Golden Age of RCA and Mercury.

[Irons]

Kicking off at a high water mark of the RCA catalogue.

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Ravel)/ A Night on Bald Mountain.

Recorded December 7.1957.

Produced by Richard Mohr. Recording Engineer Lewis Layton.



"Pictures" is one of the great recordings of 20c. Fritz Reiner was a grade one so and so who nonetheless or more likely the reason why he achieved such astonishing results with his Chicago orchestra. Perfection and precision are his mantra. Some say he overdoes the precision, I have never subscribed to that, listening to his "Bydlo" in open mouthed astonishment.

Copland: Billy the Kid / Rodeo.

Recorded February 9, 1960.

Produced by John Pfeiffer. Recording Engineer Lewis Layton.



A wider stereo image then the Reiner, more Hi-Fi. Amazing that even the acoustic can be heard clearly from a recording of 60+ years. I hear the Manhattan Centre, New York to be a bigger venue then Orchestra Hall, Chicago. Can an American poster enlighten me if this is so?
Performances can be compared with Bernstein and Copland himself, I think. "Billy the Kid" gun battle particularly spectacular. However, the performance of "Rodeo" may just edge the former.   



   

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I love many recordings of the Living Stereo and Living Presence series. For now, I would like to mention these recordings. As for Dorati's Petrushka, the sound of various instruments are flying and jumping!

[DavidW]

My favorite:




Which on cd/sacd were released together.  The sound is phenomenal and the performance is absolutely desert island.  One of my all time favorite recordings of anything.

[Cato]

A wonderful recording of wonderful performances, especially the Schoenberg!

[George]

Of the few dozen recordings of Rach 3 that I have heard, this one is my favorite.

[Cato]

Of the few dozen recordings of Rach 3 that I have heard, this one is my favorite.

Amen!  Byron Janis was and is my #1 pick for this concerto.  I grew up with this performance of his with Charles Munch and The Boston Symphony Orchestra.

[Cato]

Speaking of RCA, here was one of my favorite vinyl records: works by Edgar Varese and Frank Martin with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jean Martinon.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

RCA Victor recording though it's not Living Stereo.

[Irons]

Amen!  Byron Janis was and is my #1 pick for this concerto.  I grew up with this performance of his with Charles Munch and The Boston Symphony Orchestra.

I cannot think of another soloist/conductor who featured on both RCA (Living Stereo) and Mercury (Living Presence)?

Edit: Maybe Szeryng.

[Irons]

Brahms: Violin Concerto.

Recorded February 21/22, 1955.

Producer John Pfeiffer. Recording engineer Lewis Layton.



Surprising how current both performance and sound. I find some performances of Brahms VC too slow and heavy. Heifetz is agile and has no need to hold back and admire a phrase, no need, as he is perfectly  self-aware of his God-given gift. I am running out of superlatives for Reiner.

[Irons]

RCA Victor recording though it's not Living Stereo.

Talk about throwing out baby with bathwater! It was the introduction of Dynagroove on their LP records that sent RCA on downward path both for reputation and sales.
Decca disliked the technology so much that when pressing RCA recordings under license they dropped Dynagroove without letting on to RCA, although still carrying the logo on covers.

[Spotted Horses]

Talk about throwing out baby with bathwater! It was the introduction of Dynagroove on their LP records that sent RCA on downward path both for reputation and sales.
Decca disliked the technology so much that when pressing RCA recordings under license they dropped Dynagroove without letting on to RCA, although still carrying the logo on covers.

Yes, dynagroove was a blunder only matched years later by the introduction of New Coke. 

[Spotted Horses]

I'm a huge Mercury admirer and can hardly think of a release I don't like (although to my ears the 35mm series is not as attractive as the earlier Mercury recordings recorded on a standard Ampex recorder). One recording that stands out in my mind for musical and technical excellence is the "Two Portraits" of Bartok, recorded by Dorati.



On CD it was released in a compilation with a different cover.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Mercury recordings I like.

[George]

Another favorite!

[vandermolen]

Miaskovsky/Rimsky-Korsakov
Bax

[DavidW]

That was my introduction to Hanson.

[vandermolen]

More Hanson:

[vandermolen]

Best recording of Khachaturian's 1st Symphony:

[Irons]

Another favorite!

Bob Fine's mobile recording studio in Moscow.