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I recently acquired the box set of R.Strauss Orchestral works on EMI after a lot of recommendations. I agree the performance seem to be significant but I find the remastered sound quality of ths set very dissapointing. Very flat sounding . The remastering was done by Abbey Road Studios. There is a big void in the middle of the soundsatage with eveything mostly on the far left and right. The trumpets/ woods etc. all are brought forward like solo instruments and the string sections are muffled and pushed into the background. Percussions are also supressed. It sounds like a blanket was placed over most of the orchestra. I was looking forward to the Kempe sound but the engineers seem to have decided otherwise. Has anyone else had this experience?
Follow Ups:
A DVDA of the Kempe Zarathustra and Alpensinfonie was issued by EMI in 2000. Actually, it was one of my first hi-res discs, as it could play on my then Denon DVD5000 which wasn't a DVDA player. One side has the analogue tape at 24/48 in stereo playable on all DVD players, the DVDA side has four channel 24/48.When I was a teenager, I bought the LP of the Alpine symphony, and I vaguely remember it had a quadraphonic logo on it. If this is correct, possibly the Dresden recordings were poorly transferred to stereo. I only have 2 channel, but the sound is fine. Yes, perhaps a little 'flat', but the orchestra is recorded slightly more distantly than normal, and hence sounds more like what a concert audience would hear.
I've had some experience with this set: I originally had the complete LP sets when they came out in the 70's, and you're right, some of these recordings were quadraphonic (as was Kempe's set of Beethoven Symphonies with the Munich Philharmnic on EMI).I still have the three Kempe/Dresden EMI Classics 3-Disc CD sets, and I also have the DVD-A of Alpine/Zarathustra. I'd also recommend the DVD-A if one has the playback capability, but regardless of incarnation, the listener can revel in the unmistakable tonal characteristics of the great Dresden orchestra (what wind playing!).
There are some oddities however: no matter what the incarnation, the tympani sound a bit unusual near the beginning of Zarathustra - as if the surface were made from a non-standard material. (Or maybe it's just spot microphoning!)
As much as I like the Kempe/Strauss set, I believe it's in danger of becoming an "icon", such that reviewers tend to recommend it automatically, as if by reflex. Not all the Kempe/Dresden performances are worthy of such a reputation. For instance, Kempe's performance of the Duet-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon is inferior to Paavo Järvi's (on a Pentatone SACD) in terms of poise and basic ensemble!
Timpani beaten with bare sticks? The opening wouldn't space out too many Odysseys.
after listening to the complete set I have these thoughts. I think part of the reaction to the sound of these recordings is that most other recordings that we are use to seem to emphesise the extremes of Strauss's music( ie. Also Sprack ...etc). While Kempe seems to be looking more for internal definitions and structure and more subtle beauty.
, Yes the quality of these recordings could be more spatial and dynamic ,, but I think the beauty of the music as Kempe maybe see's it comes across in more clear and intellegent way with these recordings.
to squeeze out the drama and emotion. The result is excessive contrast and the sweeping away of "inner detail". Kempe avoids much of that and, as a result, the whole picture is rendered in different colors and textures. Plus...the strings of Dresden just sound a lot different than orchestras.
Schubert Rosamunde and other Schubert. Silver Angel on Red label, US pressing, heavy vinyl. No issue with flatness at all, and, in fact, sounds a bit cavernous. Wonderful record.Wonder of Karajan, a Brit pressing of BPO and HvK playing orchestral showpieces is absolutely wonderful. EMI, dark blue label. Heavyish vinyl, mint condition.
I agree with others, flatness and lack of soundstage is not the way LP's of this material sound. The rest of the description with spotlighting and right left stuff is fairly commonly found on records of this age.
I've enjoyed these performances on CD, remastered CD, (Heldenleben), and recently vinyl. In loud sections the sound is often swimming and hallucinogenic (sp)such as the "flying" variation in Don Quixote, or compressed such as the climaxes in Heldenleben. This seems so unfortunate being that the recording was made as late as '73 and EMI had the wonderful Bishop/Parker team. (Listen to their Boult VW cycle such as the Symphony #1.) It turns out that EMI used some nameless engineers from "Deutche Schallenplatten" (sp) in Dresden for these recordings. How unfortunate. Listen to Karajan's Meistersinger from '71? in the same hall using Bishop/Parker. Gorgeous, and no compression on Lp. I can't say that I agree with EMI's from this vintage being "flat," esp. those recorded in the Kingsway Hall venue. Many of these I consider small miracles of recorded sound, most notably in their richness, imaging and deep deep soundstage.
as it was issued in 3 chunks back in 1992. The box set is 1999, and by some accounts was a different remaster -- "tubier" sound by one account (which reads "smoother and richer" to me). So, take the following advice as you will!:-) I listened to the 1992 this morning. The violins were actually quite good, the brass was bright (typical for EMI, but also typical for R. Strauss) and there WAS a tendency for the orchestra to be "either right or left". That said, I found that applying a little more volume than I normally would to the CD filled in the middle quite a bit. I increased the volume just to point where the violins started sounding "edgy". It worked quite well.
I generally concur in that most EMI classical recordings around that time were rather "flat" (this also applies e.g. to the Karajan EMI recordings of the '70s: of course I am NOT referring to the much earlier HvK EMI recordings with the Philharmonia).For some reasons, the Staatskapelle Dresden was particularly plagued by that flatness in EMI recordings. Apart from later recordings with Sinopoli (mostly leave-or-take issues) the best recorded sound of the Staaskapelle (considered, and rightly so, never second to the Berliner) can be enjoyed on Berlin Classics or the related super-super-budget labels. For instance, Strauss' Metamorphosen under Suitner is (IMO) the very best rendition of that elusive masterpiece available on record, and the sound (dating from the '60s I guess) is still of demonstration quality.
I have most of these on near-virgin vinyl. With one exception the sound quality is good to excellent. The Don Quixote recorded with Tortelier and the Dresden Staatskapelle is too closely miked and lacks atmosphere. Since the originals of the rest are fine it seems as if something went wrong with the digital remastering (done, I presume, by EMI) on the CDs you have.I also have both vinyl and remastered CD versions of the Tortelier Don Quixote with the Berlin Philharmonic. The latter was produced by Testament rather than EMI. Both are of comparable quality (the CD is one of the best I have ever heard) and the performance is one of the masterpieces of recording history, in my view. Neither are there any worries about sound quality.
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