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Discussion: Mozart: The Last Six Symphonies - Klemperer

Posts: 16
Page: 1 2 next

Post by Chris May 29, 2012 (1 of 16)
Mea Culpa here it goes again.Has anyone here listened to the Klemperer Mozart set from EMI yet?
It seems Sunier quite likes them and ends his review with the following conclusion:

"Klemperer’s efforts stand up amazingly well now that one can hear details in the recordings which were never exposed before except in the mastering studio. And like the RCA Living Stereo SACDs, they are available at bargain prices!"

I post a quote from his review here because I personally belong in the "Big is Beautiful" camp. But also because,I suspect that some here may simply not have heard these and maybe some others, as my response to Wehecht in another thread,makes me suspect, in true hi res sound!
Of course large scale orchestra recorded performances,sound like crap on cd or on a less than high quality SACD system too, if that is how you have only heard them.
But if you have heard them on a good pressing on LP or as is now more and more becoming possible, thanks to SACD remastererings you may get a different more resolved and clearer picture, than the one rbcd could offer.
Whether what Klemperer and others of his generation where doing was HIP or not is another discussion imo.
One thing seems clear though unlike some posters here both Bruno Walter, Klemperer and Karajan truly loved Mozart's music ,and so do I.

Post by hiredfox May 29, 2012 (2 of 16)
Hi Chris, they have been in my collection for some time. Very enjoyable but have no time at present to write review.

Post by Polarius T May 29, 2012 (3 of 16)
Chris said:

Has anyone here listened to the Klemperer Mozart set from EMI yet?
...
One thing seems clear though unlike some posters here both Bruno Walter, Klemperer and Karajan truly loved Mozart's music ,and so do I.

Yes. These are great, don't hesitate, Chris. Of all those you (in my view correctly) bring up for a special mention, it is Klemperer who has stood up the test of time the best. That big love is in bountiful evidence here, and he really had a knack for Mozart that makes it sound so special even today.

His approach (as with most of his Bach, especially his totally unique St. Matthew), is amazingly modern-sounding, once you forget that you should be hearing some screechy violin sounds instead. He was a true Mozartian.

The sonics are superb, but I always forget to pay attention to SQ when listening to Klemp's WAM.

PT

Post by feinstei June 4, 2012 (4 of 16)
But as usual, the intrusive arrogant engineers from EMI have sucked all of the life out of these recordings by applying Cedar processing and other electronic crap that so impresses them to these very fine master tapes. Even the mid-60's Angel (US Capitol) LP that I have of 39 & 40 are more "real" sounding than this shit. I can only imagine what the original HMV LP's sounded like. These EMI "engineers" have no talent or musical taste whatsoever.

Post by Lochiel June 4, 2012 (5 of 16)
feinstei said:

But as usual, the intrusive arrogant engineers from EMI have sucked all of the life out of these recordings by applying Cedar processing and other electronic crap that so impresses them to these very fine master tapes. Even the mid-60's Angel (US Capitol) LP that I have of 39 & 40 are more "real" sounding than this shit. I can only imagine what the original HMV LP's sounded like. These EMI "engineers" have no talent or musical taste whatsoever.

Can it really be that bad?? Or are you simply guilty of exaggeration? If you don't like it, fine, but these kind of posts serve no purpose at all other than to make us all think you might be a little loco, as we say here in Texas...

Post by canonical June 4, 2012 (6 of 16)
Well, I haven't tried the Mozart Klemperer ... but I have purchased 4 sets of the EMIs ... about 10 discs altogether ... and for those that I have old CD versions to compare with, the new EMI SACD masterings are worse than the old CD versions ... which is frankly a rather embarrassing outcome.

I think it is particularly embarrassing because other labels ... labels like Pentatone or Mercury Living Presence or Sony who all use simple direct analog-DSD transfers ... achieve stunning results with their SACD transfers. No more EMIs for me/

Post by AmonRa June 4, 2012 (7 of 16)
canonical said:

the new SACD masterings are worse than the old CD versions

SACD does not bring any quality advantage to tape stereo transfers, all depends on the remastering and the state of the tapes. It is quite possible that 20 year old digital transfers made for CDs are better than anything that can be squeeze out of the same tapes now.

Post by Mahler-fan October 2, 2012 (8 of 16)
There is an issue with the printed recording dates in this set. This is mentioned e.g. in reviews and comments at amazon.co.uk and amazon.com .
I've already sent an e-mail for the right recording dates to EMI UK and Abbey road studios, but did not get an answer.
I gave it another try with EMI Canada today. If I get the right info, I will put it here.

Post by LivyII October 3, 2012 (9 of 16)
AmonRa said:

SACD does not bring any quality advantage to tape stereo transfers, all depends on the remastering and the state of the tapes. It is quite possible that 20 year old digital transfers made for CDs are better than anything that can be squeeze out of the same tapes now.

Very valid point.

Post by akiralx October 3, 2012 (10 of 16)
canonical said:

Well, I haven't tried the Mozart Klemperer ... but I have purchased 4 sets of the EMIs ... about 10 discs altogether ... and for those that I have old CD versions to compare with, the new EMI SACD masterings are worse than the old CD versions ... which is frankly a rather embarrassing outcome.

I only have one, the Richter Dvorak sounds clearly better than the GROC incarnation.

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