What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[DavidRoss]

... of which the ending of the Op. 110 caught the attention of the little cat, who stared intently in the direction of the speakers until well into the Op. 111. Though he's on the sofa cleaning himself now, he still has his ears oriented toward the stereo.

My kitty is a music critic, too, often joining me to listen on the main system.  She prefers chamber music, and loves solo piano, but is not fond of "bombastic orchestral dissonance" and has been known to leap up and bolt from the room during tuttis.

[owlice]

Unsa kätz häd kaz'ln g'habt ...

Hahaha!! I had not caught that; thanks!! Oh, that's funny!

My kitty is a music critic, too, often joining me to listen on the main system.  She prefers chamber music, and loves solo piano, but is not fond of "bombastic orchestral dissonance" and has been known to leap up and bolt from the room during tuttis.

Oh, poor kitty! Why do you subject her to bombastic orchestral dissonance? Give her her chamber music!!

What kind of cat is she?

My little cat is a tuxedo born of a feral mom who decided having a human was the way to live; the big cat is a three-legged Himalayan we took in when his previous owner had to give him up.

~~~

Now in, Kempff playing the same three sonatas. The Buchbinder strikes me as very intimate playing, the Kempff as bigger.

For many years, my preference had been for Arrau in the last sonata (my favorite among the 32), and I would listen to his after listening to other recordings to "clean out my ears," so to speak. Now... not so much; I find some fault there where I didn't before.

[George]

I'm a copycat. 

Op. 26

[Lethevich]

Dvorak, Symphony No. 7 - Neumann/CzPO Supraphon DDD recording.  Some recordings made by this team could be too reverberant, but these Dvorak recordings are just right, warm and present.  The interpretation is thrilling.

My favourite 7th Poised, dramatic, great! And indeed, the recording fantastically side-steps the horrible bright/thinness usually associated with early stereo.

[George]

My favourite 7th Poised, dramatic, great! And indeed, the recording fantastically side-steps the horrible bright/thinness usually associated with early stereo.

Roughly, when would you say the early stereo period ended and stereo recordings became consistently reliable?

[Coopmv]

Very cool. That set is dirt cheap at MDT. 

Indeed, MDT has the best prices on BC CD's, period.  This will continue to be true as long as the Dollar does not decline against the Pound much further.

[owlice]

Cats everywhere!

George, I have only the DG two-fer of the late sonatas by Kempff. For complete sets, I have only (heh: "only"!) Schnabel, Brendel, and Goode, and I've heard Ashkenazy's. My budget currently limited by the need to pay college tuition for the tall child a couple of years earlier than I had anticipated, I have to make do with what I already have. (Oh, the horror, the horror! )

As I still have CDs I have not listened to (that's the real horror), I think I'll be okay for a while!

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD2 from this set.  The performance by Solti and the CSO on CD1 was first-rate ...

[Daverz]

Roughly, when would you say the early stereo period ended and stereo recordings became consistently reliable?

Lethe wrote stereo when he meant to write digital.  The Neumann's digital Dvorak cycle (his second cycle) is from the early 80s.

[mahler10th]

Symphony 104.

[George]

Lethe wrote stereo when he meant to write digital.  The Neumann's digital Dvorak cycle (his second cycle) is from the early 80s.

I thought that might be the case. However, I am still curious about the point at which early stereo became reliable stereo.

[Coopmv]

I thought that might be the case. However, I am still curious about the point at which early stereo became reliable stereo.

I think this should be the late 1950's.  I have a few of the DECCA Legends, chief among them is the Also Sprach Zarathustra by Karajan/VPO, which has unbelievably nice stereo sound.  Incidentally, the "theme" music from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey came straight from this recording.

[Lethevich]

Lethe wrote stereo when he meant to write digital.  The Neumann's digital Dvorak cycle (his second cycle) is from the early 80s.

Indeed, super fail! I've made this typo before as well - I never learn

[Drasko]

Indeed, super fail! I've made this typo before as well - I never learn

A typo, but not entirely wrong. I do find Supraphon early stereo recordings (late 50s early 60s) bit bright and bass-shy.

[George]

A typo, but not entirely wrong. I do find Supraphon early stereo recordings (late 50s early 60s) bit bright and bass-shy.

So mid-sixties is when then became much more consistent?

[Valentino]

Blessed Haydn. String Quartet No. 62 in C major ("Emperor"), Op. 76/3, H. 3/77: Poco Adagio. Cantabile. Quatuor Mosaiques.

And I've changed the text in my avatar. Revolution!

[Drasko]

So mid-sixties is when then became much more consistent?

How consistency comes into play? I didn't say anything was inconsistent, only said that early 60s were bit bright. I can't give you the date but Ancerl's Mahler 9th from 1966 suonds superb to these ears. Try for instance comparing presence of the basses in that one and in some earlier Ancerls and come to your own conclusions.

[Opus106]

And I've changed the text in my avatar. Revolution!

Who's that in your avatar anyway? (I've been meaning to ask. )

[George]

How consistency comes into play?

Unless I am misunderstanding something here, early stereo recordings tended to be less consistent at providing a good representation of the actual performance. I am just trying to find out the approximate point at which stereo recordings became reliable at accurately reproducing sound.

I didn't say anything was inconsistent,

Right, I did. Wasn't trying to put words in your mouth, just trying to figure something out.

only said that early 60s were bit bright. I can't give you the date but Ancerl's Mahler 9th from 1966 suonds superb to these ears. Try for instance comparing presence of the basses in that one and in some earlier Ancerls and come to your own conclusions.

I don't own those recordings. That's why I am asking, I figured that perhaps some of our members might have reached a conclusion on this subject. It's something I never really thought about and figured that someone might have worked this out already.

[Valentino]

Who's that in your avatar anyway? (I've been meaning to ask. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KbexgVhmT4