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Editorial - Leave it in or take it out? A
restorer's question
Earlier this week I recorded an interview for a BBC
Radio Four programme on the subject of remastering, due for broadcast
in April of this year. The question and answer session stretched to
about 35 minutes, during which I attempted to outline my approach to
the subject, as well as explain what on earth XR remastering is and how
it works, all without the aid of pictures.
In the middle of all of this, one question stuck out - and required
answering again as I renewed work after the interview on the finishing
touches to this week's Ormandy Bach recordings. We now have the
technology to remove all sorts of extraneous noises from a recording -
but should we, and if so, how does this affect the recording as an
historic document?
I immediately recalled two recordings I'd worked on. One was
Toscanini's première broadcast performance of Barber's Adagio for
Strings and Essay for Orchestra No. 1. The Adagio
was shot through with radio interference - speech from another
broadcast was clearly audible throughout much of the performance.
Thankfully the nature of the music, with its long, drawn-out notes and
relatively sparse orchestration allowed me to delve in-between the
musical frequencies and extract the offending interference. The
recordings were previously unissued - was this one of the reasons for
this? And if so, was it not therefore better not to have them so as to
be able better to enjoy the music and the performance?
The other recording which sprang to mind was Boult's January 1945
Bedford Corn Exchange recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra of
Holst's Planets Suite. As the music receded into the HMV
shellac noise during Neptune something else could be heard,
something which sounded suspiciously like the drone of heavy wartime
aircraft. The noise impaired the audibility of those exquisitely quiet
bars of music, and was duly filtered out.
And then this week it was the traffic noise outside which marred
Ormandy's Bach. There are few extraneous sounds which are both as
recognisable and as likely to turn up on both 'studio' and live
recordings than motor traffic accelerating away outside the concert
hall - though the Bakerloo Line Underground trains were a constant
annoyance to those of us working in the sub-basement of the BBC's
Broadcasting House in London for many decades, until an expensively
sprung massive false floor was inserted to soak up all the vibrations!
But should we be removing these noises? Are they not part of the
historical document that is a recording? What about the man with the
hacking cough marring a live broadcast? Or the conductor humming along
with the music?
Ultimately it's a matter of judgment. Rule number one is simple - if it
can't be removed without damage to the musical content, it has to stay.
Thereafter the rules become a little less clear. Traffic noise I can do
without. If I get rid of 80-90% of the coughs in a live performance I
don't mind leaving a handful in to remind the listener of the nature of
the performance - preferably quiet ones which I can't get out anyway.
Radio interference was not a part of the performance or broadcast at
all; rather it was a shortcoming of the equipment used to tune into the
broadcast and record it, and I'll do what I can to get rid of it -
likewise print-through or cross-talk from tapes, and pre-echo on discs.
What I'll not be losing in a hurry is Toscanini's humming (nor Paul
Paray's for that matter). Bum notes stay in as well, even if they can
be 'fixed', especially in a live performance. On the other hand, tape
drop-outs can sometimes be patched in such a way that the listener
hears the original frequencies up to, say, 5kHz, but above that they
hear something copied in from elsewhere in the same recording which
sounds identical or sufficiently similar as to be undetectable.
Some orchestras are noisier than others, with all sorts of bumps,
clanks, creaks and clatters - these I tend to treat like coughs: get
rid of the majority of the worst whilst not producing a completely
'perfect' recording. After all, they are a part of the sound of humans
making music, albeit not the sounds we necessarily wanted to hear.
Is this the 'right' approach? Can there ever be such a thing?
The
Philadelphia Orchestra
conducted by Eugene Ormandy Recorded
1946-1955
Transfers
by Edward Johnson from his private collection
XR remastering by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio, January 2010
Cover artwork based on a photograph of Eugene Ormandy
*This
recording follows J. S. Bach's original orchestral score. However, the
performance, with the full Philadelphia Orchestra, is more in keeping
with the other transcriptions here and is thus some way from the small
chamber ensemble with harpsichord obbligato envisaged by the composer.
Big orchestral Bachhas its adherents and its
detractors. Certainly none of the eleven superb performances to be
heard on this 80-minute album would have been heard in anything like
these transcriptions in Bach's day.
And yet it's hard not to be bowled along by their sheer
brilliance. Ormandy himself contributes a number of transcriptions, but
we also hear the work of Elgar, as well as two very important figures
in the history of the Philadelphia Orchestra:, Harl McDonald and
William R. Smith.
For comparison we have Bach's ownAir
on the G string-
Bach's orchestration, but Ormandy's much bigger orchestra. The effect
is magnificent and will delight fans of Ormandy, who excelled in this
kind of treatment. And check out theToccata
and Fugue in D minorexample
on our website for another stunning performance - in fine XR sound!
Download
listening sample:
(Toccata & Fugue
in D minor, Ambient Stereo)
Notes
on the recordings:
Despite
nearly a decade passing between the earliest and latest recordings
presented here I was surprised to find better top-end extension in the
older recordings here than the newer, certainly in their original LP
transcriptions. Indeed in almost every respect the 1940s recordings
sounded technically superior to their 1950s counterparts prior to XR
remastering.
One
of the key things which the re-equalisation aspect of XR remastering
can achieve is tonal correction, and in this case I was able first to
further improve the sound of the 1940s recordings, then to use these as
a reference for the rest of the set. The result is a far more balanced
collection - the later recordings opened out considerably from their
constricted and boxy sound, and the full album can be enjoyed as if it
were one, rather than several recordings.
Andrew
Rose
Available
as 320kbps MP3, 16-bit mono or Ambient Stereo FLAC, 24-bit FLAC, CD
or
listen on demand with
Pristine
Audio Direct
Access
(PADA)
Five excellent late 1920s recordings from Felix Weingartner
Transfers
by Mark Obert-Thorn include some of his rarest electrical recordings
WEBERDer Freischütz- Overture[notes/score] Recorded
3rd May, 1928 in the Musiksaal, Basle
Matrix nos.: WZX 75-3, 76-2 and 77-1
First issued on Columbia 9644 and 9645
SCHUBERTRosamunde,
D797 - Entr'acte No. 3 in B flat[notes/score]
Recorded 3rd May, 1928 in the Musiksaal, Basle
Matrix no.: WZX 74-2
First issued on Columbia 9645
WEINGARTNERThe Tempest- Scherzettino ("Spuk neckender
Geister")
Recorded 3rd May, 1928 in the Musiksaal, Basle
Matrix no.: WZX 73-1
First issued on Columbia 8852
WEBER(orch. WEINGARTNER)Invitation to the
Dance[notes/score]
Recorded 3rd May, 1928 in the Musiksaal, Basle
Matrix nos.: WZX 71-2 and 72-1
First issued on Columbia 9691
MENDELSSOHNSymphony 3in A minor, Op. 56 ("Scottish")[notes/score] Recorded
27th March, 1929 in the Portman Rooms, Baker Street, London
Matrix nos.: WAX 4808-2, 4809-1, 4810-1, 4811-2, 4812-1, 4813-2, 4814-1
and 4815-2
First issued on Columbia 9887 through 9890
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
conductorFelix
Weingartner
Felix Weingartner's 1928 Basle recordingsinclude some of his
rarest electrical records, assembled here in truly superb transfers by
Mark Obert-Thorn in the shape of four works by Weber, Schubert and
Weingartner himself - the conductor was also a prolific composer and
considered this his foremost musical skill.
Also included on this album is Weingartner's 1929 London
recording of Mendelssohn'sScottish
Symphony, made with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for UK
Columbia and transferred here from excellent American 'Viva-Tonal' and
'Full Range' pressings.
Mark's choice of excerpt recording for our website pages
is Weingartner's own arrangement of Weber'sInvitation
to the Dance, recorded in May 1928 and sounding astonishingly good
- as a taster for the rest of this set it is truly mouth-watering!
Download
listening sample:
(Invitation to the
Dance)
Notes
on the recordings:
The
sources for the present transfers were a mixture of American Columbia
“Viva-Tonal” and “Full-Range” pressings for the Mendelssohn and English
Columbias for the remainder. The Basle recordings are rather rare;Invitation
to the Dancewas the
only title released in the USA, while Weingartner’sTempestexcerpt was only released in
Switzerland.
Oswald
Kabasta(December
29, 1896 – February 6, 1946) was an Austrian conductor. His
interpretations are admired for their intensity and rhythmic drive.
Kabasta
was born in Mistelbach, Austria and later studied with composer Franz
Schmidt. In 1931 he became head of conducting at the Vienna Academy. He
also served as musical director of Vienna Radio about this time.
In
1938 he became principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic. His
interpretations, especially of Anton Bruckner, are admired for their
intensity and rhythmic drive.
He
enjoyed the public approbation of Adrian Boult, who announced in a 1938
radio broadcast that: “The present high reputation of the Vienna
Symphony Orchestra is due to Professor Kabasta who, with Sir Henry Wood
and Dr. Mengelberg, commands our admiration by virtue of sheer mastery
in the business of conducting. Quite apart from their merits as
musicians and artists, they are superb craftsmen.”
Kabasta
was an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazi regime. After the Anschluss
in 1938, he signed all his letters with, "Heil Hitler!".
After
the end of World War II, Kabasta was forbidden to work as a conductor
by the Allies when he admitted that he had applied to join the Nazi
party (although he claimed to be "inwardly anti-Nazi").
In
October 1945 the denazification authorities ordered the city of Munich
to discontinue his salary. Devastated by his dismissal, and his
relegation to the status of "common laborer", he committed suicide in
Kufstein, Austria in 1946.
This
transfer is presented with Ambient Stereo remastering by Dr. John Duffy.
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Dr John Duffy In Ambient Stereo
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Latest
Reviews, e-mails & comments
"BRUCKNER:
Symphony No. 7 in E Major - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Jascha
Horenstein
Having reviewed the first acoustic 78rpm version of the Bruckner 7th
with Oskar Fried on Music & Arts, it seems appropriate to review
the first electrical recording of the same massive symphony, this from
1928 Polydor with the thirty-year-old Jascha Horenstein (1898-1973),
then a member of the elite circle that surrounded Wilhelm
Furtwaengler. Plastic and lyrical is the first movement Allegro
moderato--with great Wagnerian spacious arches in its lengthy periods
made of irregular phrase units of three and five--the real tour de
force rests in the monumental C-sharp Minor Adagio movement, almost 22
minutes in length, a solemn hymn of inordinate girth and anguished
power, held in taut relief against its many harmonic meanderings.
Slowly mounting string scales and Wagner horns take to Bruckner’s
answer to Valhalla, a nobly and--for the period--splendidly resonant
vista. Himmel hoch! As restored by Mark Obert-Thorn, the various
orchestral choirs collaborate in moody balanced orisons of singular
intensity. The elegant C Major mystery of the last pages, with thumping
bass chords under the diaphanous violins and flute, has to stand as one
of the miracles of the original sound engineers.
A commanding energy marks the Scherzo, the trumpet inviting sweeping
gestures, the supporting strings and tympani inflamed. The chugging
ostinati move through the various orchestral choirs gathering ever more
force, a snowball rolling uphill. The rhythmic tattoo enters the
bucolic Trio, both thick and serene, has something of Siegfried’s
sojourn into the woods. The da capo shivers with yet more fervent and
feral agitation as of a gathering storm. The layerings of sound
coalesce, separate, reel and then swell to a mighty peroration whose
resonance still packs a shattering effect. No nonsense tempos for the
Finale, which alternates with post-Beethoven mysticism and stolid march
impulses colored by the wafting flutes. Even at Horenstein’s
accelerated pace the labyrinths in the music, its sudden sea-changes in
musical periods, give us the impression that spiritual complexity and
crisis underlie the driven surface confidence of the progression. The
music of the first movement returns in the form of fanfares, whose
intensity reaches an apotheosis that well crosses Wagner’s Valhalla
with affirmations of Bruckner’s idiomatic faith. [Was anyone in North
America recording entire symphonies like this in 1928? I don't think
so. I know there were parts of a Beethoven Fifth with the "Victory
Concert Orch." in 1917...Ed.]"
"Actually,
pace the Editor's comment, by 1928 there had also already been American
recordings of the Beethoven 6th and 7th, the Brahms 1st, 2nd (two
versions) and 3rd, the Dvorak 9th (twice), the Franck symphony, the
Schubert 8th (three versions), the Tchaikovsky 4th and 5th, and the
Rachmaninov 2nd, but nothing quite as large as the Bruckner 7th. (And
the acoustic Beethoven 5th he refers to is with the Victor [not
Victory] SO)."
Mark Obert-Thorn
- - 00 - -
"Hi
.. I sent the Gould Tchaikovsky Seasons to Steven Haller of the
American Record Guide, though he can't review it as their editor is a
Luddite who won't acknowledge downloads or mail-order-only CDs! ...
Here's what SH says anyway:
'Well, I listened to the Pristine and it sounded very good to me,
most of all (of course) the horns in the Hunter's Song (September)
which beat the pants off any of the recordings of the Gauk arrangement
I have heard. The only thing that caused me to raise an eyebrow was the
curious hiccup (?) at 3:25 into Autumn Song (October), and in the
Family Album "Old Romance" sounded off-key but I don't claim to have
perfect pitch by any means. Going straight from there to the Tap Dance
Concerto was clearly a step down sonically, but the ear adjusted to the
more cramped studio readily enough; how one critic could claim Danny
Daniels was too far off-mike I cannot fathom, if he were any closer
he'd be kicking me in the face...! Certainly if the Seasons came from a
copy of ML 4487 they did a great job; I long ago cast it aside in favor
of the far quieter Special Products reissue. I do wonder, though, if
Pristine might consider, instead, placing the track listings on the
back of the jewel box (where they would customarily go) and putting the
Gould bio inside the "booklet" where they could use a more readable
size of type; even without my glasses it was kind of tough going though
certainly thorough. (On the bright side, I soon abandoned my original
plan to check the notes for typos -- just couldn't get thru it!) But
the music is the important thing ... right?
Now I may scan the site for other possibles (Toscanini in stereo ??) --
I already have a CD issue of Dorati's Church Windows from Haydn House
but I have a feeling Pristine may blow it out of the water at this rate
(and no other recording comes close to Dorati, not even Geoffrey Simon
who takes "St Michael the Archangel" way too fast for the trenchant
trombone writing to have any effect...) More anon...'"
Edward Johnson
- - 00 - -
"The
Krauss 1953 Ring needs you. I think that Krauss' stock is rising, and
you have already done him noble service. Now is the time for the killer
edition of his Ring. Who better than you?"
C.H.
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