What are you listening to right now?

[tmazz]

What am I listening to right now? Nothing, as we have been experiencing heavy thunderstorm for most of the night and as a safety precaution I had to pull all the plugs from my system to avoid any possible power surge damage as we are right in the middle of the storm track and are right now getting quite a lightning show.

The sounds of silence...literally.  

This was on the TT when the storm hit and I had to shut everything down. I had listened to about the first 10 minutes of Sym.No.1 and thought it sounded rather good, back to the typical Ansermet sound.

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 1 & 8 - Ansermet and the Suisse Romande.

[jsaliga]

After listening to you guys talk about Command  releases over the past week or so I figured I should check through the archives and see if I had picked anything up on this label over the years. I came across this Virgil Fox LP and gave it a whirl. Well, it is by Virgil Fox so the quality of the music and the performance is pretty much a given, but I was very taken back by the high level of SQ on this disc. I'm not sure how much of it is attributable to the new Blackbird cartridge (which continues to amaze me with how much good sound it is able to mine from LPs that I previously thought were just fair) and how much was just the fact that I was asleep at the switch and never really gave them a good listen, but based on this LP, I am now going to have to ad Command to the list of things I search out at the Crack House. (Like the list wasn't long enough already   )

Thanks for opening my eyes on this one.  

Be aware that Command Records experienced a number of changes (declines) in the quality of its vinyl pressings over the years.  The label was originally launched exclusively as an audiophile label by Enoch Light in the late 1950s under Grand Award Records.  In 1966 the Command label was sold to ABC Records.  Records pressed prior to that were on very heavy vinyl and came in gatefold jackets with textured backs.  The records usually featured a gold colored label but some were also grey.  Later records used white labels, no longer came in gatefolds, and were pressed on thinner vinyl (to reduce costs).  Having listened to both original first pressings and later pressings of several titles there is no question in my mind that the earlier pressings are sonically superior.    



The image on the bottom is from an original 1965 Command Classics pressing of Beethoven Symphony No. 5.  The one on the top was pressed in 1972.  The Command label under ABC Records was still issuing new classical music releases, so some records will have white labels with the multi-colored box and be first pressings.

The later pressings can still sound good, but they are not the equal of Command Classics vinyl pressed between 1959 and 1965.  As far as sound quality goes, those early Command Classics records are easily on par with what was coming from Decca and London at that time, and that's saying a lot.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Hey Jerome, good to see you posting here...missed the good stuff from AC...

Thanks for the kind words.  Don't know how long I'll stay here...probably as long as I feel that I'm welcome.  Seems to be a good group of folks here, and I recognize a lot of them from other forums.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

This is a great performance and terrific music.  De Falla and Albeniz are a little under represented in my music library, so I'll need to see what I can do about that.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Yet another fine Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1.  I actually have this on vinyl but didn't want to run down to my basement to fetch the LP, so I am actually listening to this on my Slim Devices Transporter.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Still another Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1., with Radu Lupu and the London Philharmonic.  Yeah, I like Brahms a great deal, especially his compositions for piano.

--Jerome

[eleazar]

The Kinks
Lola vs Powerman And The Moneygoround

   LP

[jsaliga]

Continuing with more Brahms.  This time Symphony No. 2 with Karl Böhm and the Vienna Philharmonic on a nice Deutsche Grammophon vinyl pressing.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Yep...more Brahms.  I wish I had the original EMI pressing of this recording, but this quad pressing on Angel sounds pretty good.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Taking a break from Brahms.  I'm not what you would call a big fan of Mozart, but taken in small doses I can enjoy his music.  Of the early classical period composers I much prefer Haydn to Mozart.

--Jerome

[tmazz]

This is a great performance and terrific music.  De Falla and Albeniz are a little under represented in my music library, so I'll need to see what I can do about that.

--Jerome

And  great sounding too. Unfortunately, now that Sony has taken over the BMG catalog I think we have seen the last of the Living Stereo SACDs

[jsaliga]

And  great sounding too. Unfortunately, now that Sony has taken over the BMG catalog I think we have seen the last of the Living Stereo SACDs.

I agree about the sound quality.  I regret not snagging the Classic Records reissue on 45 rpm vinyl while it was in print.  You can still find them on eBay, but at about $200 no thank you.  For less than that I just bought 30 minty vintage DG, Columbia 6 Eye, EMI, and RCA Red Seal records.

I think RCA/BMG did a pretty good job of cherry picking the best Living Stereo recordings for release on SACD.  Not all of the Living Stereo recordings had great sound, but the titles that made it to SACD were excellent.  I don't know how many were released on SACD, but I have 35 of them.  And at $10 to $12 each they are an excellent value as well.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Outstanding performance and recording.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

This volume from the boxed set includes Strauss' Symphonia Domestica and Wagner Preludes from Tristan and Isolde, and Lohergrin.

[jsaliga]

Listening to Liszt's Mephisto Waltz.  I have a lot of these EMI buget boxed sets.  Great music at a good price.

--Jerome