Part One: The Fertility of the Earth
Part Two: The Sacrifice
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Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux
RCA RB 16007 1957 Decca pressing/matrices: G2RP 9807/D -1A / G2RP 9808/D -1A.
Recorded: 2,5,6,11 November 1956 - Salle Wagram, Paris.
This mono LP deleted 1962. John Culshaw's taping. Side 2 transferred by ~+0.5dB (also a bit more 'transparent'). Dec.2014 +1.4dB Treble EQ.
Sleeve-note / EMG review / "The Times" 1913 review of Monteux @ Drury Lane >>>
Still probably my favorite conductor of this piece... Monteux 'fits' all of the pieces together very convincingly. Thank you for the invaluable transfer.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was thinking - especially the 'quiet section' that opens side 2.
DeleteIn the past I'd be tempted to 'skip' those bits...(or get bored) - but the instrumental interplay is well-done @ that point.
Have the other PCO/Monteux (Petrushka/Firebird) - but only as original SB stereo / SPA reissue (and the VICS where FireBird is coupled with the Boston SO Petrushka) - so will leave it at this transfer..but wonder what Stokowski's Rite/Petrushka (HMV shellac) might sound like with some 'noise-reduction'...
I haven't heard Stokowski in Rite, but I can imagine that those two would make a good pairing.
DeleteThank you very much for sharing this recording, I was always curious about how it sounds the original mono mix, my stereo copy have some unbalanced defect between channels that cannot be corrected without using a multitrack session on Adobe Audition or Mixcraft and will take to many time so I uploaded with minor corrections.
ReplyDeleteHello Pablo,
DeleteSaw your comments re: the stereo - but I only have 2 copies of the mono.
(EMG's Nov.1958 review of the SB doesn't mention anything 'wrong' with the stereo).
Monteux's 'Petrushka/Firebird' sounds very similar in original SB / SPA reissue.
Lovely. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, TE. I'm going to hazard a guess that the orchestral timbres of Parisian orchestras were pretty similar in 1957 to those of 1913. Just the precision would be tighter - and to be honest, French orchestras have always sacrificed precision in favour of tone colour (and quite rightly). Somewhere I have the stereo disc (I'm moving, so not sure where everything is packed). If I find it I'll have a careful listen and compare.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Smith
Hello Andrew,
DeleteI don't seem to have listened to many 'shellac' Paris orchestrals - so not sure about any changes (do have, eg, Monteux's 'Symphonie Fantastique' on HMV's - and saw Walter's 'Freischutz' overture with the PCO) - but at least he kept this lot from descending into a 'rabble' (especially the Brass) - a problem with those Wolff-conducted Decca's.
I've always preferred Boulez's Paris version - and had considered a dub of Leibowitz's 1959 'London Festival' (mono only in the UK) - but there really isn't the time to start a Stravinsky-Fest!!!
Did this with a Decca cartridge again, but the frequency-range isn't very wide for this. and well short of those earlier Ansermet's just uploaded.
Quite a change from Karajan's (live 1972) performance. i like both, for being different - this is certainly (and expectedly) the more exciting or 'primal'.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind my asking: are the EMG reviewer's complaints relevant?
Oh, and i quite like the quiet bits - wouldn't skip them for a spare few minutes ;) But many thanks for making this available!
TBH I don't really listen to the 'Rite' very much - mostly used to via Radio 3 (Boulez/BBC:whose c.1963 Paris LP is splendid) so haven't particularly recalled any of 'the finer points' between different performances: never heard any Karajan version - originally had the DGG Abbado/LSO from about 1978 - which was only 'interesting' in the 'noisy bits' (if I recall correctly).
DeleteThe other versions, mentioned above, I've also scarcely heard (Ansermet's Stravinsky can leave differing impressions depending to whether Decca recorded him 'close-up' (Pulcinella/Rossignol - superb sounding LP) or at a distance (Symphony C/3 movements)
i see - thanks for your reply. In that case, i won't bother with the reviewer's negative slant, especially as it sounded good to me. One of these days i'll continue with the other Ansermet's Stravinsky pieces.
Delete