Vinyl Explorations

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Anyone remember the mini-boom of interest in Salieri prompted by the film Amadeus? This release actually pre-dates the film - though it may come after the play on which the film was based.



Zoltan Pesko conducts the LSO in 3 works by Salieri. Two of them are forgettable, but the third (Variations on "La Follia di Spagna") is seriously good. Interestingly, it comes from 1815, late in his career and very long after the death of Mozart. Again, never reissued as far as I can tell. It appeared on CBS, but was licensed from an Italian label, which may account for its consignment to vinyl limbo.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Here is a never-reissued 1970s release on Columbia, showcasing a few off-the-beaten-path works by Elliott Carter:



The Brass Quintet, a major contribution to the small but growing genre of serious brass music, is the main item of interest. The accompanying Eight Pieces for Four Timpani (or is it Four Pieces for Eight Timpani? I get confused sometimes) provide a major workout for that percussive mainstay of the orchestra. They feel more like a curiosity, more etude-like, than the Brass Quintet. The album finishes off with A Fantasy about Purcell's Fantasia upon One Note, Carter's arrangement for brass of Purcell's fantasy originally for strings. The American Brass Quintet and timpanist Morris Lang are the highly accomplished performers.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Back to Nonesuch. This little gem takes me back, to my (incompetent) trombone-playing days:



Baroque Fanfares and Sonatas for Brass, under the general direction of Joshua Rifkin, who also wrote the eloquent liner notes. Features early Baroque composers like Speer, Massaino, Hammerschmidt, and Pezel, and London-based brass players (including Philip Jones, pre-ensemble) playing some of the earliest music for specific combinations of brass. Highlights include Massaino's imposing Canzona for 8 [count 'em] Trombones and the three Speer sonatas for trombone quartets. There are even a couple of vocal works thrown in (with brass accompaniment). This is one of the best brass records I've ever heard, and it is still stuck on vinyl after all these years.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

"Hold on there!" I hear you say. "Isn't David Munrow's classic anthology The Art of the Netherlands readily available on CD?" Well yes it is, but...



It turns out that, when it was reissued, they left out a whole LP side of instrumental music. So if you want to hear such 15th-century hits as "Heth sold ein meisken garn om win" or "Tsaat een meskin" (and who wouldn't, really?), you'll have to get this original LP release.

[zmic]

now listening to a recent flea market find, chorals by Mr. Krebs

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

zmic, I can't see the picture in your post. What is it?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Poor Charles Ives: a lot of good recordings of his work are absent on CD. For instance,



It's the Concord Quartet, those remarkable champions of American music, playing both of Chuck Ives' quartets. Can't say I've heard much of the competition, but I enjoy this one. Like the Rochberg 5tet I posted above, this one is stranded on vinyl.

[Daverz]

Poor Charles Ives: a lot of good recordings of his work are absent on CD. For instance,



It's the Concord Quartet, those remarkable champions of American music, playing both of Chuck Ives' quartets. Can't say I've heard much of the competition, but I enjoy this one. Like the Rochberg 5tet I posted above, this one is stranded on vinyl.

Wonderful Lp.  By coinkidink, I just found the Juilliard recording on Newton Classics in my mailbox.

[Ken B]

Back to Nonesuch. This little gem takes me back, to my (incompetent) trombone-playing days:



Baroque Fanfares and Sonatas for Brass, under the general direction of Joshua Rifkin, who also wrote the eloquent liner notes. Features early Baroque composers like Speer, Massaino, Hammerschmidt, and Pezel, and London-based brass players (including Philip Jones, pre-ensemble) playing some of the earliest music for specific combinations of brass. Highlights include Massaino's imposing Canzona for 8 [count 'em] Trombones and the three Speer sonatas for trombone quartets. There are even a couple of vocal works thrown in (with brass accompaniment). This is one of the best brass records I've ever heard, and it is still stuck on vinyl after all these years.

I remember this puppy. There was another one too, of mostly Biber trumpet stuff culled from his music.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Hidden under the bland title New Music for Organ are two startling examples of organic psychedelia.



Side 1 gives us Black Host, by William Bolcom, he of the ragtime album mentioned above. Black Host begins in deep nocturnal gloom and evolves into a sort of "be-in" involving bits of percussion, (taped) pop music, street noises, and shouting human voices. It's very 60s, in a weirdly charming sort of way. Side 2 features Organbook II by Bolcom's friend, fellow William (Albright), and this record's soloist. This would make some good horror-movie music, particularly the "Toccata Satanique."

Albright's piece was "a Nonesuch records commission." Cool that they were commissioning such adventurous material.

[Bogey]

I may try to do a little Haydn run on vinyl.  Anyone own a recording in this format that they enjoy?

[Daverz]

I may try to do a little Haydn run on vinyl.  Anyone own a recording in this format that they enjoy?

The symphonies played by Leslie Jones and the Little Orchestra of London.

[Bogey]

The symphonies played by Leslie Jones and the Little Orchestra of London.

I just saw those a while ago here.

http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=results&searchtext=haydn&CategoryID=5&LabelID=233

Thanks!

[Daverz]

I just saw those a while ago here.

http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=results&searchtext=haydn&CategoryID=5&LabelID=233

Thanks!

Yeah, but you could probably get them at Amoeba or Record Surplus for under a buck.

[Bogey]

Yeah, but you could probably get them at Amoeba or Record Surplus for under a buck.

That is the hope.

[Daverz]

I may try to do a little Haydn run on vinyl.  Anyone own a recording in this format that they enjoy?

Also, the String Quartet Vox Boxes, particularly the Fine Arts Quartets contributions (though I'm not dismissing the Dekany Quartet; I've only listened to the FAQ sets so far), and a couple Hungarian String Quartet Lps on Turnabout.  There is also the old Maerzendorfer complete set of symphonies on MHS.  I grabbed a ton of these at Record Surplus in Santa Monica at 3 for a buck, but have only listened to a select few.  But what I've heard is very good.

[Bogey]

Also, the String Quartet Vox Boxes, particularly the Fine Arts Quartets contributions (though I'm not dismissing the Dekany Quartet; I've only listened to the FAQ sets so far), and a couple Hungarian String Quartet Lps on Turnabout.  There is also the old Maerzendorfer complete set of symphonies on MHS.  I grabbed a ton of these at Record Surplus in Santa Monica at 3 for a buck, but have only listened to a select few.  But what I've heard is very good.

I am on it like fleas on a prairie dog.  Thanks.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Dynagroove and Dynaflex

I would like to get some views on these. Collectors tend to disparage them, but are they all bad? I have one Dynaflex (Ormandy Ives 2nd) and it sounds fine to me.

[Daverz]

Dynagroove and Dynaflex

I would like to get some views on these. Collectors tend to disparage them, but are they all bad? I have one Dynaflex (Ormandy Ives 2nd) and it sounds fine to me.

It's hit and miss.  Dynagroove was also a mastering technique meant for cheap players.  But not all Dynagroove have that compromised sound.  Dynaflex was about cheaping out on the amount of vinyl, and can sometimes be noisy and mis-pressed, but sometimes very good (I have a Dynaflex Charles Mingus Tijauna Moods that sounds wonderful).

In general, avoid, unless the price is low enough that you can afford to take the chance.

[Ken B]

It's hit and miss.  Dynagroove was also a mastering technique meant for cheap players.  But not all Dynagroove have that compromised sound.  Dynaflex was about cheaping out on the amount of vinyl, and can sometimes be noisy and mis-pressed, but sometimes very good (I have a Dynaflex Charles Mingus Tijauna Moods that sounds wonderful).

In general, avoid, unless the price is low enough that you can afford to take the chance.

At a certain point I basically stopped buying RCA. I could hear things happen before they happened, which I gather was a deliberate bit of "pre distortion" desigend for less sensitive needles. Teach me to buy a high end stylus. I confess there was a certain perverse fun in making the dynaflex discs shimmy like a soap bubble by wobbling them though.