Thirty three and a third.

Started by Irons, November 22, 2018, 11:40:48 PM

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XB-70 Valkyrie

#240
Quote from: aligreto on April 28, 2019, 01:56:05 AM
I am listening to it now. Nice. Thank you for the link.

Glad you like it; i think his playing of both pieces is gorgeous. I hate to say it, but I think I even prefer it to the Dinu Lipatti.

And also...

Just don't play your Crossley (or anything!) on a Crosley!!  :laugh:
If you really dislike Bach you keep quiet about it! - Andras Schiff

aligreto

Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on May 01, 2019, 08:45:50 PM
Glad you like it; i think his playing of both pieces is gorgeous. I hate to say it, but I think I even prefer it to the Dinu Lipatti.

And also...

Just don't play your Crossley (or anything!) on a Crosley!!  :laugh:

What was interesting for me here was that I generally prefer to listen to JS Bach on a harpsichord and this was not difficult on my ears; a tribute to his playing.

XB-70 Valkyrie

Sadly, the Demus Bach LP on arrived CRACKED. As in, totally cracked (extending from label to edge). Fortunately, the eBay seller refunded my money instantly and did not even ask for me to send it back (hate to waste the better part of an hour going to the post office--really not worth it for a $20 item!!)

No one else had this one on eBay so I just ordered a different one.

Now, a question: Is there any chance of fixing a cracked record like this--i.e., so that it will be playable? Applying the right adhesive (?) with a little bit of gentle pressure? I am very skeptical it would work, that the grooves would line up correctly, and there would not be a tick, tick, tick, tick throughout the entire record. Probably not worth the bother--more of a curiosity thing than anything else.




If you really dislike Bach you keep quiet about it! - Andras Schiff

Irons

Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on May 07, 2019, 12:20:03 PM
Sadly, the Demus Bach LP on arrived CRACKED. As in, totally cracked (extending from label to edge). Fortunately, the eBay seller refunded my money instantly and did not even ask for me to send it back (hate to waste the better part of an hour going to the post office--really not worth it for a $20 item!!)

No one else had this one on eBay so I just ordered a different one.

Now, a question: Is there any chance of fixing a cracked record like this--i.e., so that it will be playable? Applying the right adhesive (?) with a little bit of gentle pressure? I am very skeptical it would work, that the grooves would line up correctly, and there would not be a tick, tick, tick, tick throughout the entire record. Probably not worth the bother--more of a curiosity thing than anything else.

Sadly not a chance. If such a thing could be attempted I dread to think of the damage sustained to your stylus.

Good to hear you were treated fairly by the seller of the recording. As protection for buyers positive/negative feedback works on eBay.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

aligreto

Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on May 07, 2019, 12:20:03 PM
Sadly, the Demus Bach LP on arrived CRACKED. As in, totally cracked (extending from label to edge). Fortunately, the eBay seller refunded my money instantly and did not even ask for me to send it back (hate to waste the better part of an hour going to the post office--really not worth it for a $20 item!!)

Now, a question: Is there any chance of fixing a cracked record like this--i.e., so that it will be playable? Applying the right adhesive (?) with a little bit of gentle pressure? I am very skeptical it would work, that the grooves would line up correctly, and there would not be a tick, tick, tick, tick throughout the entire record. Probably not worth the bother--more of a curiosity thing than anything else.

Quote from: Irons on May 08, 2019, 12:46:18 AM
Sadly not a chance. If such a thing could be attempted I dread to think of the damage sustained to your stylus.

Good to hear you were treated fairly by the seller of the recording. As protection for buyers positive/negative feedback works on eBay.


Agreed, the damage to your stylus would be the issue here.

Thankfully this has only happened to me one and, like you, I received a full refund. I then threw the two halves of the LP into the bin.

Ghost of Baron Scarpia

#245
Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on May 07, 2019, 12:20:03 PM
Sadly, the Demus Bach LP on arrived CRACKED. As in, totally cracked (extending from label to edge). Fortunately, the eBay seller refunded my money instantly and did not even ask for me to send it back (hate to waste the better part of an hour going to the post office--really not worth it for a $20 item!!)

No one else had this one on eBay so I just ordered a different one.

Now, a question: Is there any chance of fixing a cracked record like this--i.e., so that it will be playable? Applying the right adhesive (?) with a little bit of gentle pressure? I am very skeptical it would work, that the grooves would line up correctly, and there would not be a tick, tick, tick, tick throughout the entire record. Probably not worth the bother--more of a curiosity thing than anything else.

Did it once with a 78 rpm shellac disc (utterly replaceable and only played it once to make a copy on tape). Only worked for one side, tape was used on the other side to hold it together. But an LP has much finer grooves and I think it would be virtually impossible to align them.

Irons

In May 2018 SME surprisingly took ownership to the rights of Garrard Turntables. I wondered at the time where they would go with this. Soon to be announced a replica of the legendary Garrard 301 turntable at a cool £12,500! :o

You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

vandermolen

Quote from: Irons on May 09, 2019, 06:39:38 AM
In May 2018 SME surprisingly took ownership to the rights of Garrard Turntables. I wondered at the time where they would go with this. Soon to be announced a replica of the legendary Garrard 301 turntable at a cool £12,500! :o



Garrard is another nostalgia trip but I don't think I'll be splashing out £12,500 on one. More likely a £45 retro turntable from HMV.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Ghost of Baron Scarpia

I had a low-level consumer grade Garrard turntable when I was a kid. I didn't know they made anything remotely "audiophile."

aligreto

Quote from: Irons on May 09, 2019, 06:39:38 AM
In May 2018 SME surprisingly took ownership to the rights of Garrard Turntables. I wondered at the time where they would go with this. Soon to be announced a replica of the legendary Garrard 301 turntable at a cool £12,500! :o



That is interesting on both counts [I did not know that SME took ownership to the rights of Garrard Turntables]. The names of both SME and Garrard have a good provenance.

Irons

Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on May 09, 2019, 10:08:50 AM
I had a low-level consumer grade Garrard turntable when I was a kid. I didn't know they made anything remotely "audiophile."

Both the 301 and 401 (which I use daily) are excellent.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

XB-70 Valkyrie

#251
My efforts to buy a Jorg Demus Bach LP on eBay are apparently an affront to the laws of God and nature. The second attempt resulted not in a cracked LP (like the first one), but rather, the delivery of a 50s mono recording of the Nutcracker Suite conducted by Anatole Fistoulari on Decca. (you can stop laughing now) Seller refunded my money, and thinks there is hope of my ultimately receiving the correct article, as soon as he can figure out who he may have shipped to.
If you really dislike Bach you keep quiet about it! - Andras Schiff

aligreto

Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on May 13, 2019, 07:59:43 PM
My efforts to buy a Jorg Demus Bach LP on eBay are apparently an affront to the laws of God and nature. The second attempt resulted not in a cracked LP (like the first one), but rather, the delivery of a 50s mono recording of the Nutcracker Suite conducted by Anatole Fistoulari on Decca. (you can stop laughing now) Seller refunded my money, and thinks there is hope of my ultimately receiving the correct article, as soon as he can figure out who he may have shipped to.

Apparently doomed at every turn!

Irons



Discussing a CD on a vinyl thread may be odd but relevant, I think. The above performances - Overture "Conflict" is a cracking piece - were recorded from BBC radio broadcasts using "state-of-the-art" tape recorders by Richard Itter. The overture and 1st Symphony are both in mono which I have no issue with. "Conflict" lives up to it's name, but the quieter passages of the symphony I was struck by a high degree of background hiss. This surprised me as the LP record is not known for silent backgrounds. Many releases from Mercury on LP are very hissy which I do not find bothersome at all, in fact I look at it as part of the Mercury package. I do not have an axe to grind as far as CD as a music carrier is concerned but surprised that in the digital domain I am unable to subconsciously filter background hiss out, but listening in analogue I can.

I am grateful to hear music otherwise unavailable but at full price I do not think this release represents good value due to issues of sound. Perfect as a supplement to the BBC MM. The other Wordsworth Lyrita CD of Symphonies 2 & 3, a regular recording, is superb and a far better representation of the art of William Wordsworth IMO.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Irons

#254
It doesn't seem possible that it is coming up forty years that Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music recorded a complete set of Mozart Symphonies for L'Oiseau-Lyre. I have always admired the performances and slowly collected them over the years. Due to the Decca New Malden vinyl pressing plant closing down in 1980 and all production moved to Holland it follows, or so I thought, the whole series are in Dutch pressings. I had a double take when last week I happened across volume 3 in New Malden pressings. A lot is said on the differences of sound between Dutch and English pressed Decca issues, something I do not concern myself with as much as I once did, but the difference in presentation here is much larger then I would have imagined. The orchestra is more close-up, more immediate and at the same time seems smaller in number. The A of AM has a distant perspective and the sound reverberant and less clear in the Dutch pressing. I surmise that volume 3 was the first (1979) volume from Hogwood and one of the last to be pressed at New Malden, subsequent pressings of the same set were Dutch. An early pressing run will always result in better sound anyway. Recording venue and production team remained the same for the whole series.



Edit: Both sets were made up with the same size orchestra, 9 first violins, 8 second violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 3 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 4 horns and timpani.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

XB-70 Valkyrie

Leaving for France in a couple weeks. Do any of the cognoscenti here know of any good record shops in Paris (St. Malo? Vannes? Dinan? Carnac?)??  8)
If you really dislike Bach you keep quiet about it! - Andras Schiff

Mandryka

#256
Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on May 27, 2019, 07:55:09 PM
Leaving for France in a couple weeks. Do any of the cognoscenti here know of any good record shops in Paris (St. Malo? Vannes? Dinan? Carnac?)??  8)

Paris has the best second hand CD shop I know, Melomania on Boulevard St Germain. If I were you I'd go in there and ask them.

Every Sunday morning there's a very big flea market close to the Vanves metro station, it's always full of LPs.

Gibert Jeune in the 5th arrondissement may be worth trying, it's very close to Melomania in fact.  Again they're a big academic second hand book shop and I've seen CDs there I'm sure - if they don't have LPs they'll put you on to good places.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Biffo

Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on May 27, 2019, 07:55:09 PM
Leaving for France in a couple weeks. Do any of the cognoscenti here know of any good record shops in Paris (St. Malo? Vannes? Dinan? Carnac?)??  8)

Classical CDs are generally very expensive in France. I have no information on Paris but the situation in Brittany is now pretty bleak. There used to be harmonia mundi shops in Rennes and Quimper but the whole chain has now closed down. In the past some people have found fnac to be good but I find they now have a pretty feeble selection of compilations, popular classics etc. There is a fnac in the shopping complex just outside Vannes but personally I wouldn't make a special visit.

The specialist shops mentioned by Mandryka are more likely to be worth a visit but otherwise it is probably better just to buy stuff online. The days when most towns and cities had a record shop and browsing was fun are long gone.

XB-70 Valkyrie

Thanks Mandryka and Biffo, very interesting. If either of you are in the neighborhood (Paris, Brittany) in June, let me know if you want to meet for drinks or lunch.

I am actually mainly looking for LPs. I certainly do not need any, but if I find any, great! LPs by Yvonne Lefebure and some other hard-to-find French artists are at the top of my list.

We will likely end up buying a lot of books, and may have to ship back to the U.S so as not to be overweight in our luggage. LPs will likely have to go in luggage, so I am not looking to buy too many!
If you really dislike Bach you keep quiet about it! - Andras Schiff

aligreto

Quote from: Irons on May 27, 2019, 12:57:41 AM
It doesn't seem possible that it is coming up forty years that Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music recorded a complete set of Mozart Symphonies for L'Oiseau-Lyre. I have always admired the performances and slowly collected them over the years. Due to the Decca New Malden vinyl pressing plant closing down in 1980 and all production moved to Holland it follows, or so I thought, the whole series are in Dutch pressings. I had a double take when last week I happened across volume 3 in New Malden pressings. A lot is said on the differences of sound between Dutch and English pressed Decca issues, something I do not concern myself with as much as I once did, but the difference in presentation here is much larger then I would have imagined. The orchestra is more close-up, more immediate and at the same time seems smaller in number. The A of AM has a distant perspective and the sound reverberant and less clear in the Dutch pressing. I surmise that volume 3 was the first (1979) volume from Hogwood and one of the last to be pressed at New Malden, subsequent pressings of the same set were Dutch. An early pressing run will always result in better sound anyway. Recording venue and production team remained the same for the whole series.



Edit: Both sets were made up with the same size orchestra, 9 first violins, 8 second violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 3 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 4 horns and timpani.

Most interesting. I have six of those seven box sets in my collection and five of them are Dutch pressings. Coincidentally, the English pressing is Vol. 3.