Weekend Round-up of London Stereo Treasury and Decca Ace of Diamond Releases

On this unofficial last weekend of summer, I thought I'd spend a little time sharing my thoughts on a number of releases in the London Stereo Treasury Series (STS), otherwise known as the Decca Ace of Diamonds (SDD) series on the other side of the pond. These were the budget reissues of the coveted London/Decca series and to this day can be found at very low prices, typically under $5 per LP. While they don't have the same nice covers as the originals, they are not to be discounted. I don't care what the negative rumors are; some of these sound really fabulous and can be even better sounding than the original FFSS releases. Yes, I might get myself into trouble by saying it, but these are my own observations, and I am sticking by them.  Let's go through a few of these:

Let's begin with this one: SDD 159: Mendelssohn -- A Midsummer Night's Dream Incidental Music (Peter Maag, London Symphony). I don't think I need to remind most of our readers which coveted London/Decca this represents (CS 6001, SXL 2060), but suffice it to say that this recording is one of the most treasured items in that catalog. Originals easily sell in the hundreds of dollars. How does the SDD fare? First off, if you look at the record label to the left, you'll see that this is the earliest of the Ace of Diamonds labels. You can tell by the deep groove that runs around the label and by the printed words FULL FREQUENCY RANGE RECORDING at the top. Stampers on my pressing were ZAL 3559-6D/3560-5E. First thing I noticed when the needle touched down was how quiet the surface was. I have not had the pleasure of hearing the original yet (my colleague Miles may be able to comment), but there were a lot of good things to hear on this album. To be honest, I found the strings in the first movement to sound a little bit nasal and was about to write off the album when I heard the rest of the record and ... wow. What an incredibly natural and balanced sound, not to mention great dynamics and a really involving performance. Maag knew how to do his Mendelssohn, and this is one of the two testaments to that (the other being his recording of the Scotch symphony on London/Decca). I will wager to say that this Ace of Diamonds sounds very similar and probably even comparable to the original. Because of the rarity of the original, this SDD may sell for a little more than most (I got a near mint copy in the UK for about $20). It is definitely worth it, especially if you are pinching pennies and can't afford the original.

Next up is SDD 104: Beethoven -- Symphony No. 4, Coriolan Overture (Ernest Ansermet, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande), stampers ZAL 4236-4E/4237-6E. Ansermet is not a conductor you typically think of as being a great Beethoven interpreter, but nevertheless he released his own cycle of the nine symphonies on London/Decca. This one is CS 6070/SXL 2116. In the last few months, I've come to really like Beethoven's 4th and as soon as the tempo gets going in the first movement, you can tell that this is going to be worth the price of admission. The fourth movement is one of the more exciting ones I've heard, too, and the Coriolan packs a punch. The bass may not be quite as powerful as on some of the golden age EMI recordings, but you can certainly feel the timpani here. I once owned the Blueback but don't remember it sounding anywhere near as good as this one. There is absolutely no distortion on this one, and the treble sounds far more natural than on many of those Bluebacks. Outstanding. 

From Beethoven's 4th, we move to the 5th:  SDD 105: Beethoven -- Symphony No. 5; Egmont Overture (Ernest Ansermet, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande), stampers 4075-4L/4076-5L, equivalent to CS 6037/SXL 2003. I wish I could say that London/Decca was on a roll with this one, but I can't. This release is plagued by more tape hiss, boosted treble, weak bass, and muddiness all around and sounds far less natural than SDD 104. The brass in the glorious fourth movement of the 5th symphony were so shrill I had to turn down the volume to avoid irritating my ears. Probably an accurate representation of the Blueback, which I was never impressed by either. Move on, please.

This Ace of Diamonds release, SDD 124: Liszt -- Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (Julius Katchen, Ataulfo Argenta, London Philharmonic Orchestra), stampers 3523-4E/3524-4E, is the equivalent of CS 6033/SXL 2097. The presentation overall is a bit more laid back on this recording and one can appreciate some of the hall acoustics. Oddly enough, though, on a number of occasions when the brass play loudly, the sound hits you square in your face. It's almost uncomfortable. As in the last album, treble sounds boosted, and an overall sense of naturalness is lacking. There is also some minor distortion in loud passages, most notably at the conclusion of the first concerto. I would say that this reissue loses little if anything to the original Blueback that I once owned, and for a few dollars, might be worth exploring.

So that's it for this weekend's roundup. Stay tuned for future posts on more budget buys of the classical LP world.