London Blueback CS 6191: Maag conducts Mendelssohn's Scotch
Mendelssohn: "Scotch" Symphony, The Hebrides Overture
London Symphony Orchestra
Peter Maag, conductor
Pressing: UK, ED1
Date first published: 1960
Stampers: ZAL-4811-1E, ZAL-4812-1E
Mother #: 2 over 1 (side 1), 4 and B (side 2)
Buckingham code: G (side 1), H (side 2)
Performance: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Price range: $26-124 (mean $50) on popsike.com [Decca SXL 2246 $23-1247 (mean $268)]
Comments: Long considered one of the best Decca/London releases and a TAS list record, this is an incredibly natural sounding orchestral recording that boasts a wonderful hall acoustic (see excerpt from FFSS below). The performance is wonderful, with the LSO in top form under the direction of Peter Maag. My copy has relatively late stampers, which could explain the slight deterioration in sound (mild distortion and loss of clarity) as the music heats up in the final movement of the Scotch on side 2.
For those of you interested in audiophile reissues, the ORG two LP, 45rpm pressing of this album offers significant improvements in sound if you don't mind having to switch sides every 10-15 minutes. The dynamic range on this reissue is downright impressive. I heard better extension in the treble and bass, and the clarity and detail definitely exceeded that of my Blueback. If you can get it on sale (I got mine on sale for $33 at Elusive Disc), I'd highly recommend picking this up as an alternative or supplement to the original.
Here's an excerpt from Full Frequency Stereophonic Sound:
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
"This recording has remained a favourite of critics and audiences since it appeared. It is a mellow, burnished version recorded with a warmth that is beautiful. Edward Greenfield comments:
'The recorded sound -- some of the loveliest I have ever heard -- offers an outstandingly good example of Decca's skill in transferring the hall (here the Kingswall Hall, London) acoustic to the listener's room, and the opening of the Scherzo an almost startling reminder that one is "sitting in the concert hall." [2]'
The sound on modern equipment is every bit as good as the above review. I've never heard a recorded performance of this work that comes close to catching its sylvan beauty. Easily one of the top five. Recorded on April 21, 22 1960 in Kingsway Hall. Kenneth E. Wilkinson and Alan Reeve, engineers."
I had the ORG and returned it (reminds me I have credit with Elusive Disc!). I also have several copies of the original blueback. The latest copy I got I prefer marginally to the ORG. The ORG comes very close to having the original gestalt of the FFSS sound, but just does not quite make the grade. The dynamic passages are a bit better, but in the softer passages I prefer the original. I don't see this one being a 10 in either and wonder what Moon was hearing. I intend to write a review on some of the better Nonesuch and for the money, the Nonesuch of the Scotch Symphony has a much better sound floor than either of these pressings and possibly a better performance.
ReplyDeleteHa - you never told me you returned that ORG. Was it defective or were you just dissatisfied with its sound? What are the mother numbers/Buckinham codes on your most recent copy?
DeleteSome repetitive ticking with the ORG, and since I was not stunned by the sound I did not ask for a replacement copy. The Quadophile did not care for the ORG either. 1E-2&1-ET-G/1E-4&B-ET-H
DeleteI'd like to say that I admire the job ORG has done and these are very close facsimiles and improved in many ways over the original. Some of Grundmann's work for Classic Records on Mercury with an earlier version of his ORG setup are deservedly top records in the Salvatore Supreme universe. I look forward to more of the upcoming ORG releases, but I do wish they were more reasonably priced like the analog productions reissues at 33rpm.
DeleteReaders take not my copy and Aqlam's having identical pressing information. We would have minor differences to the sound based on which record came off the stamper earliest and which one got trenched the most by a record changer (the source of many spindle marks.)
I was hoping to read here some comparison of an original or a Blueback with later SDD, ECS or JB reissues. I own a SDD with 3D/3E stampers and it sounds disappointing, dry, distorted and lifeless. Is it me? Or have I just been unlucky?
ReplyDeleteI believe my copy has duct tape on it and I'm sure I've got some other versions of it. You have to be careful with decca as sometimes they run the stampers into the ground. I have various iterations of the ansermet nutcracker And an early blue back is really quite good. I've got some later ones with the exact same main mother stamper number like you list And it doesn't sound anywhere like it With even a solid state sound and I just attribute it to they made way too many stampers off the mother.
DeleteThere is a German copy that was made apparently with British stampers, I will look for it and see if I get lucky there.
DeleteIf I come across a later pressing, I’ll try to pick it up and let you know how it sounds.
DeleteI bought that German SXL and it arrived today. Unfortunately it is German-mastered too. I will make a quick comparison between the SDD and the German and post my findings here. There is one thing in favour of the German TELDEC pressings: The black-gold and black-silver labels are beautiful and the vinyl is the blackest and glossiest I have ever seen on any record.
DeleteYes, please do share your thoughts!
DeleteI made a shootout between the two versions, Decca Ace of Diamonds SDD 145 and German Decca/teldec pressing SXL 21012. Let's beginn with the revision of my opinion on SDD: it is not dry by any stretch of the imagination, or lifeless. It is so dynamic that it overwhelms, orchestral tutti are so big that my system cannot handle them, the resolution collapses. I understand it now after having heard the German version: It is in a nutshell "less". Less dynamic, less detailed, less spacious. I mean, if you only know this one you would not know you are missing anything, because it is by all measures a very good record, far better than 90% of all DG records out there. You think you have a nice bass until you listen to the SDD and then the chair arm starts vibrating (really!), you think it is detailed, and then you listen to the SDD and you hear all kinds of details that weren't there in the German edition. Still, the German has its virtues. It is far more bearable in normal volumes in a living room, so I will keep it for the time being.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kostagzag, for your thoughts! I've never owned a German Decca. Interesting, though, that the SDD is that much more dynamic.
DeleteOn a somewhat related note, I picked up a German SAX of Karajan conducting Bizet (the UK SAX reviewed on this blog). Somehow, a copy made its way to the US shore and I didn't have to pay a high shipping cost from Europe. Same UK cover, different label, similar matrix numbers. I will probably write about this in the near future, but I was pretty impressed with the sound. I no longer have the UK SAX, but if my memory is correct, it did not sound leaps and bounds better than this German version.
I think I have that one and it sounds very good indeed. When I was young I thought that German, Italian and French SAX were inferior to the British ones, and let many slip through my fingers. I especially remember an Italian SAX with Cluytens conducting Beethovens Seventh Symphony and a French double lP with Oistrakh and Fournier playing Brahms Concertos. Ah, the follies of youth...
DeleteI empathize completely. If only I knew then what I know now ...
DeleteI have yet to post on this, but I have been picking up a lot of early US Angel pressings of the UK HMV and Columbia recordings that I've reviewed on this site. I once had the notion (from hearsay) that these were not worth acquiring because they were sonically inferior. In my humble opinion, this could not be further from the truth, having owned and listened to many of the ASDs and SAXes. The early Angels sound pretty great. They have that tubey sound and can be very dynamic. I am hoping to do some A/B testing with these and the small number of HMVs and Columbias that I still own. From what I have heard so far, I have not heard any major differences.
Well, last week I found an affordable copy of the London White back version on German ebay and bought it. It has 4W/4W stampers and a KT tax code, meaning it is a late pressing, from 1969-70. Direct comparison with my Ace of Diamonds yielded no serious differences, at least in my setup. I guess I will sell the SAD and keep the London pressing.
ReplyDelete@meles, you said back then you find the Nonesuch Mendelssohn Scotch Symphony preferable to the London. Now, the only Scotch I found that was released by Nonesuch was the one conducted by Dean Dixon, with the Prague Symphony, originally released on Supraphon. Is that the one you mean? It is very intriguing, since I am collecting the recordings of Dean Dixon, a seriously underrated conductor.
Matrix / Runout (Side 1): H-71254-A 0 STERLING RL
DeleteMatrix / Runout (Side 2): H-71254-B 0 STERLING RL
This was mastered by Robert Ludwig and his Nonesuch work is very highly regarded. If you collect Dean Dixon I'd just lay in wait for the right price and add this to your collection. I saw your very positive comments on the London Ace of Diamonds and 4w/4w stampers heavily imply that those were cut by the Neumman lithium cooled cutter heads. As I recall their were two versions of the Neumman. The first corresponded with the small label and around 1968 and then later (1973 by my addled memory) is even higher performance with distortion free performance up to 20khz. Just to add to the mythology almost all of these decca/london were half-speed mastered which has performance advantages, but actually hurts the bass. Usually they compensate for this and things like Feste Romane on Mobile Fidelity UHQR have devestating bass.
On this LP just one recent comment on Discogs is all I found outside of my own comments; "Symphony No. 3 In A Minor Op. 56 ("Scotch") (LP, Album, Stereo) H-71254
Really very good! The vinyl is fairly quiet and the performance is amazing."