Also, A Night on Bald Mountain, and others. Fritz Reiner, Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. RCA SACD 82876-61394-2.
Many record
companies continue to see something in Super Audio Compact Discs because even
RCA jumped into the fray a number of years back with an SACD collection of
their old “Living Stereo” recordings of the Fifties and Sixties. The idea is
that some recording companies made many of these old recordings originally with
microphones to the left, center, and right of the stage, the three channels
subsequently mixed down into two-channel stereo. With the availability of
multiple channels of sound on SACDs, the companies can now utilize the original
mixes of three front channels to the fullest. And for those of us who don’t own
an SACD player, most of these discs are hybrids, meaning there is also a
regular two-channel layer that one can play on any regular CD machine. The
theory is that companies can remaster the regular two-channel layer and make it
sound even better than what they previously provided, as the folks at RCA have
supposedly done in their “Living Stereo” series, the sound remastered via DSD,
Direct Stream Digital.
Well, yes, in the two-channel
SACD mode to which I listened, RCA did slightly improve the sound of Modest
Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with
Maestro Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony. The highs no longer sound quite
so bright or hard-edged. However, I also happened to have on hand the
audiophile-remastered JVC disc of the same Mussorgsky recording, and I found
the JVC smoother still, with a marginally greater depth of image. But that’s
another story. The differences among the two-channel renderings on the three discs
are really so small that I doubt most people would notice them except on direct
comparison, let alone care. So I suppose the point is mostly moot unless you
really, really love the performance, which I do, and then you want only the
very best version of it.
The main thing about this whole affair is that Reiner’s
1957 interpretation of the Mussorgsky work is still the best one available,
each “picture” an elegant little masterpiece, and RCA’s SACD edition has
certain advantages over its regular competition. The SACD sounds good in
two-channel stereo, with wonderful detailing and range, if not quite so good as
the higher-priced JVC. It offers three-channel performance for those able to
play it back that way. And coupled with it you’ll find the additional goodies
that also come on the regular RCA release: Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Tchaikovsky’s Marche miniature, Borodin’s Polovtsian
March, Tchaikovsky’s March slave,
Kabalevsky’s Colas Breugnon, and
Glinka’s Russlan and Ludmilla Overture,
all of them filled with the color and excitement you’d expect from Reiner
performances.
Don’t you hate decisions? I’m glad it’s not my job to make
them for you. But for myself alone, I can’t think of a better Mussorgsky Pictures than Reiner’s.
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:
What would you say about Ansermet's versions?
ReplyDeleteI don't know how many times Ansermet recorded it, but the only one I remember hearing, many years ago, was his Decca recording with the Suisse Romande from around 1960. I recall it having excellent sound (although a touch edgy for my taste) and fairly good characterization and atmosphere. It must not have impressed me enough to buy it or keep it, though, as I haven't thought about it for years.
ReplyDeleteOki, thanks for the reply.
ReplyDeleteI just heard the reviewed SACD so my times that I found Ansermet's interpretation quite refreshing.
John, I really enjoy the blog as it's aptly named...lots of knowledge presented straight with no BS. The Ansermet/ Suisse Romande of 1960 is my own favorite version of Pictures with a uniquely superb sense of characterization for the movements helped by the French sound in the winds and brass that was part and parcel of the SRO in those days. It also meant that intonation could be approximate at times...Chicago was technically light years ahead of them in the playing and ensemble department. Still, it adds a rustic character that is unique to this version. Add to that the classic Decca Tree based sound that engineer Roy Wallace was doing with them in Victoria Hall Geneva at the time and you have a refreshing winner in the Pictures sweepstakes. It has been reissued by Decca Eloquence Australia and the bright top end has been tamed a bit.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tom, for helping me remember the recording. Yes, I've always liked the early Decca sound, except when it could be a little bright, glassy, or edgy. I'll have to look into getting the Australian Eloquence.
ReplyDelete