Posted by Tony Tuba on March 17, 2002 at 19:37:52:
In Reply to: old Reiner "Living Stereo" recordings posted by js on March 17, 2002 at 15:26:00:
Joe,
I'd love to chat about this topic a bit,and even go further off course, because I share your passion for performances captured in the great "golden era" by, among others, the RCA Living Stereo series. Some of these are recordings capture the best of the Reiner/Chicago Symphony. And there is a tremendously exciting re-issue program being undertaken by JVC through their XRCD program.
Unlike many of you on the board, I'm just a lowly amateur/hobby tubist. Over the last 10 years, as an owner of a construction company that builds luxury homes, I became passionately involved with the installation and set up of both home theaters and dedicated 2 channel listening rooms. For some of our clients (perhaps most), it's simply about the equipment and the big explossions. But for others, including myself, it's an opportunity to get closer to the music in one's home. In my home, I'm able to enjoy the playback of recordings released in virtually any of the analog or digital formats available. Joe, the Reiner/Chicago Living Stereo L.P.'s give extrodinary insight to the music of the Reiner CSO. I've acquired a few mint ones, had them professionally cleaned, and play them back on a system that can extract all the details...WOW.
However, I think it's safe to say that standard CD is still the most accessible format for the playback of recorded music. For any of you on the board who don't know about JVC's XRCD program, you MUST visit www.xrcd.com This is the most serious (high quality) effort yet undertaken to re-issue the analog master tapes of great recordings using the standard CD format (16/44). The XRCD project was originally a jazz re-issue program. Recently however, they have began releasing classical recordings, and they indicate that they plan to continue with this. In my experience, the sound quality of these XRCD discs are as good as any re-issue I own in either DVD Audio (24/96) or Sony Super Audio. And yes, I prefer them to the original L.P. pressings as well.
I know they have released the following Reiner CSO recordings:
Strauss-Also Sprach Zarathustra (1962)
Bartok -Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celestra/Hungarian Sketches (1958)
The Reiner Sound - Rapsodie Espagnole, Pavan For A Dead Princess, Initation to the Dance
Isle of the Dead
Dvorak-New World Symphony (1958)
Debusy-Iberia, Ravel-Alborado Del Gracioso, Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales (1958)
Finally, in my experience, the most cost effective way to hear the timbre, tone,and detail that one hears in a professional studio is with a good headphone set (say the Sennheiser HD 600)and an inexpensive headphone amp (say the Creek OBH 11). Both are priced right at audioadvisor.com Plug your CD into this, pop in an XRCD reissue of the CSO, and you WILL have a revelation. Want to really understand the genius of Arnold Jacobs? Use the headphone rig to listen to the home recordings on the Arnold Jacobs Portrait of an Artist CD.
Joe, you're so right..we can learn a lot as musicians by listening. And, it's amazing what's out there for us to hear. We absolutely should be discussing it here, and I appreciate the posts where you do so.
Tony Tuba