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Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!cornell!tesla!jeff
From: jeff@tesla.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: CD.sound
Message-ID: <109@tesla.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 16-Jun-83 17:35:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: tesla.109
Posted: Thu Jun 16 17:35:02 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Jun-83 06:01:53 EDT
Lines: 33

Does anybody remember the old Mercury single-mike records?  Pre-stereo,
mid to late fifties, Mercury was proud of their single-mike technique which
used one microphone some meters above the conductor`s head, with no fancy
local miking or mixing.  I have at least one terrific record using that
technique--a Petrouchka with (I think) the Detroit Symphony conducted
by Antal Dorati.  Alas, like most of us, that record isn`t what it was.
However, it did have a very smooth sound with a very pleasing reverberation
characteristic; an example of what was best in the mono days.
I think RCA may have used  similar technique with their latest mono
recordings (1954): Toscanini`s Carnegie Hall recordings (Dvorak; 9th Symphony;
Pictures at an Exhibition) and the last Fritz Reiner recordings (Ein Heldenleben,
Also Sprach Zarathustra).  Some of these have been remastered and reissued
on Victrola, etc. labels in the US and the UK.
If you can hear any CD`s at all, try for the Debussy Pelleas and Melisande,
and one of a Dvorak string serenade.  If you need further info I can supply
by followup.  Of all the CD`s I`ve heard these have the "purest" sound -- no
tape hiss, beautiful string tone; great dynamics with the chorus on the
Debussy.
It`s a pity most of the stuff that`s being issued on CD is musically very
uninteresting, though.
Phillips (?) did a digital recording of some recent Bayreuth performances
but with CD`s ability to make extraneous sounds annoyingly evident, one
wonders whether this recording would make a viable commercial release.
The CD of Bernstein conducting the Shostakovich Fifth IS a recording of
a live performance, however, and the audience noise is NOT obtrusive.
As a final note, Glenn Gould`s singing in his CD performance of the
Goldberg Variations is no more (or less) noticeable than it is on his
1959 LP of that work.
As a final final note, why haven`t the US magazines done record reviews
of the CD`s that they could obtain as easily as they obtain the players
they have tested?  Of course they`re not officially available in this
country yet, but it WOULD be interesting.
Jeff