Brahms, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky et. al., but the little deranged person in the back of my mind said "No, you must learn about this music yourself and find out what you like/dislike. Remember that Google is your friend." So, giving into this mentally-ill voice inside my head, I started trying to remember what composers I had heard about and Bartók sprung to mind almost immediately as I had read an interview with a jazz musician (don't ask me who the musician was as it's not really important and, more importantly, I don't remember) where they mention they were influenced by Bartók's music. I guess this was were I made one of those important mental notes. Fast forward about a year later, I was in a used CD store with my dad and I was digging through it's rather limited classical selection and my dad came up beside and said "Here's a CD for you --- didn't you say you wanted to hear some of Bartók's music?" The CD in question was Fritz Reiner's recording of _Concerto for Orchestra_ (coupled with _Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta_ and _Hungarian Sketches_). As soon as I returned home, I played the CD through my stereo and, honestly, I didn't know what to think for several reasons: 1. I had an incredibly limited understanding of classical music at that juncture and 2. the music just sounded strange to me. But there was something within the music that resonated with me --- I just couldn't put my finger on what that particular something was nor did I have the experience to say for certain why I was allured by it and wanted to listen to it over and over again. The performances were stellar. The CSO never sounded better, IMHO and Fritz Reiner had the full measure of this music (I would later discover his Strauss recordings with many of them also appearing under the Living Stereo banner). And the audio quality was amazing, too, of course (I would later upgrade to the hybrid SACD). Anyway, this was the initial seed that was planted and this Reiner recording began my classical journey, although I had listened to Karajan's recording of Strauss' _Eine Alpensinfonie_ whenever I was a teenager, but this Bartók recording is what actually got the ball rolling for me. Even when I go back and listen to this recording now, it still holds up incredibly well and I'm still hugely impressed with the performances.


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## MatthewWeflen

Neo Romanza said:


> The first RCA Living Stereo recording I bought was this one with Fritz Reiner, but also this recording was the first classical recording I ever bought:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's a quick review and some boring personal backstory:
> 
> Around '06 or '07, I started to yearn for some other music besides the rock and jazz genres. I come from a classical family, so it was only a matter of time before I started to receive recommendations or suggestions of composers to check out. Every time I'd see my grandfather around this period, he would say I need to check out Rachmaninov, Brahms, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky et. al., but the little deranged person in the back of my mind said "No, you must learn about this music yourself and find out what you like/dislike. Remember that Google is your friend." So, giving into this mentally-ill voice inside my head, I started trying to remember what composers I had heard about and Bartók sprung to mind almost immediately as I had read an interview with a jazz musician (don't ask me who the musician was as it's not really important and, more importantly, I don't remember) where they mention they were influenced by Bartók's music. I guess this was were I made one of those important mental notes. Fast forward about a year later, I was in a used CD store with my dad and I was digging through it's rather limited classical selection and my dad came up beside and said "Here's a CD for you --- didn't you say you wanted to hear some of Bartók's music?" The CD in question was Fritz Reiner's recording of _Concerto for Orchestra_ (coupled with _Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta_ and _Hungarian Sketches_). As soon as I returned home, I played the CD through my stereo and, honestly, I didn't know what to think for several reasons: 1. I had an incredibly limited understanding of classical music at that juncture and 2. the music just sounded strange to me. But there was something within the music that resonated with me --- I just couldn't put my finger on what that particular something was nor did I have the experience to say for certain why I was allured by it and wanted to listen to it over and over again. The performances were stellar. The CSO never sounded better, IMHO and Fritz Reiner had the full measure of this music (I would later discover his Strauss recordings with many of them also appearing under the Living Stereo banner). And the audio quality was amazing, too, of course (I would later upgrade to the hybrid SACD). Anyway, this was the initial seed that was planted and this Reiner recording began my classical journey, although I had listened to Karajan's recording of Strauss' _Eine Alpensinfonie_ whenever I was a teenager, but this Bartók recording is what actually got the ball rolling for me. Even when I go back and listen to this recording now, it still holds up incredibly well and I'm still hugely impressed with the performances.


It's an amazing disc but a challenging start to a classical journey!


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## Neo Romanza

MatthewWeflen said:


> It's an amazing disc but a challenging start to a classical journey!


Indeed, but thankfully I persevered.


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 25
LP# LSC-2129, LM-1903*










*Johannes Brahms, Violin Concerto in D, op. 77
(recorded Feb 21 & 22, 1955)
Piotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D, op. 35
(recorded April 19, 1957)

Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jascha Heifetz, violin
Fritz Reiner, conductor


Engineers: Lewis Layton & Mark Donahue
Producer: John Pfeiffer
Total time: 64:12

Review: *First of all, what a massive improvement over the previous disc sonically. Second of all, it is interesting the hear the difference between these two recordings, made in the same location, presumably with almost the same personnel. The earlier Brahms is a bit flabby in the bass and doesn't have the same sense of air and detail that the ravishing Tchaikovsky has. Either way, they're both lovely performances, with Heifetz managing his signature ability to play violin without veering into screech, and Reiner keeping things crisp with the very good CSO. If the Brahms had just sounded better, this would be a 10.*

Rating: 9/10

Videos:*


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## bharbeke

The Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concerto recordings above have been recommended in the main listening thread before by senza sordino and flamencosketches, respectively, so I am looking forward to checking them out.


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## MatthewWeflen

*Living Stereo Vol. 1, Disc 26
LP# LSC-2514, LSC-2376*












*César Franck, Symphony in D minor
(recorded Jan 7 1961 at Orchestra Hall, Chicago)
Igor Stravinsky, Pétrouchka
(recorded Ja. 25, 26 & 28, Symphony Hall, Boston)

Pierre Monteux, conductor
Bernard Zighera, piano


Engineers: Lewis Layton & John Crawford
Producer: Richard Mohr & John Pfeiffer
Total time: 73:57

Review:* This is the sort of disc on which the "Living Stereo" reputation was made. Absolutely splendid from start to finish. The Franck is surging with passionate playing by the CSO, and the sound lives up to it. Deep contrabass, strong percussion, lush strings, strong detail. Totally ravishing from start to finish, which must be why it is still a recommended recording to this day. The Stravinsky is not a piece I am as familiar with or attuned to, but boy is it ever recorded well. As a percussion fiend, the array of sounds on display here is very pleasing. Triangles, kettle drums, and piano are very detailed, and the amount of audible space between orchestral sections is very admirable. All in all, this sounds like it could have been recorded in the 90s.

*Rating: 10/10

Videos: (this contains a playlist with both pieces)*


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## bharbeke

The Brahms/Tchaikovsky violin concerto recordings with Heifetz, Reiner, and the CSO are top notch, especially the Tchaikovsky.

I am digging the recent updates to this thread and the Enterprise reviews on Treknobabble, even if I am not a frequent commenter (or commenter at all over there).


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## MatthewWeflen

bharbeke said:


> The Brahms/Tchaikovsky violin concerto recordings with Heifetz, Reiner, and the CSO are top notch, especially the Tchaikovsky.
> 
> I am digging the recent updates to this thread and the Enterprise reviews on Treknobabble, even if I am not a frequent commenter (or commenter at all over there).


Season 4, baby! You should comment


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