Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
London Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond., Erich Gruenberg
, solo violin.
London Phase 4 SPC-21005 (LP).
Recorded September 22, 1964. Kingsway Hall, London.
Marty Wargo, prod., Tony D’Amato, recording dir., Arthur Lilley, eng.
This is infuriating. Along comes the performance of Scheherazade that we’ve been waiting for, and the powers that be at London Records decide, God knows why, to bestow upon it the dubious blessing of Phase 4 recording. The sound is positively vast and cavernous, the bass booms, the highs scream, the harp sounds like it’s 10′ tall, and instruments wander back and forth across the stereo stage as if nobody had thought to tell the musicians where to sit. The sound is very clean, as though anyone cared at this point.J. Gordon Holt
Editor’s Note: Despite J. Gordon Holt’s dismissal of its sound quality, I chose this album to be the October 1965 “Recording of the Month” because it was one of the first classical LPs I bought and I fell in love with the performance.John Atkinson
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