Argo ZRG 706: A Little Mozart with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201, Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183
Neville marriner, director
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Pressing: UK, rectangle logo
Condition: NM
Date first published: 1972
Stampers:
ZRG 3645-1G
ZRG 3646-2G
Performance: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Price range: No data on popsike.com (less than $25)
Comments: Though I do like Klemperer's Mozart, I've found that I don't particularly like his interpretation of Symphony No. 25 (reviewed here and here), a work that a good number of people (including myself) seem to associate with the opening to the film Amadeus. Klemperer's tempo in the first movement is a bit too frenetic for me, and I think that articulation is lost as a result. Not to mention that the sound quality of that recording was pretty good but not great (my ears have admittedly evolved since that first review). My colleague Miles followed up on this and asked me if I owned the Neville Marriner recording on Argo and if so, would I review it. Happy to do so. This LP pairs No. 25 with No. 29, and both are performed with the sort of precision, articulation, vitality, and musicality that we've come to expect from the ASMF. In my book, this one trumps the Klemperer. Strings, most notably the violins, are crisp. Woodwinds are also nicely recorded with good imaging. I had higher expectations for the horns, whose sound was slightly murky and less well defined that I would've liked (compare below with Harnoncourt's digital recording for Teldec/Warner). Marriner and the ASMF also recorded these symphonies for EMI and Philips, and frankly they all sound pretty similar in terms of interpretation. If I had to pick, I'd probably go with the one on Philips, but don't discount this first effort. It's still a beautiful record and worth a spot in your collection.
I just found my copy and we'll relisten. I have a Musical Heritage Society Direct Metal Master reissue of the Marriner Philips Mozart (Sym. 21-33). I also have volume 1 and 2 of the early symphonies with Marriner on MHS (1-20, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, and some combinations of works that may have originally been intended as symphonies and broken up, so K111 with K120, K196 with K121, and K208 with K102. I don't recall loving these and they were put out in 1989-90 and smell of digital. I'll sample and report back.
ReplyDeleteAlso found Benjamin Britten on London CS7103 doing 25 and 29. I think this combination is a prime candidate for an audiophile label pressing (Reference Recordings comes to mind.)
DeleteClearly Aqlam is a Marriner shill with his rating of this album, even taking the sound down to a 4. My Decca Argo is a base lean sonic disaster with a lackluster performance. The good news is my MHS set with Marriner again. These are definitely Philips reissues and the performance of the 25 is a nice one and is the one from the movie Amadeus. It does not sound digitial to me at all and the DMM pressing works well with crisp delineation of the sound and only some bleaching of harmonics which if anything enhances that ancient instrument string sound. A 5 for performance and a 4.5 for sound. It would be nice to compare with the various Philips pressings which I am sure the Europadisk DMM MHS would exceed sonically in some areas.
DeleteThe Britten Mozart 25 on CS7103 is quite nice. From 1978, its sports a sx-74 Neumman cutting (I think Tin Ear likes these) with perfect cutting past 20k with no eq. The performance is very nice as is the sound with the Neumann keeping up nicely with the MHS DMM excellences while sporting a more natural horn tone. A 5 for performance (I mighit like more than the Marriner) and a strong 4.5 for sound where it also is a hair better than the Marriner MHS.
A word on MHS. Later MHS starting in the mid-70s are generally mastered by Bill Kipper of Masterdisk which is good (these are easily spotted with bold notes on the back cover saying so, masterdisk in dead wax.) The other great, great thing with MHS is the plating is done by Europa Disk (EDP in oval in dead wax). This means quiet vinyl. By the mid-eighties Europadisk was into DMM and did quite a few Chesky releases, notably Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique which is on the Salvatore's Supreme Recordings Basic list (see Miles to Mozart links section). It looks to me that MHS dumped Masterdisk for mastering later in the eighties and went with Europadisk DMM. It might not be my first choice for conveying a romantic violin solo, but for original instrument and older music the precise, clean, lean, and fast DMM sound is a great match. It is a credit to MHS that well into the CD era they were still making a strong vinyl effort. I suspect these LPs are somewhat rare since most would have been getting the CD version of these releases. I have found most early pre Masterdisk MHS to have quite poor sound. Absolute Sounds has some MHS Lyrita reissues done by Masterdisk. They are close, but not as good as the original Lyritas which are cheap enough. MHS is a strong budget label.