Box Blather

[Mookalafalas]

Not sure if anyone has posted this but the final Ormandy box is announced for February 2025:

I don't really understand the whole RCA/Columbia/Sony thing that existed in the 50s-80s? so can someone tell me if this box will conclude the gathering all of Ormandy's recordings?

He recorded for Telarc and, I think?, Angel too, right? But those must be very few recordings.

   I'm not sure if the RCA material will be in this box at all. It could be BS, but I read a post in another forum claiming there would be another box of "late career" stuff--RCA, etc.

[lordlance]

I'm not sure if the RCA material will be in this box at all. It could be BS, but I read a post in another forum claiming there would be another box of "late career" stuff--RCA, etc.

Of course there will be more.... Sigh. 

So help me understand this: Ormandy recorded mono for Columbia then rerecorded most of it in stereo again. Did he then jump to RCA which at the time was a different label and re-record his repertoire? Is his RCA stuff from his last decade like the 70s-81?

[Daverz]

Of course there will be more.... Sigh.

So help me understand this: Ormandy recorded mono for Columbia then rerecorded most of it in stereo again. Did he then jump to RCA which at the time was a different label and re-record his repertoire? Is his RCA stuff from his last decade like the 70s-81?

Yes, he jumped to RCA in the 70s.  Then later on he made a few recordings for Telarc, EMI and Delos.  While he did re-record a lot of stuff, there was some really interesting new repertoire on RCA:

Penderecki's Utrejna(!)
William Schumann Symphony No. 9
Shostakovich Symphonies 13, 14 & 15
Persichetti Symphony No. 9
a newer recording of Ilya Murometz with fewer cuts (totally nearly an hour)
Mendelssohn's Walpurgisnacht
Tchaikovsky Symphonies 1-3 and Manfred
a few new Ives and Bartok pieces
An uncut Rach Symphony 2

[André]

Ormandy's Sibelius from both Sony and RCA has been issued in a single box. Maybe his RCA recordings will join the Sony ones, then ?

His Beethoven and Brahms symphonies are criminally underrated.

[lordlance]

Yes, he jumped to RCA in the 70s.  Then later on he made a few recordings for Telarc, EMI and Delos.  While he did re-record a lot of stuff, there was some really interesting new repertoire on RCA:

Penderecki's Utrejna(!)
William Schumann Symphony No. 9
Shostakovich Symphonies 13, 14 & 15
Persichetti Symphony No. 9
a newer recording of Ilya Murometz with fewer cuts (totally nearly an hour)
Mendelssohn's Walpurgisnacht
Tchaikovsky Symphonies 1-3 and Manfred
a few new Ives and Bartok pieces
An uncut Rach Symphony 2

I am not well-acquainted with Ormandy's recordings but based on what Dave has said, it would appear that Ormandy's original recordings were generally better than their remakes. Do you have any personal favorite re-recordings where you think he outdid his earlier work?

[Brian]

Forgive the self-centered crosspost, but I'm preparing to sell dozens of box sets in January and decided to post them to GMG first to save having to find strangers and deal with eBay/Discogs.

https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,33699.0.html

[The new erato]

I am not well-acquainted with Ormandy's recordings but based on what Dave has said, it would appear that Ormandy's original recordings were generally better than their remakes. Do you have any personal favorite re-recordings where you think he outdid his earlier work?

That Shostakovich 14 has always been a favorite of mine.

[André]

That Shostakovich 14 has always been a favorite of mine.

And his 15th, too !

[Leo K.]

I have been listening to the "Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Remastered Edition" (Orchestral set) but the remastered sound is somewhat bright and hurts my ear, is this anyone elses experience too? (Admittedly my ear is currently being cleaned from wax, so it could be only me)

[Mookalafalas]

I have been listening to the "Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Remastered Edition" (Orchestral set) but the remastered sound is somewhat bright and hurts my ear, is this anyone elses experience too? (Admittedly my ear is currently being cleaned from wax, so it could be only me)

   This is surprising to me. Are you listening through headphones?

[Jo498]

I have not heard that one but I have heard CD issues of Klemperer recordings from the late 1980 through the "black" boxes (that might be the same or at least the immediate predecessors of the warner complete box) and most of the time the oldest ones sound already pretty good, so differences to later remasterings are usually slight. It's not impossible that the "overdid" some filtering or something for the latest issues, simply because there were no real gains to be made. But very often the cheap big boxes use older masterings and do not redo everything.

[Mookalafalas]

I have not heard that one but I have heard CD issues of Klemperer recordings from the late 1980 through the "black" boxes (that might be the same or at least the immediate predecessors of the warner complete box) and most of the time the oldest ones sound already pretty good, so differences to later remasterings are usually slight. It's not impossible that the "overdid" some filtering or something for the latest issues, simply because there were no real gains to be made. But very often the cheap big boxes use older masterings and do not redo everything.

  The Klemperer touts new masterings. I was impressed by the sound, personally, but I'm quite old and probably can't hear high treble anyway. Someone somewhere in this thread was complaining about the Haitink box material being "juiced" up too much and erasing the special original sonics of the hall where most of the disks were recorded. Personally, I felt exactly the opposite--that the old recordings were flat and compressed and the new ones are energetic and full sounding. But, again, that might be because of my worsening hearing. Anyway, perhaps Leo K.'s relatively good hearing is being battered by "heightened" sound. Coincidentally, I'm trying to sell off all the older Klemperer Warners CDs from the little clam shell boxes that were released 12 years ago or so. I'm offering them cheaply, but I'm in Japan, so it won't do Leo any good...

[Vox Maris]

I have not heard that one but I have heard CD issues of Klemperer recordings from the late 1980 through the "black" boxes (that might be the same or at least the immediate predecessors of the warner complete box) and most of the time the oldest ones sound already pretty good, so differences to later remasterings are usually slight. It's not impossible that the "overdid" some filtering or something for the latest issues, simply because there were no real gains to be made. But very often the cheap big boxes use older masterings and do not redo everything.

I own the Mahler Klemperer box set issued by Warner/Tower Records Japan, which is a hybrid SACD set. It sounds marginally better than anything that came before it. Of course, this DSD transfer was done in Japan, so really a completely different technology than what was done before in terms of remastering in Europe (UK to be exact).

[Leo K.]

This is surprising to me. Are you listening through headphones?

Yes through headphones - admittedly my hearing isn't the best these days and I have one good ear so I can't always trust my opinion on sonics.

[Atriod]

I have been listening to the "Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Remastered Edition" (Orchestral set) but the remastered sound is somewhat bright and hurts my ear, is this anyone elses experience too? (Admittedly my ear is currently being cleaned from wax, so it could be only me)

Do you remember what discs you heard it on? I can revisit some of them and offer another opinion.

[Leo K.]

It turns out I had some sort of ear condition, went to the doctor and will have another appt next month, and now lately my hearing has been much better, it's a revelation. Now the Klemperer set sounds better than I thought, very much so!

[Mookalafalas]

It turns out I had some sort of ear condition, went to the doctor and will have another appt next month, and now lately my hearing has been much better, it's a revelation. Now the Klemperer set sounds better than I thought, very much so!

    Sorry to hear about the ear condition, but it sounds like you are getting a handle on it. I hope it's not a tinnitus type condition, triggered by high frequencies. My wife suffers from that from time to time, and it is very frustrating for her...

[Spotted Horses]

It turns out I had some sort of ear condition, went to the doctor and will have another appt next month, and now lately my hearing has been much better, it's a revelation. Now the Klemperer set sounds better than I thought, very much so!

Was it a wax buildup/infection sort of thing? I hope to hear that things are improving.

[Mookalafalas]

BTW, Anserment Stereo box is $123 from Amazon France. I was going to pounce, but Japan charges a $73 import fee    

[ritter]

BTW, Anserment Stereo box is $123 from Amazon France. I was going to pounce, but Japan charges a $73 import fee    

Well, you might not be missing out on much. The mention "Habituellement expédié sous 1 à 2 mois" isn't very encouraging, and in my experience usually means that they will not be able to fulfill the order...