Pristine Classical releases: Stokowski's 1960 Philadelphia return concert; Klemperer conducts Mahler's 2nd Symphony
Andrew Rose
STOKOWSKI The 1960 Philadelphia Return
MOZART Marriage of Figaro Overture
DE FALLA El Amor Brujo
RESPIGHI The Pines of Rome
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Live in full stereo at the Academy of Music; Philadelphia, 12 February 1960
Transferred by Pristine Classical from Stokowski's own open-reel tapes
Shirley Verrett-Carter, mezzo-soprano
The Philadelphia Orchestra
conductor Leopold Stokowski
MP3 Sample - Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, 4th mvt:
http://tinyurl.com/PASC264
Notes on the transfers:
We are very privileged to have access to the two tapes prepared for
Stokowski by the original station that broadcast the concert, WFLN-FM in
Philadelphia, which passed on the conductor's death first to his
assistant Jack Baumgarten, and then on to Edward Johnson at the
Stokowski Society.
It would appear both that these are direct copies of the actual
broadcast tapes (which would have been played out a few days after the
concert itself, with commentary added after the concert), and that the
stereo broadcast has never been heard properly. The commentary here was
recorded in standard stereo, but the entire concert was encoded in
Mid-Side (MS) stereo, a format used mainly for broadcast purposes and
not designed to be replayed without considerable technical intervention
to recreate a proper stereo image. Prior to this correction, one would
hear the M (or mono) signal from the left speaker and the difference
(the S or side component which contains the stereo spacial information)
from the right speaker, creating a very bizarre and confusing
soundstage. I have corrected this and inserted small fades between radio
commentary and music to cover the abrupt cut edits of the original.
Soncially the recording is otherwise very similar to the original tapes,
with very minor adjustments to equalisation and a degree of convolution
reverb added (reverb was required for previous Philadelphia issues by
Baumgarten) to ameliorate a very dry acoustic caused by close miking,
probably in order to get a good stereo spread with the Academy's narrow
proscenium and cut down on audience noise. A very small amount of pitch
flutter is occasionally apparent towards the end of the first half, but
otherwise sound quality is excellent.
In the process of researching this release, I learned the following from
Mark Obert-Thorn, who is based close to the city of Philadelphia:
The original station that broadcast the concert was WFLN-FM in
Philadelphia (now changed to a rock station with different call
letters). The engineering was supervised by Albert L. Borkow, Jr.,
whose company, Magnetic Recorder and Reproducer, produced the broadcasts.
The PO only started broadcasting in stereo beginning with the
concerts of January, 1960, so Stokowski chose a good time to come back.
This was only the seventh concert to be recorded by this team. Prior
to this, CBS had broadcast concerts sporadically through the 1950s. The
WFLN series lasted with few interruptions weekly into the 1980s.
There are oddities to these early stereo concerts. Magnetic's
mixing boards were primitive, so when the outros had to be recorded over
the applause at the end of a work, the applause was re-recorded and
mono-ed out on one track (often at a much lower volume level) and the
announcements added to the other track. Also, pauses between movements
were often not shortened for broadcast. (I have a WFLN tape of
Silvestri conducting Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony where there is about
a two-minute long stretch of audience noise after the first movement!)
As Mark points out, there were some very long sections of applause in
the original broadcast. These have been edited down to something more
appropriate. I have retained all the announcements, which are mainly
provided by the Philadelphia Orchestra's then assistant conductor,
William Smith. The broadcast concluded with a short speech by Stokowski,
made facing his audience at the end of the concert, and this too has
been retained.
http://www.pristineclassical.com/LargeWorks/Orchestral/PASC264.php
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KLEMPERER conducts Mahler's Resurrection Symphony
MAHLER Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection'
Recorded Holland Festival, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, 12th July, 1951
Jo Vincent, soprano
Kathleen Ferrier, contralto
Holland Festival Chorus
Concertgebouw Orchestra
conductor Otto Klemperer
MP3 Sample - 5th mvt, 2nd half: http://tinyurl.com/PASC265
Notes on the transfers:
Despite this recording being made well into the age of tape and
widespread use of the magnetic recording medium, there were numerous
clues to suggest that this recording was originally made onto pretty
standard 12" 78rpm acetate discs by the Dutch radio station, Katholieke
Radio Omroep, albeit well-made, well-preserved and quiet ones. Because
the discs would have been cut on alternating machines, it was possible
to see an increase in rumble below about 40Hz every other disc, with
disc changes thus obvious at roughly 4-minute intervals. Furthermore
some very light repetitive surface ticks at the start of the first
movement indicated a speed of almost exactly 78rpm. Finally a side join
during the first movement suffers slight phasing (which I've attempted
to diminish) as the music crossfades from the end of one disc to the
beginning of the next.
However, the biggest shortcoming of this recording lies in its frequency
range, which pretty much gives up just above 10kHz, thus depriving the
listener of the very high frequencies which give a sense of 'air' around
a recording, as well as enhancing particularly the brightest brass and
percussion. However, by a careful use of XR remastering's tonal
rebalancing I've been able to create a much fuller, clearer sound than
previously heard, one which greatly enhances the dynamic impact of this
superb performance.
http://www.pristineclassical.com/LargeWorks/Orchestral/PASC265.php
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--
Andrew Rose
Pristine Classical: "The destination for people interested in historic
recordings..." (Gramophone)
ve...@yahoo.com
Gerard
> On Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:17:59 GMT, <ve...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Your Clueless Abbedd
>
>
>
> So explain my C.V.
>
>
Clueless Vanity.
Taffy Brendel
> On Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:17:59 GMT, <ve...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >Your Clueless Abbedd
>
> So explain my C.V.
>
A number of rmcr members would and probably could
explain your "C.V." if it was viewable. Is it posted anywhere
or can you please post it in order for persons here to
evaluate it?
Taffy
O
<f3c6abec-f3b6-40c9...@t8g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
Taffy Brendel <taffy_...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Lacking that, I think I'll post my C.V. as an example:
________________
Owen's C.V.
I did not design the most famous, earth changing, eardrum shattering
horn mouthpiece of all time.
________________
There, that should get me a cup of coffee at McDonald's. That and a
dollar.
-Owen
Kip Williams
Heh! Good one.
Kip W
Kip Williams
> There, that should get me a cup of coffee at McDonald's. That and a
> dollar.
There was this one day when they were giving away cups of coffee. I'm
not in the habit, so I don't know if it was good or not, but it's
whatever kind they serve now, I guess.
Kip W
O
<k...@rochester.rr.com> wrote:
They serve a brand named "Paul Newman's Own." Paul Newman, being dead
now, obviously doesn't need his own anymore, so they serve it at
McDonald's. What I don't understand is that they served it when he was
still alive. Then what did Paul Newman serve? McDonald's Own?
-Owen, hopelessly confused and wishing he had a stronger brewed C.V.
Kip Williams
He shared.
Kip W
("Paul, did you bring enough for everybody?")
M forever
> On Fri, 7 Jan 2011 10:53:39 -0800 (PST), Taffy Brendel
>
> The gist of it is I designed the most successful Musical Instruments
> of our generation
>
> Case closed
Tinkering with stuff you don't understand and making one or two small
modifications to one or two sax mouthpieces doesn't add up to
"designing" anything, let alone whole "musical instruments", let alone
"the most successful of our generation". You are just a clueless
little tinkerer who is now unemployed because he doesn't have any
qualifications.
You are so clueless you didn't even know your big idol Ansermet was an
anti-semite. One can't get any more clueless than you.
Now the case is closed.
Take your meds.
O
<k...@rochester.rr.com> wrote:
To shamelessly steal a W.C. Field's joke: He brought it in by
parachute. It was good to the last drop.
-Owen
M forever
> In article <SxKVo.17264$rG3.14...@newsfe09.iad>, Kip Williams
I think the marketing thing behind Newman's salad dressings and
spaghetti sauces and all that was that he allegedly really was
directly involved in creating or specifying the products rather than
just lending his face for the labels. At least that was the story. So
"own" here means "his own recipe".
Matthew B. Tepper
letters to be typed in news:G%MVo.23207$Zf2....@newsfe17.iad:
Do did Jeffrey's mysteriously invisible C.V. pass through the digestive
system of a civet cat? That would explain a lot right there.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
Read about "Proty" here: http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/proty.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employers
Kip Williams
> Do did Jeffrey's mysteriously invisible C.V. pass through the digestive
> system of a civet cat? That would explain a lot right there.
Not enough beans, though if you whip the cat you can get a key
ingredient for Chanel No. 5.
Kip W
O
<k...@rochester.rr.com> wrote:
I seem to have lost my cat whip. I think I left it in rec.music.opera.
-Owen, settling for Chanel No. 3.2