I'm not in perfect agreement with my colleagues and friends who believe that RCA's Living Stereo LPs from the late 1950s and '60s are the best-sounding commercial classical recordings ever made. To me, the Decca SXL catalog outshines them sonically, in addition to showcasing the talents of an even greater roster of artists. But that's not to say I'm immune to their charms.
The RCA catalog contains some real gems.
Like some of you, my interest in RCA classical LPs was spurred by the writings of the late Harry Pearson, founder of the magazine The Absolute Sound. But by the time I began my own search, the titles Pearson pushed—Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's recordings of Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherazade (LSC-2446), Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra (LSC1806), and Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite (LSC-2150), to name just three—were difficult if not impossible to find. There were however lots of other great RCAs out there, many in shockingly good condition (footnote 1), and while at first I longed for the validation that comes with assembling a library of critically recommended titles, I soon learned the far greater pleasure of developing my own critical judgment.
Even so, in the 1980s, when I found my own copy of Vittorio Emanuele and Società Corelli's 1960 recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (RCA LSC-2424), my first response was one of mild insecurity: This can't really be as good a record as I think it is—can it? After all, no one else in the audiophile press seemed to have noticed it, and to make matters worse, the production and engineering team of Richard Mohr and Lewis Layton, whom we were told were responsible for all the great classical RCAs, was nowhere to be seen. In fact, this dry-sounding and starkly vivid Vivaldi recording was made in Italy, of all places.
The original LP has now been reissued by Analogue Productions on 200gm vinyl, mastered at Sterling Sound by Ryan K. Smith and stamped at Quality Record Pressings. I compared my review copy of the AS release to my 1S/1S original and found the two to be very, very close; if anything, I believe most listeners would prefer the AS reissue for its very slightly more rounded-off sound, which sacrifices nothing of the original's presence yet pulls the dry sound back an inch or two from the brink of brightness. Also, the reissue has a somewhat wider dynamic range: After matching its volume to the original during a quiet passage, forte passages on the reissue seemed to go louder than on the original. All around, a well-done reissue of a recording that deserves your love.
Speaking of Fritz Reiner: In 1953, when he became the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Reiner installed as principal cellist his fellow Hungarian-American János Starker, then only 30. (The two remained close until, as legend has it, Starker played the clam of all clams during a performance, in response to which the conductor threw his baton with such force that it broke in two.) During a long and storied career, Starker made five recordings of the Bach solo cello suites, beginning in the 1940s with a set for the Hungarian-owned (and ironically named) Period Records. His second set, recorded in mono for UK Columbia, was released in 1959, while his third was recorded in stereo for Mercury Records and released in 1966.
That last one, long a favorite among audiophiles for its superb engineering by master recordist Robert Fine, was reissued on high-quality vinyl in the not-distant past—and now has come in for even grander treatment, also by Analogue Productions: a six-LP box set (AAPC 3-9016-45), mastered at 45rpm from the first-generation, ½" masters and pressed on 200gm vinyl, all under the supervision of Thomas Fine, son of Robert and Wilma Cozart Fine (apart from which, reissue credits are as above). The price is $150 per set.
Compared to an approximately 15-year-old reissue of the original three-LP Mercury set (SR3-9016), the new six-LP box has the same abundance of rich tone and believable texture, along with superb musical momentum and flow. But here those qualities are enhanced by a larger sense of scale—much larger, in fact—and a greater sense of player and instrument being present between and in front of the loudspeakers. The effect is almost overwhelming.
Musically/artistically, I prefer the 1959 recordings for Starker's somewhat more "romantic" approach, if one can say such a thing about performances of baroque music. As an example, I'd point to his playing in the heavily double- and triple-stopped Sarabande of the E-flat suite: In the 1959 recording, Starker's bowing is more halting, tentative, and, to my ears, thoughtful: effects that heighten the contrast when he shifts into the first of the two Bourrées that follow. In the 1966 performance, the Sarabande sounds bolder and altogether more modern—which, for some listeners, may put this music across more effectively. But no matter how you look at it, there's no arguing with the sound: It is not without reason that these recordings have enchanted audiophiles for decades, and to enjoy the new AS set on a good system is as close as one can get to being in Fine Recording's Ballroom Studio A with one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century. Highly recommended.
Footnote 1: Here as elsewhere, I cannot pass up the chance to remind you: These superb-sounding used records were sold and played during an era when the vast majority of phonograph styli in use were spherical—not elliptical or any of the other more complex profiles that we are told are musts for minimizing record wear.
That last one, long a favorite among audiophiles for its superb engineering by master recordist Robert Fine, was reissued on high-quality vinyl in the not-distant past—and now has come in for even grander treatment, also by Analogue Productions: a six-LP box set (AAPC 3-9016-45), mastered at 45rpm from the first-generation, ½" masters and pressed on 200gm vinyl, all under the supervision of Thomas Fine, son of Robert and Wilma Cozart Fine (apart from which, reissue credits are as above). The price is $150 per set.
Footnote 1: Here as elsewhere, I cannot pass up the chance to remind you: These superb-sounding used records were sold and played during an era when the vast majority of phonograph styli in use were spherical—not elliptical or any of the other more complex profiles that we are told are musts for minimizing record wear.
