24 September 2012

Otto Klemperer / Amsterdam Concertgebouw - Mahler. Symphony 2 - Holland Festival 1951

Gustav Mahler:  Symphony no.2 in C minor - "Resurrection"
IAllegro maestoso ~  IIAndante con moto  ~  IIIIn sehr ruhig fliessender Bewegung ~  IV:  'Urlicht' - Seir feierlich, aber Schlicht  ~
V:  Im tempo des Scherzo - Langsam - Maestoso - Allegro energico - Langsam - Sehr langsam und gedehnt - Quasi allegro - Langsam
3 files zip FLAC  Mega Download     
Jo Vincent, SopranoKathleen Ferrier, Contralto  -  Amsterdam Concertgebouw Chorus & Orchestra  conducted by  Otto Klemperer 
Decca  D264D2  1982 Dutch pressings/Decca matrices: XPARL 17278-81: 1G    'Live performance' @  Concertgebouw, Amsterdam - 12 July 1951.
78RPM discs recorded by Nederlandse Omroep Stichting & Katholieke Radio Omroep.
This LP transfer can be compared to Mr Pristine's.. mp3 sample   which, due to a considerable difference in waveform/sound/treble extension, might well derive from a (copyright) commercial CD.  (See the waveform trace, below, comparing the 2 files @ the same point; illustrating that the LP's treble extends far beyond his transfer.  

His quote: "However, the biggest shortcoming of this recording lies in its frequency range, which pretty much gives up just above 10kHz" - clearly the LP's don't !!!!  'Naturally' (sic) his receives (12 Sept 2012) a  MusicWeb  seal of approval..sort of 'Pirate, First Class'.  NB: the LP's are mastered with a wide dynamic-range: the ending is @ 0dB - thus much of the preceding is @ a far lower than average level.  The files have received considerable editing of the acetate derived 'blips'.. 




11 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. The LP's had immaculate surfaces - but the editing-away of the 78 'bits' took absolutely ages: so rather upset that sides 3/4 had to be re-done after Audacity bombed..!

      The WAV's would be over 360MB, and bearing in mind the source material (and sometimes inferior sonics) it's probably unnecessary to upload those? (& hence the files are here instead of PRISTINE)

      Some wonderful orchestral-playing to be heard in this performance..

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  2. This is very nice upload, thank you for it. The sound is bright and crisp, and you can certainly tell the benefit of the better treble tones. It's one of my favourite versions of this symphony, and I don't think I have heard it sound better.

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    1. Possibly there have been a few different transfers from the original 78's source - but I was surprised (having almost intended to upload this around March 2011) to see/hear the loss of treble (any overall loss of information/definition 'was expected') in, at least, that other transfer - which seems to have had a 'brick-wall' filter applied @ some stage.

      Anyone using, say, Foobar 2000, can easily see the 20kHz spectrum bars 'lighting-up' when there are cymbal-crashes..but that simply does not happen in the other 'free sample'...so having realized the considerable superiority of the LP/any transfer I might make (after seeing that MusicWeb review) decided to give-it-a-go.

      At least this upload has been 'popular'...

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    2. Thanks, Tin Ear for sharing this among us. One thing I'd like to say regarding the spectral analysis. In Rose's transfer it appears to be no further freq signal above 12 khz because it has been taken from the mp3 sample, and no matter how high the bitrate is, this audio format always cuts off frequencies which are above that range.

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    3. Not applicable in this case as the 'cut-off' is far below any mp3 'limitations': check some other of his 'restorations' as mp3 samples.
      It's just that he's copied some 'CD release' with an already applied 'low-pass filter' (and it appears, increasingly, he's copying/'bootlegging' from CD sources).

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    4. PS: Rose's 2006 RMCR comment:
      ".....if we wish to remaster and reissue something from a Decca LXT disc which was later reissued on Ace of Clubs, we can only use the original LXT, as far as I'm aware. All of the music we release is covered by new copyright - to protect the hours of painstaking work we have spent restoring and remastering the original recordings...."

      Funny!!!

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  3. Thanks, yet again! I'm astonished by the sound captured so long ago, and so well reproduced by your good self. I have a Decca CD of this somewhere - my filing is haphazard and my listening serendipitous - but I'm quite sure it had nothing like this clarity.

    regards

    Andrew Smith

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    Replies
    1. When (or before) I 'leave the scene' you should start a blog of your own...and you wouldn't be the first to plunder CD-issues!
      I recall using a Decca Cartridge for this: although the general (very low) level of transfer to disc does create problems - even with the fabled 'dutch pressings'.
      A shame that the EMI Klemperer Mahler 2 is (c)1963: I think my retained mono (33CX) set is pretty good: as is the earlier stereo Walter/NYPO on Philips/CBS.

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  4. Surely you recall awarding me the Wooden Spoon award! I would never be able to run a blog, or plunder CDs. A while ago I did realise that I have some out-of-the-way LPs and wondered if I ought to get in touch with somebody so that they could make them available online, but as I have made greater forays into the world of blogspots (without quite knowing what that word means) I've seen many of them appear: after all, I wasn't the only one buying them all those years ago.

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    Replies
    1. There are people who make a Pigs-Ear of copying LP's/CD's - and can also 'make a living' out of it....thus proving that boring old 'Competence' is not a fundamental requirement :~))

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