Also, Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto. Jascha Heifetz,
violin; Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Charles Munch, Boston
Symphony Orchestra. HDTT Direct Stream Digital and DXD PCM FLAC downloads.
By John J. Puccio
Let me begin with a few personal opinions and observations
so you know where my biases lie.
First, I think Jascha Heifetz is one of the greatest violinists of the stereo age. Maybe the greatest violinist of any age. Yes, there are some fine runners up, like Itzhak Perlman, Nathan Milstein, Arthur Grumiaux, Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szeryng, Isaac Stern, and others. And certainly there are any number of contemporary musicians who may, in time, lay claim to the title. In any case, it’s always a pleasure to review something by Heifetz. (These HDTT remasters were originally recorded in the late Fifties.)
Second, I do have slightly mixed feelings about these particular Heifetz recordings of the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concertos. I have always thought Heifetz’s Tchaikovsky was unsurpassed for its performance, but I’ve never cared overmuch for the sound. With the Mendelssohn I always found the sound acceptable but thought the performance a bit rushed. Nevertheless, they are both well worth owning.
Third, I have no horse in the vinyl vs. compact disc vs. digital streaming vs. digital download races. I’m sure there are excellent examples of superb sound in each format. For me, the fact that I listened to these Heifetz performances via Direct Stream Digital DSD and DXL PCM FLAC downloads is immaterial to my preference in formats. Whatever sounds best is what I enjoy, so I try to look for whatever I haven’t heard, make comparisons, and not generalize too much about what is always going to be best.
Now, about the performances: The program begins with the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 by Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). He wrote it in 1878 during a time when he was trying to recover from a bout of depression. Some critics of the day found the work wanting, one of them going so far as to say that it sounded "long and pretentious" and that it "brought us face to face with the revolting thought that music can exist which stinks to the ear." Thank heaven for the passage of time and the eventual validation of the work as a classic of the repertoire.
As with most concertos, Tchaikovsky’s piece begins with an Allegro, in this case taken at an appropriately healthy tempo, followed by a slow middle section Andante and then, without a break, a spirited Allegro vivacissimo. I doubt that anyone could argue against the Heifetz performance. He generates more excitement than probably any violinist in history. Still, he’s not all flash, and he handles the Andante with infinite care before concluding with a dazzling finish. Heifetz plays the piece with authority. It’s beautiful.
The other piece on the agenda is the Violin Concerto
No. 2 in E minor, Op. 64 by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) The composer
premiered it in 1845, just two years before his early death, and it would be
the last big orchestral work of his lifetime. Fortunately, he went out in
style, the concerto being among the most popular in the violin repertoire. The
work consists of three fairly standard movements, but it was inventive in its
day in that the violin appears almost immediately, and the movements are played
without pause. In this concerto, Heifetz again puts on a blazing display of
virtuosity, and while it can be fun in most respects, it may also be overkill.
Some would say Mendelssohn needs a lighter, gentler touch.
Producer John Pfeiffer and engineer Lewis Layton recorded the Tchaikovsky at Orchestra Hall, Chicago in April 1957. Producer Pfeiffer and engineer John Crawford recorded the Mendelssohn at Orchestra Hall, Boston in February 1959. HDTT remastered the recordings in a variety of download formats including DSD128 (Direct Stream Digital), 24/352 8 DXD PCM FLAC digital, DSD64, 24/192 PCM, and 24/96 PCM, plus a variety of DVD Audio and CD configurations on physical disc. I listened to the DSD128 and 24/352 8 DXD PCM FLAC downloads.
During my listening sessions, I couldn’t help compare apples to oranges. I had on my shelf two longtime favorite CDs of these Heifetz recordings from JVC (Japanese Victor Company) using their meticulous XRCD processing. So I brought them down for a direct A-B comparison with the HDTT products. Which is unfair, I know, because JVC used the original RCA master tapes, and HDTT used commercially available tapes. Therefore, the reader should draw no absolute conclusions from my listening.
The differences, though, were quite apparent between the HDTT DSD download and the JVC discs, even after much fiddling with the volume to adjust each source to within a decibel of one another. HDTT tells us ahead of time what to expect, so I’ll quote from their Web site: “Because of the limited editing capability of DSD, to keep it ‘Pure DSD’ with no PCM used, you could hear blemishes from the original tape source that would be normally edited out in a PCM release.” In the case of the Tchaikovsky and the Mendelssohn, both recorded in the late 1950’s, HDTT retained not only”blemishes” but the original tape hiss, which was quite noticeabe in the Tchaikovsky and especially in the DSD format. JVC apparently used some sort of noise-reduction process to edit out the tape hiss, making their CD’s considerably quieter. However, the HDTT transfers appear to have retained much of the dynamic range of the originals. They’re just noisier, which is unfortunate. On the other hand, once adjusting one’s ears to the HDTT hiss, the JVC discs could sound downright dull for a moment, until one got used to the quieter sonics. The Mendelssohn sounded better than the Tchaikovsky all the way around in both HDTT download formats as well as on the JVC discs, with a better balance between the soloist and orchestra and a generally warmer, fuller presentation.
In any case, the HDTT transfers sounded fine, if not as easy on the ears as the JVC discs (which I’m not sure are available anymore). Yet, the fact remains that neither of these recordings--neither the Tchaikovsky nor the Mendelssohn--was ever the ultimate in sound to begin with. The close-up violin in the Tchaikovsky, for instance, can be annoying given the quality of the performance.
Bottom line: In the absence of the JVC XRCD’s, the HDTT transfers may be a person’s best bet for sound. The DSD download is slightly the better sounding if you can put up with the tape hiss. The DXD PCM FLAC, however, may be the optimum compromise: good sound with less hiss. Finally, if you are unable to play back digital downloads at all, HDTT offers various CD transfers that will do nicely, and they have the advantage of HDTT having cleared them of most tape noise.
Both of these Heifetz performances--the Tchaikovsky and the Mendelssohn--remain among the finest ever recorded, and I would advise anyone to seek them out in whatever format is available.
For complete information on HDTT products, visit their Web site at https://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from the DXD FLAC download, click below:
By John J. Puccio
First, I think Jascha Heifetz is one of the greatest violinists of the stereo age. Maybe the greatest violinist of any age. Yes, there are some fine runners up, like Itzhak Perlman, Nathan Milstein, Arthur Grumiaux, Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szeryng, Isaac Stern, and others. And certainly there are any number of contemporary musicians who may, in time, lay claim to the title. In any case, it’s always a pleasure to review something by Heifetz. (These HDTT remasters were originally recorded in the late Fifties.)
Second, I do have slightly mixed feelings about these particular Heifetz recordings of the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concertos. I have always thought Heifetz’s Tchaikovsky was unsurpassed for its performance, but I’ve never cared overmuch for the sound. With the Mendelssohn I always found the sound acceptable but thought the performance a bit rushed. Nevertheless, they are both well worth owning.
Third, I have no horse in the vinyl vs. compact disc vs. digital streaming vs. digital download races. I’m sure there are excellent examples of superb sound in each format. For me, the fact that I listened to these Heifetz performances via Direct Stream Digital DSD and DXL PCM FLAC downloads is immaterial to my preference in formats. Whatever sounds best is what I enjoy, so I try to look for whatever I haven’t heard, make comparisons, and not generalize too much about what is always going to be best.
Now, about the performances: The program begins with the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 by Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). He wrote it in 1878 during a time when he was trying to recover from a bout of depression. Some critics of the day found the work wanting, one of them going so far as to say that it sounded "long and pretentious" and that it "brought us face to face with the revolting thought that music can exist which stinks to the ear." Thank heaven for the passage of time and the eventual validation of the work as a classic of the repertoire.
As with most concertos, Tchaikovsky’s piece begins with an Allegro, in this case taken at an appropriately healthy tempo, followed by a slow middle section Andante and then, without a break, a spirited Allegro vivacissimo. I doubt that anyone could argue against the Heifetz performance. He generates more excitement than probably any violinist in history. Still, he’s not all flash, and he handles the Andante with infinite care before concluding with a dazzling finish. Heifetz plays the piece with authority. It’s beautiful.
Producer John Pfeiffer and engineer Lewis Layton recorded the Tchaikovsky at Orchestra Hall, Chicago in April 1957. Producer Pfeiffer and engineer John Crawford recorded the Mendelssohn at Orchestra Hall, Boston in February 1959. HDTT remastered the recordings in a variety of download formats including DSD128 (Direct Stream Digital), 24/352 8 DXD PCM FLAC digital, DSD64, 24/192 PCM, and 24/96 PCM, plus a variety of DVD Audio and CD configurations on physical disc. I listened to the DSD128 and 24/352 8 DXD PCM FLAC downloads.
During my listening sessions, I couldn’t help compare apples to oranges. I had on my shelf two longtime favorite CDs of these Heifetz recordings from JVC (Japanese Victor Company) using their meticulous XRCD processing. So I brought them down for a direct A-B comparison with the HDTT products. Which is unfair, I know, because JVC used the original RCA master tapes, and HDTT used commercially available tapes. Therefore, the reader should draw no absolute conclusions from my listening.
The differences, though, were quite apparent between the HDTT DSD download and the JVC discs, even after much fiddling with the volume to adjust each source to within a decibel of one another. HDTT tells us ahead of time what to expect, so I’ll quote from their Web site: “Because of the limited editing capability of DSD, to keep it ‘Pure DSD’ with no PCM used, you could hear blemishes from the original tape source that would be normally edited out in a PCM release.” In the case of the Tchaikovsky and the Mendelssohn, both recorded in the late 1950’s, HDTT retained not only”blemishes” but the original tape hiss, which was quite noticeabe in the Tchaikovsky and especially in the DSD format. JVC apparently used some sort of noise-reduction process to edit out the tape hiss, making their CD’s considerably quieter. However, the HDTT transfers appear to have retained much of the dynamic range of the originals. They’re just noisier, which is unfortunate. On the other hand, once adjusting one’s ears to the HDTT hiss, the JVC discs could sound downright dull for a moment, until one got used to the quieter sonics. The Mendelssohn sounded better than the Tchaikovsky all the way around in both HDTT download formats as well as on the JVC discs, with a better balance between the soloist and orchestra and a generally warmer, fuller presentation.
In any case, the HDTT transfers sounded fine, if not as easy on the ears as the JVC discs (which I’m not sure are available anymore). Yet, the fact remains that neither of these recordings--neither the Tchaikovsky nor the Mendelssohn--was ever the ultimate in sound to begin with. The close-up violin in the Tchaikovsky, for instance, can be annoying given the quality of the performance.
Bottom line: In the absence of the JVC XRCD’s, the HDTT transfers may be a person’s best bet for sound. The DSD download is slightly the better sounding if you can put up with the tape hiss. The DXD PCM FLAC, however, may be the optimum compromise: good sound with less hiss. Finally, if you are unable to play back digital downloads at all, HDTT offers various CD transfers that will do nicely, and they have the advantage of HDTT having cleared them of most tape noise.
Both of these Heifetz performances--the Tchaikovsky and the Mendelssohn--remain among the finest ever recorded, and I would advise anyone to seek them out in whatever format is available.
For complete information on HDTT products, visit their Web site at https://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from the DXD FLAC download, click below:
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