Hallé/Elder 2012 : BBC Studios, MediaCity, Salford For this Scottish concert hall venue Jack Renner (Telarc) worked with Tony Faulkner to produce a dynamic, balanced sound from these smaller forces that works with the acoustic to produce a stable, tangible orchestral presence. Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Mackerras 1997 : Usher Hall, EdinburghĮarly Telarc recordings with spaced mikes (much like early Mercury stereo) were not to my taste – true, the dynamic range was usually exceptional but it was the lack of a cohesive stereo image that disturbed. (Native DSD recordings from this venue are of exceptional fidelity.) Though the Chailly cycle was recorded in a concert venue this is far from a patched live recording and was not made before an audience but using the concerthall as a recording venue.īudapest Festival Orchestra/Fischer 2010 : National Concert Hall, Palace of Arts, BudapestĪ modern 1700-seater, Béla Bartók Hall is a traditional ‘shoebox’ and has a reputation for allowing instrumental clarity and was the work of the late acoustician Russell Johnson (Artec). Klemperer’s stereo cycle was recorded in dedicated recording venues Kingsway or Abbey Road. Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Chailly completed 2011 : Leipzig Gewandhaus The BIS recording team delivers true unconstrained dynamics and extraordinary clarity while keeping a sizeable acoustic signature – the hall will seat about 1850 persons and was built in the 1960s. Rotterdam Philharmonic/Nézet-Séguin 2014 : De Doelen Hall, Rotterdam A massive sound, retaining detail through the loudest passages. Recorded in the 2,000 seat theatre of a prefecture conference facility, photographs from the recording session suggest a typical Decca tree with touch up miking. Saito Kinen Orchestra/Harding 2012 : Kissei Bunka Hall, Matsumoto Japan (Just think of London Symphony Orchestra’s own recordings on its LSO Live label rather than all their recordings that would have appeared on Decca Records in the past.) ITo make it even harder I’ve tried to stick with the same or closely similar works. In part because of the fundamental way large-scale classical music is now recorded, often in conjunction or during performance and often in concert-halls not spacious recording venues. I thought it quite a challenge to find a top ten list of modern digital recordings that share these Golden age stereo qualities. There are good but of their time and it really is a nonsense to say they match the best of today’s recordings. These recordings are exceptional and come up gleaming with sympathetic remastering there has to be limitations in terms of magnetic tape limitations (hiss, saturation and absolute dynamic range) that remastering cannot overcome. (I have not been able to source or hear A Pilgrim’s Progress.) To listen to his complete list I went back in my own library and begged or borrowed the best remastering and media I could find. Of David’s top ten I am already familiar with five and fully concur with the choice. London Philharmonic Orchestra/Boult 1970/1 : Kingsway Hall, London Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra/Giulini 1970 : Walthamstow Assembly Hall Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Solti 1964 : Sofiensaal Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus/Giulini 1962 : Kingsway Hall, London Sinfonia of London/Barbirolli 1962 : TheTemple Church, London Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
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London Symphony Orchestra/Dorati 1959 : Watford Town HallĬolumbia Symphony Orchestra/Walter 1960 : American Legion Hall, Los Angeles London Symphony Orchestra/Monteux 1959 : Kingsway Hall, London
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Philharmonia Orchestra/Klemperer 1957 : Kingsway Hall, London
Audirvana plus cycle full#
His list bears repeating though I urge any reader to look at David’s blog for full descriptions of the recordings and venues.Ĭhicago Symphony Orchestra/Reiner 1954 : Orchestra Hall, Chicago My Kingsway searches had lead me to David’s list of recordings from the ‘Golden age of stereo’ where he gently suggests that recordings from an era of roughly mid 50s to the 1970s, simply recorded with well rehearsed orchestras in good acoustics, will match anything produced today. David was a contributor, like myself, to Hi-Fi News & Record Review though our paths never crossed. While looking into the history of the Kingsway Hall as a recording venue recently I came across David Pickett’s intriguing blog.