# People's love and reverence for mono/analogue recordings....



## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Certain sections of the society [Of which, most are older gentlemen] have a deep love for mono and analogue recordings from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. The era of Klemperer, Walter, Furtwangler, Schuricht, Bohm and others... They are called "the greats". People who were old enough to have met Mahler among others [as is the case with Walter].

After acclimatizing myself to the - sometimes - horrendous sound, I listened to the greatest of them all [Loved by my personal favorite, Barenboim] Furtwangler. His 1954 Beethoven Ninth was a touch too slow and Karajan's 82/77 performances are almost the same and better in several respects. His live Brahms' symphonies' recordings [40s-50s] show an astounishing amount of power and passion but Solti's set and [not a fanboy, seriously] Karajan's all three Brahms set are also quite the same. Klemperer isn't my cup of tea with his unhurried, moderate or/and leisurely pace. Bohm suffered the same with his Beethoven's symphonies' cycle set with VPO. His Mozart is perhaps far too weighty for my taste [It works sometimes.... Like Karajan's wonderful recording of the last symphonies.] But, his live rendition of Mozart's Thirty Fifth Symphony with the LSO was fleet and swift. Quite wonderful.

But, in some respects, they are better.

So, would the gentlemen of these fine community have it in their heart to explain a youngling what is it about these recordings that garners such high reverence?

P.S. I have heard about 20 or 30 CDs of Karajan, so naturally I would know which of his recordings are fine. [His Haydn is a bit unwieldy at times.]

P.P.S. If you do not understand the feelings of the above post, you are probably not one of the "them".

P.P.P.S. Far too long of a post, yes?


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

No answers....?


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

There are quite a few threads on the Recorded Music and Publications forum which discuss mono recordings by some of the conductors you mentioned. Perhaps if you had posted there, you might have got a better response from people who like vintage orchestral stuff?

Personally I don't have any affinity for orchestral music and I don't regard electrical recordings, let alone those made as late as the 50s, as sounding horrendous, so I can't help you much. I can, however, recommend the following CD of of singers who worked with Mahler in Vienna (after which 1950s recordings won't sound so horrendous from an audiophile perspective):

http://www.symposiumrecords.co.uk/catalogue/1341

I know that Marston have released something similar with slight duplication of tracks, but I haven't heard that one, as it doesn't seem to be widely available over here.

Best of luck with your adventures into mono anyway, and try searching and maybe resurrecting some of the threads in Recorded Music.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I like mono for most of my listening because 95 percent of my listening is on a single ear bud. I use the right channel as it seems to have better bass. I am missing some content by listening to only one channel, but then I am missing a lot by listening on an ear bud anyway. If I edit music tracks for an entire work, I will usually convert them to mono.

How about the recent trend in popular music to release mono sets of an artists early works based on those being originally released in mono (Beatles, Bob Dylan for two examples). Partly a marketing ploy, but in some cases the stereo separation was horrendous such as when Bob Dylan's voice and guitar were on separate channels (first album, self titled). 

A mono classical work (some can be downloaded from Internet Archive as presumably public domain and transcribed from 78 rpm discs) is fine if the sound quality is reasonably good. I wonder if any modern classical recordings have been done in mono?


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## fjf (Nov 4, 2014)

I have never been able to enjoy the old mono recordings, probably because I am used to stereo and the mono sounds like it's been played within a box. There is no soundstage, and to me is like hearing only a part of the music.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

I sometimes listen to old records for the same reason that I sometimes read old books: Because the artists who made them are unique and wonderful. I like to read Charles Dickens, and I like to read Martin Amis. Amis is alive, and Dickens is dead. But each of them has a fantastic "voice" that speaks to me.

You could say the same about conductors, singers, and other performers. Why _wouldn't_ you want to explore the work of a given conductor just because he happened to be recorded before the advent of stereo??? I love Hermann Scherchen's conducting. He doesn't sound like anyone else. So I'm willing to deal with less-than-stellar recording quality because he made _fantastic_ records.

So I'm not drawn to older recording technologies, _per se_. It's just a limitation that you've got to accept if you want to hear many of the best recordings by Scherchen, Wilhlem Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Dennis Brain, Thomas Beecham, Walter Gieseking, Artur Schnabel, etc, etc.

I guess you can tell that I'm not one of those guys who reflexively feels that "older is better." I think that there are all sorts of wonderful recordings being made _right now_ too. Why cut yourself off from any of it?!?!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I can cope with mono if the music is for a solo instrument or the smaller configurations such as quartets or voice/piano. Alas, for larger forces the restrictions of mono are too much for my ears. As with fjf, had I been brought up in an era when mono was the only option then no doubt my opinion would be different. I appreciate the fact that I'm missing out on an absolute goldmine in terms of classical music's recorded legacy but I really cannot handle mono when it comes to larger larger numbers of musicians/singers being involved.

Conversely, I agree with Florestan as regards pop/rock - some material was better off staying mono as stereo separation can have an calamitous effect on balance between instruments, especially if there were only four tracks to record with in the first place.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> I can cope with mono if the music is for a solo instrument or the smaller configurations such as quartets or voice/piano. Alas, for larger forces the restrictions of mono are too much for my ears. As with fjf, had I been brought up in an era when mono was the only option then no doubt my opinion would be different. I appreciate the fact that I'm missing out on an absolute goldmine in terms of classical music's recorded legacy but I really cannot handle mono when it comes to larger larger numbers of musicians/singers being involved.
> 
> Conversely, I agree with Florestan as regards pop/rock - some material was better off staying mono as stereo separation can have an calamitous effect on balance between instruments, especially if there were only four tracks to record with in the first place.


True that, Beatles' first three album in stereo are an absolute mess. Compared to their superior mono counterparts that is....


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

^
^

I'd go further and say all of them up to and including Revolver. I haven't heard the latest editions so I don't know how much has been rectified/improved.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

fjf said:


> I have never been able to enjoy the old mono recordings, probably because I am used to stereo and the mono sounds like it's been played within a box. There is no soundstage, and to me is like hearing only a part of the music.


I am still leery of the term 'soundstage' (it means different things to different people), but mono recordings certainly don't have stereo. Early on, I began to think of mono orchestral recordings as having my listening position in the hall's doorway, or at an open window - just far enough back so that the sound was only coming _out_.

You can't always be 'front and center'. Hey, if there's a fire, you're good to go.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I listen to mono lately with the Busch Quartet's Beethoven string quartets and very moving despite the sound. I don't mind so much honestly.


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