Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP 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