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Pristine News: Friday 12th February, 2010  Introducing Pristine Audio SI
New
to Pristine Classical? Get Started Here:
A Beginner's Guide to Downloading - Five ways to find recordings at Pristine Classical - Full printable Pristine Audio catalogue New release today: Beethoven's Fifths Pristine Audio PASC 213 Transfers
and XR remastering by Andrew Rose, January & February 2010 Total
duration: 70:37 Two
splendid 'fifths' performances in superb XR-remastered sound Soloist Paul Badura-Skoda, piano 1:
Studio recording, Walthamstow Assembly Rooms, London, September 1954 *Recording
under the pseudonym "Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London" Beethoven's Fifths - his Symphony No. 5 and
Piano Concerto No. 5, are two of the greatest works either form has
ever produced. Both have seen innumerable performances and recordings
since their composition during the composer's incredibly fertile middle
period between 1804 and 1810. Here we bring you newly XR remastered studio recordings
from the baton of the great Hermann Scherchen, who set these down on
tape for LP issue by Westminster Records in the first half of the 1950s. The earlier recording, the Emperor
Concerto was made in
Vienna in 1951 with Paul Badura-Skoda at the keyboard, and was
considered one of the finest of its era. The 5th
Symphony was
brilliantly captured by the Westminster engineers in London in 1954. Both are superb additions to our Scherchen Beethoven
series.
Notes
on the recordings: These
two recordings indicate quite powerfully the swift advances in sound
quality which were obtained in orchestral recordings through the 1950s.
Despite there being just three years between them, the 1951 recording
of the Piano Concerto No. 5 can sound at times like it belongs to a
different era when the two are compared directly. There
could be a number of reasons for this - tape technology was still in
its commercial infancy, and the degree of hiss to be heard on the
earlier recording is substantially higher than that of the Symphony No.
5 recording. But there is more to it than this - there is an added
directness and clarity about the Symphony recording which the Concerto
quite simply lacks. The
reasons for this are not too difficult to guess, and one immediately
suspects both the choice and placing of the microphone(s) used to make
each recording. Whilst the recording techniques used for the 1951
recording would have seemed perfectly adequate for the 78rpm era (which
was still in full swing - though not for much longer), they had simply
yet to address fully the technical and sonic advances offered by the
new vinyl LP disc. In
short it's reasonably good for 1951, but would not have been considered
good for 1954. My aim has been to ameliorate the shortcomings of the
original as much as possible and to keep the overall sound as open as I
could - as a result there are slightly higher levels of background tape
hiss still to be heard on the Concerto recording. This
is my third restoration of my second transfer of this concerto
recording - and in it I believe I was finally able to do justice to
both the performance and the recording. Meanwhile
the Symphony was, comparatively speaking, a breeze - one of those
wonderful recordings which almost fell off the record thanks to a
combination of excellent original coupled with a superb pressing, all
of which improved further with XR remastering to bring out the very
best in it - a restorer's delight! Andrew
Rose
New release today: The Magic Key of RCA: April 18, 1937 Pristine Audio PASC 214 XR
remastering by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio, February 2010 Total
duration: 59:36
Launching the Pristine Audio "SI" - Special Interest - historic series
What a line-up! One
hour of live radio brings forth the Philadelphia Orchestra under four
conductors: Stokowski, Ormandy, Iturbi and Charles O'Connell. There's a piano solo from the great Iturbi, and to cap it all, a
superb rendition of Verdi's O
don fatale from
legendary contralto, Marian Anderson - together it's a truly
magnificent recording. The catch? Well the sound quality is really not that great. We've
been holding this back for a while now, wondering how best to present
it. It's been XR remastered - which made massive improvements to the
audio - but like too many recordings we have not released yet, it will
always be compromised (unless a better source turns up). We do suspect that a lot of people would really love to hear these
performances, so today it launches our new Special Interest label.
Notes
on the recordings: The
Magic Key of RCA ran as an hour-long musical variety programme on an
almost-weekly basis for 204 episodes over four years, between 29th
September 1935 and 18th September 1939. The broadcasts went out on
Sunday afternoons between 2pm and 3pm on NBC's Blue network, and
featured a very wide range of artists and guests - the very first
broadcast, for example, included contributions not only from conductor
Walter Damrosch and singer Paul Whiteman, but also Walt Disney and
radio comedians Amos 'n' Andy. The
79th broadcast of 18th April 1937 came live from the Philadelphia
Academy of Music, on the eve of the Philadelphia Orchestra's five-week
"coast-to-coast tour of 11,000 miles with stops at twenty-four cities"
under Ormandy and Iturbi, travelling on a "special de-luxe 9-car
Pullman train". The broadcast carefully promotes not only the tour, but
also RCA Victor's long association with the orchestra, and of course
RCA's own electrical products. In
fact the "Magic Key" series came about as a means of promoting an
electronic tuning aid developed by RCA for its radios in 1935, and was
one of a number of 'magic' references dreamed up by RCA's PR
department, as this excerpt from a technical website makes clear: RCA
registered their first electron-ray tube, the 6E5, on June 27, 1935.
This tube initially appeared in RCA’s console-model product line that
same year. RCA was fearing a loss of market share to competitors’ new
lines of very small and midget radios, many of which were designed and
produced in Los Angeles. RCA’s promotion touted the "Magic Eye" as an
elegant feature of their upper product line - where profit margins were
greatest. Not surprisingly, the 6E5 wouldn’t fit inside the
competitors’ smallest sets. The name "Magic Eye" quickly gained
acceptance with the public as the standard identity for the electron
ray tube and tuning eye feature in consumer radio sets, regardless of
manufacturer. RCA’s
marketing department went on a bit of a binge with the "Magic" theme as
it popped up in a variety of other radio features. This included the
"Magic Brain" tuning unit, the "Magic Voice" sound system, the "Magic
Wave" antenna, and the "Magic Key" station programming system. Two of
RCA’s 1936 model year console sets introduced in late 1935, Models 9K
and 13K, were really "Magic". Along with the "Magic Eye", they were
equipped with a combination of the other "Magic" features. The public
however was not as impressed with these other "Magic" promotions as
none of them gained the lasting familiarity of the "Magic Eye." A Pristine Audio SI Release: Important Technical Note However,
it had already received some quite strong noise processing which I was
unable to undo, hence the release's designation as an "SI" release,
meaning of "Special Interest" - but of reduced fidelity. It
has been fully restored and XR-remastered, greatly improving the sound
quality over the original as supplied, but several aspects of the audio
had already been compromised beyond restoration. We believe that, for
many collectors, this will prove secondary to simply having this
remarkable recording available to listen to. Pristine
Audio SI releases, although processed at 32-bit or higher resolution,
are not available as 24-bit downloads as there is no sonic improvement
possible over the standard 16-bit versions of these issues. Andrew
Rose
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Reviews, e-mails & comments
"Conductor Felix Weingartner (1863-1942) belonged to a literalist tradition in German music-making not far removed from the style of Arturo Toscanini, as both eschewed the more excessive aspects of Romantic exaggeration and musical histrionics. Weingartner made his mark on the history of recordings with a first complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies. His penchant for orchestration embraced Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and Bizet’s Variations chromatiques. Producer and engineer Mark Obert-Thorn has expertly resuscitated some of the rarer materials Weingartner bequeathed us from Basle, including the 1928 realization of his own incidental music excerpt for The Tempest, previously issued only in Switzerland. Only the 1928 Invitation to the Dance--from the same May 3 session--appeared in the USA. The program opens with the Der Freischuetz Overture (3 May 1928) in relatively thin sound and distant acoustics, so the otherwise distinctive horn and woodwind scoring of the piece is lost, more the wont of pre-electrical recording techniques than the recording date would indicate. Typical of any Weingartner performance, we do enjoy a strong architectural sense, the musical periods shaped along natural breathe periods. The Schubert B-flat Entr’acte from Rosamunde (3 May 1928) proves more successful, the lyricism in the forward strings retained along with resonant woodwinds. Tempos are generally brisk, andantino, the lines long and elastic. Weingartner’s own music for The Tempest (3 May 1928) projects a fairy-land ethos, the harmonic syntax closer to Shreker than to Mendelssohn, the bass harmonies complementing the upper register in flute and pizzicato strings. The middle section exploits a nasal falsetto sound in thin violins, with warbles and plucked notes beneath. As for Weingartner’s orchestration of the Weber Invitation to the Dance (3 May 1928), it certainly is not Berlioz. While Weingartner assigns some of the same tissue to cellos and violins, he does not mind adjusting the extended line among several choirs, including harp and bass fiddles. Weingartner’s innate love for counterpoint manifests itself, and some of the stretti become simultaneously ponderous and hectic. The recording of Mendelssohn’s 1842 Scottish Symphony (27 March 1929) with the Royal Philharmonic sets a lovely standard of execution, linear, sympathetic, vocally shaped. Sonic definition in the clarinets, strings--especially the violas--and tympani remains strong. Weingartner brings out the seamless mastery of the Mendelssohn mature style, beautifully integrating the two main themes of the first movement. The pentatonic Vivace--in sonata-allegro form rather than a true scherzo--basks in a kind of bright and sportive Caledonian flavor. The RPO woodwinds, horns and whirling strings are in martial spirited form. The Andante possesses something of Schumann’s romanticism, although the scoring is more delicate. Weingartner milks the string line, with its plucked harp-like accompaniment, with tender affection. The march of the secondary theme casts a somber and devotional hue on the work. Much of the vigorous, even fierce Finale resounds with fugal techniques we hear in the Fingal’s Cave Overture. Weingartner takes the move to 6/8 and A Major with aggressive authority, allowing this “warlike” piece to conclude with a brilliant authority, a performance that certainly stands the test of time." -- Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition on PASC210, Weingartner in Basle & London, 1928-1929 --00-- "The Pristine label has one of the most intriguing arrays of historic recordings. Andrew Rose adds to the attraction by regularly striking out in surprising repertoire directions. He also does work for other labels. An example is his recent Warlock set for The Divine Art. These Sibelius discs continue a line established by his accomplished reissue of the Ormandy monos of symphonies 4 and 5 on PASC177. PASC 204 gives us a good conspectus of Sibelius on 78 beyond the confines of the Sibelius Society shellac volumes. Its coverage is restricted to the smaller-scale works available on 78s at least to the well-heeled UK enthusiast in the 1930s and early 1940s. Kajanus conducts the Royal Philharmonic Society orchestra in 1930 in two movements from Karelia letting us hear his sturdy no-nonsense readings through a bristle of shellac surface. Heward’s Birmingham Rakastava catches all the elusive razory magic hemmed in between The Tempest and the Humoresques. These are surprisingly taut and well judged recordings. Do sample The Road to the Beloved movement: you will be impressed for sure. Heward was a great loss to Sibelians everywhere and the point is further pressed home with a very impressive Elegie from King Christian II. Ormandy’s 1940 Swan gleams with powerhouse brightness which cannot help but impress although I am still recommending Morton Gould’s extraordinary 1960s recording recently reissued by HTT in glowing sound as well as Mravinsky’s Moscow live version. The Beecham 1935 Festivo with the LPO is a fine example of Sibelius’s lighter fancy unleashed – complete with Carmen castanets and a Hispanic Chabrier wink. Kajanus’s four movement suite from Belshazzar’s Feast has its unsettling parallels with Nielsen’s later Aladdin music. In the Oriental Procession one has the sense of being carried forward on a heavy-duty flying carpet. The oppressive stride of the Procession relents for the enchanted slow-tolling Solitude and the unearthly shimmer of Night Music. Such buzzing tension as may have built across the three previous movements is released by the chirrup and chatter of Khadra’s Dance. It is surprising that Beecham did not fasten on this last piece as one of his ‘lollipops’. Kajanus here conducts the LSO in 1932. We next flit across the Atlantic again – this time to Boston and Koussevitsky for The Maidens with Roses from Swanwhite. Koussevitsky is a renowned Sibelian yet for me this version seems ponderous. I remember being similarly disappointed with his way with Sibelius 2 and 5. After the orchestral bon-bons come four chamber pieces. The two movements from Danses Champêtres are sweetly and then elvishly addressed by the slender tones of Telmanyi. The op. 78 Romance bids well into Kreisler territory with a nostalgic backward glance at Sibelius’s ambitions as a solo violinist. Louis Jensen’s bleak Malinconia for cello and piano agains looks to violinistic examples and the Violin Concerto. These last four chamber tracks sound very fine indeed and Werschenskaya’s piano registers astonishingly well given the age of the recording. Pristine work closer to the cliff-edge of copyright lapse for the mono Ormandy disc. Here they revive a Sibelius Columbia mono LP from the mid-1950s (ML-5249). These readings were not completely unknown to determined CD-based Sibelians; I heard them in a private transfer some years ago. The very fine transfers by Mark Obert-Thorn bring devastatingly home the Philadelphia’s virtuoso excellence in the service of Sibelius’s untamable imagination. They give us a really heart-pulsing En Saga. It is so fast that once I caught myself regretting that the woodwind figures were not allowed to unfold at a less hurried rate. It is sometimes as if Ormandy was looking to the example of that Soviet ‘speed merchant’ Nikolai Golovanov who often dealt in adrenaline and flames. Even so at 11:12 Ormandy and his Fabulous Philadelphian wind principals catch the still heart of the music and then intoxicatingly light the blue touchpaper at 11:46. The string figures swirl and volplane like a Sabrejet of that era and the horns call out with emphatic urgency. As the climax passes the shudder and rictus of the strings at 13:30 is gloriously done. The analogue hush adds to the effect. If you fast-forward to my stereo reference version of En Saga with Horst Stein and an orchestra often denigrated, the Suisse Romande, you will find similar intensity. Stein who must have drilled the OSR to a sharpened point allows a little more oxygen in the bloodstream and slightly more spacious tempo. Van Beinum’s En Saga is well worth hearing too – Hall of Fame stuff – it’s on Eloquence. In similar fiery vein is Furtwängler’s 1940s Berlin version even if he does take a full 5 minutes longer. Stein and his Decca engineers also provide a masterly Pohjola’s Daughter with comparable virtues. Ormandy presses forward but the pacing and tension is just superbly weighed and his predilection for the furies can be felt in the evenly whipped string whirlwinds that provide an ostinato at 6:55 and later. Magical emphasis is given to the harp. In Oceanides the accelerator is depressed too far. Ormandy dispatches it in 8:24 which feels at least a minute too fast. If you like your Oceanides on a jet-ski then this may be for you; not me. It’s as striking as Paavo Järvi’s Nightride on Virgin Classics. Tapiola is taken at a more evolutionary tempo. It is more pensive though it is, as expected, flammable and inflamed for the great storm that howls the pine trees double at 15:03. Again I must point you to Van Beinum and that Eloquence set if you want to hear one of the world’s greatest ever Tapiolas; this is not far behind. Van Beinum shaves 5 seconds off Ormandy’s timing. We must hope that Pristine will also revive Ormandy’s mono Lemminkainen Legends from another 1950s Columbia. As for the Alfvén it gets a lunging and plunging sparkling-eyed performance; the best I have ever heard. There’s no hesitation here. It’s played up a storm. I have found this piece queasy and unengaging in the past but this makes it something very special indeed. I am reminded of the transformational way Paavo Rautio had with the Madetoja’s Second Symphony and Karel Sejna had with the Fibich Third Symphony. I hope Alfvén was able to hear this recording and that I am not going to be told by one of the cognoscenti that Alfvén hated it! If he did then I dissent. The liner-notes drawn largely from Wikipedia are on the back of the insert with a note on the magical and meticulous pitch restoration work Mark Obert-Thorn had to do so that we can hear the Alfvén properly for the first time. I wonder how many expatriate Swedes familiarised themselves with this work from concert performances of the piece by Ormandy." -- Rob Barnett at Musicweb International on Pristine's recent Sibelius issues. --00-- "Hi .. I've just been told that the silly old buffer ****** has fallen for an early April Fools spoof by David Hurwitz re those alleged M&A Beecham / Seattle CDs .. He took you to task for not knowing what your competitors were up to .. now read this ! ... 42 encores of Espana indeed ... Tell him to wake up and smell the coffee ! 3. Beecham in Seattle: The Complete Concerts (Music and Arts). During the period 1941-44, Sir Thomas Beecham established a strong rapport with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Private recordings of these legendary concerts have been rumored to exist but were only recently rediscovered, and their provenance remains somewhat mysterious. The original source material is in remarkably poor condition, but Music and Arts, knowing that fans of historical recordings don’t especially care, is issuing them anyway on 37 very full CDs. Fans of Beecham will enjoy comparing numerous versions of some of his proprietary repertoire, including 14 performances of Sibelius’ Tapiola, 23 of Delius’ North Country Sketches, 3 complete cycles of Haydn’s “London” Symphonies, Beecham’s own suite from Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, and a whopping 42 encores of Chabrier’s España." -- Mr. A. Regular-Correspondent (reproduced here for the joy of reprinting the spoof!) --00-- "Hi, I downloaded the first disc and I was amazed with the results. I'm looking forward to the remaining discs." -- He who provided the Beecham Seattle transfers on the first release --00-- "...Still in shock, I retreated to my study where my sanity was saved by Pristine Classical. Thanks to the internet, I can still get at music and play it through my computer loudspeakers or through my clever iPod. This is where www.pristineclassical.com came in. The clever folk at Pristine resurrect older recordings that are out of copyright in Europe and make them available as downloads. What they have done is, from time to time, little short of miraculous. I have recently enjoyed, among other things, two CD equivalents of Eugene Ormandy conducting Sibelius (PASC205 and PASC177), Serge Koussevitsky’s 1939 performance of Debussy’s La Mer (PASC018) and the performance of Wagner’s Das Rheingold from the 1953 Bayreuth Festival conducted by Clemens Krauss. Now the Krauss is my favourite Ring of the moment, and I own it in two other incarnations, so I am in a good position to judge the improvements that Andrew Rose has achieved. The sound is more open and focused than ever before and it is a real treat to hear the finest singers of their generation sing their signature roles in a faithful representation of the Bayreuth ‘noise’. The audio spectrum has been cleaned at the top and opened out at the bottom. Hans Hotter sings his best Wotan, slightly more sensitively than for Keilberth in the Testament stereo Ring, and in far fresher voice than for Solti in the 1960s. Astrid Varnay is marvellous as Brunnhilde, and has the benefit of really attentive, flexible conducting. Clemens Krauss’ approach may not be to everyone’s taste, being at the other end of the tempo spectrum to Knappertsbusch, but to my ears the naturalness of what he does serves the composer without drawing attention to itself. This Das Rheingold (PACO039) is available in a variety of options..." -- Fr Amictus Crotchet Parish Priest, St Bibulus of Saragossa, East Finchley. (from a column in "Forward Plus, a free quarterly church newspaper for the traditionalist wing of the Church of England")
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