nehegan ferran xirina
Earlie Schwoyer
By its very nature, no Top 20 list could hope to include all of the wonderful recordings of Ravel's music that we have available to us today. But here is a selection of 20 outstanding recordings that are sure to offer many hours of listening pleasure. There is a mix of classic recordings (Crespin's Shhrazade from 1963, Boulez's 1974 Bolro) and very recent releases (Abduraimov's Gaspard de la nuit, for example) so there should be something new and interesting to discover for even long-time Ravel devotees.
However, relief is at hand. As reported by MF and others a few days ago, one of the most venerated of all classical music labels, Deutsche Grammophon, has just announced a major reissue campaign: a series of DG recordings from the 1970s, all remixed and mastered from the original 4-track master tapes at Emil Berliner Studios, to be pressed at Optimal on 180 gram vinyl.
But as playback equipment improved, shortcomings in the DG sound became more apparent. Unlike the Mercury, Living Stereo and Decca recordings based around the use of fewer microphones, DG went all in on multi-track miking and mixing at an early stage, and the results could often sound more artificial. Pressings tended to roll off the bass and accentuate the mid-range, and compress dynamics: all sonic advantages when playing back vinyl on standard 60s and 70s gear, but less advantageous when played back on true audiophile equipment.
(There has remained some speculation as to whether SC cuts its lacquers from the original master tape, or from a copy of the master tape: I am not in a position to confirm or deny. If anyone is, please comment below).
If you saw that on the record, you could pretty much assume the vinyl was cut AAA from the master tape (or if digitally sourced, then mastered and cut to the highest level of quality). I believe that Kevin Gray was also involved in mastering certain Analogphonic titles. (I have no strong bias in favor of analogue sources over digital, so long as the final record sounds the best it can sound. Having said that, AAA titles done well do have a certain magic).
I will mention a few of these SACD issues in particular. In the 1970s the legendary Czech conductor Rafael Kubelik recorded a complete Beethoven symphony cycle with nine different orchestras, one for each symphony.
It is impossible to listen to all these SACD remixes/remasters and not question whether DG was really that far behind Decca and EMI in terms of sonic excellence. You also have to wonder whether the revelations of this SACD series, combined with the vinyl resurgence, aren't part of the reason why DG and EBS decided to embark on what, on paper, looks like an incredibly exciting and important series of AAA vinyl reissues. Will "The Original Source" rewrite the story of DGs sonic legacy?
For this series of vinyl reissues, EBS and DG are focusing in on a series of 70s recordings that were originally recorded to 4-tracks, including 2 surround channels for a possible future Quadrophonic release (that DG never followed through on). The recordings are being cut to vinyl directly from these 4-track masters, which means there is the potential for a massive improvement in sound quality. None of these records have been mastered for vinyl like this before; they were always derived from next generation sources which in all probability did not include any of the sonic material on the two surround tracks.
A full review will have to wait until these albums are released, but since I am familiar with these recordings in their various earlier guises, MF asked me to offer some perspective on what we are going to be getting.
This Rite of Spring is multi-miked within an inch of its life, which has its advantages - you can hear deep into the orchestral detail. But the flip-side of that approach is that there is little realistic sense of an orchestra playing in front of you in a tangible soundstage. The original LP issue of this, like the Trout Quintet, does have a closed-in quality, and there is an occasional brittleness to the sound. Also the bass is more than somewhat rolled off, again a typical trait with DG pressings at this time. The 45rpm Japanese reissue gives the music more room to breathe, and is preferable overall.
The two Brahms piano concertos performed by Emil Gilels with Eugen Jochum conducting the Berlin Philharmonic have long held sway in the catalogue. My 70s re-pressing never set the world on fire sonically, so I am very excited to hear this new vinyl edition.
As to what we may be getting down the road? It's a little hard to guess, because they are limiting themselves to recordings made for quadraphonic. I am hoping for some of Seiji Ozawa's magical Ravel series with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the Karajan Richard Strauss releases, especially the glorious account of the Four Last Songs with Gundula Janowitz, or maybe his Bruckner 7 or 8, or Honegger's 2nd and 3rd Symphonies; some Bernstein please - perhaps the arrangements for strings of Beethoven quartets, or the Carmen from the Met; the Schubert String Quintet with Rostropovich and the Melos Quartet; Daniel Barenboim's unequalled version of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony; Abbado's Prokofiev and Pulcinella; Giulini's Pictures at an Exhibition or Mahler's 9th Symphony with the Chicago Symphony - two of his very best records... I could go on forever!
thank you very much: Emil Berliner Team, especially the ones who worked hard for the quality that as usual are ignored, when listing the creator of such results.Sidney Claire MeyerandStephan FlockPhilip KrauseLukas KowalskiAngela ChastenierHans KaiserMatthias KockJustus BeyerJulian HelmsChristoph Rnnecke
No I didn't - at least not directly. I did audition a re-release of the 5th back in the day which was so poor I returned it. I refer you to what Michael Johnson wrote in his excellent review (I concur completely since I likewise own the same complete Bernstein set): "While I do not own any of the (now quite expensive) original vinyl pressings, I do have the complete cycle on CD and I never found it to be a sonic marvel. I also have the earlier 2016 reissue of this Symphony No. 5 recording, released by DG and remastered in-house at Optimal. This new Emil Berliner remastering beats it handily, with a wider soundstage and more instrumental definition compared to the rather muddy sounding 2016 cut." I have every confidence that EBS did the best possible job in remixing/remastering for vinyl, even better than the analogphonic versions - I can't imagine anyone doing better than EBS - but if someone has heard both and disagrees I would love to hear their perspective.
That's very interesting. Have you heard the new box set versions at all? Trouble is, it was so hard to get the Analogphonic versions back in the day - they were always out of stock. Yes, would love to hear from someone who has both the Analogphonic versions and the new ones in the box.
Another incredible article bringing such a mass of varied information that I will have to reread it several times and take notes. A big thank-you. Of course I have a few average DG pressings at best and bought new in the heyday (yes I am very old). Quite simply because they seemed essential to me. I followed them with the appearance of CD and then SACD (they didn't do DVDA I think ?). I'm getting more and more eager to buy their full set of vinyl reissues despite the rather fanciful price tag. This in the light of your writings and those just before announcing their release.
Thank you also for your involvement, your research and your purchase advice. I only have a 4-channel SACD (known as Surround) by C. Kleiber directing the 5th & 7th from LVB (recorded in 1975/76 and therefore from 2003). Only my Sony 6700 BR player can play it. For vinyl, what I have most prestigious is a Goldmund studio 1/Magnepan Unitrac/Goldring 1042 (I can mount a DL 103 but my Pro-Ject MC1H seems more appropriate given its low weight).
Hi Mark, thanks so much for this! Though I disagree with most of your performance judgments here, I still find your article truly magnificent! Your way and style of writing are remarkable and the wealth of information on sonic characteristics and differences is extraordinary! I am looking forward to reading more from you in the future. I am so glad MF found you!
I very much appreciate your positive feedback. We're a funny old lot, we classical music lovers, with our multiple versions of the same work, and our disagreements on which is the best version.... But it's all so much fun!
Mark, fascinating article. Classical music on vinyl receives very little attention even though I believe analogue recordings sound best on vinyl. In the UK original pressings are fairly plentiful mostly at reasonable prices so the lack of vinyl reissues is not really a barrier to a collector. If you limit yourself to NM vinyl the pressing quality is good. However DG's Original Source project is really interesting and hopefully Warner and Sony will also issue AAA reissues.
Speaking of Sony.... Their series of large CD box reissues (eg. George Szell, Eugene Ormandy) are revelatory. The remastering has transformed recordings we knew only from sub-par earlier CDs or noisy vinyl (though you can find random 6 and 2-eye pressings that are good) Fantastic stuff! Speaker's Corner had started to reissue some old CBS/Sony albums on vinyl which were excellent, but that seems to have dried up, alas. Recent RCA boxes on CD have also been excellent. There's a lot of post-Living Stereo material that was never on decent sounding vinyl - another potential goldmine for vinyl lovers.
Thanks for reading! I'm afraid I have never investigated Qobuz. Maybe if it's designated as being of higher resolution it will be derived from an EBS remaster, but no way to confirm, I'm afraid. Many of these DG recordings have had earlier hi-res releases not done by EBS - ie. not remixed. Hunt around on the forums to see if you can get an answer. Wish I could be of more help.
Thanks! The specific Claudio Abbado/Stravinsky SACD I mention, containing The Rite,Firebird suite and Jeu de Cartes, has long been out. I checked eBay and I saw copies. Esoteric also did a beautiful SACD of Petrushka which you may find at the usual audiophile retailers, plus eBay - expensive though. The new Original Source LPs (including the Abbado Rite) are available for preorder from DG's webstore
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