EMI ASD 513: Russian and French Ballet Music
Russian and French Ballet Music
Glinka: 'A Life for the Tsar'
Gounod: 'Faust'
Philharmonia Orchestra
Efrem Kurtz, conductor
Pressing: UK, ED1
Date first published: 1963
Matrix numbers: 2YEA 697-2, 2YEA 698-1
Performance: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Price range: $47-286 (mean $155) on popsike.com
Comments: Another gorgeous sounding gold/cream ASD recording from the company of Efrem Kurtz and the Philharmonia. The performances are top notch, and the sound is some of the best I've heard from the golden age tube recording era. I'd even go as far as to say that this recording of Gounod's ballet music from Faust rivals the legendary Decca/RCA recording with Alexander Gibson and the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden (LSC-2449). Tonal fidelity and textures are excellent all around, with rich and resonant strings and full-bodied winds and brass. Transparency is simply superb. Beautiful midrange with taut, deep bass and a sparkling treble. Combine all of this with holographic soundstaging, solid imaging, powerful dynamics without a trace of distortion, and plenty of fine level detail (you can even hear a musician's cough in the middle of Faust), and you have yourself another EMI winner. Highly recommended.
Philharmonia Orchestra
Efrem Kurtz, conductor
Pressing: UK, ED1
Date first published: 1963
Matrix numbers: 2YEA 697-2, 2YEA 698-1
Performance: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Price range: $47-286 (mean $155) on popsike.com
Comments: Another gorgeous sounding gold/cream ASD recording from the company of Efrem Kurtz and the Philharmonia. The performances are top notch, and the sound is some of the best I've heard from the golden age tube recording era. I'd even go as far as to say that this recording of Gounod's ballet music from Faust rivals the legendary Decca/RCA recording with Alexander Gibson and the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden (LSC-2449). Tonal fidelity and textures are excellent all around, with rich and resonant strings and full-bodied winds and brass. Transparency is simply superb. Beautiful midrange with taut, deep bass and a sparkling treble. Combine all of this with holographic soundstaging, solid imaging, powerful dynamics without a trace of distortion, and plenty of fine level detail (you can even hear a musician's cough in the middle of Faust), and you have yourself another EMI winner. Highly recommended.
Yes, this is a great recording and superb performance.
ReplyDeleteI have the WRC issue STP 623. Stampers are the same 2YEA 697-2 & 2YEA 698-1
Apparently, this was also released on the Regal label as SREG 1052. Another potentially great-sounding option.
DeleteThere's a reasonably priced good looking copy of the SREG on Canadian eBay
ReplyDeleteI've got the Regal. It also is 2YEA 697-2 & 2YEA 698-1. With a 4 and 0, 1 and A at nine and three o\clock for each side.
DeleteThe Regal sounds very good, but i suspect though made from the same mother, that it is a bit diminished and likely from a later stamper or more worn stamper. The sparkling treble and trasparency are not outstanding strengths on mine versus what some G&C I have can do.
I've got the Regal. It also is 2YEA 697-2 & 2YEA 698-1. With a 4 and 0, 1 and A at nine and three o\clock for each side.
DeleteThe Regal sounds very good, but i suspect though made from the same mother, that it is a bit diminished and likely from a later stamper or more worn stamper. The sparkling treble and trasparency are not outstanding strengths on mine versus what some G&C I have can do.
Is Solomon Beethoven PC 3 a good one? I see SREG 1053 on ebay.
DeleteI like it, have 2 copies
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pristineclassical.com/pasc351.html
AndyW - are there any other EMI/HMV Solomon LPs that you like and would recommend?
DeleteThat one was originally BSD, so the SREG1053 cannot share the same stampers, since the BSD is a 10 inch LP. Interesting that the SREG has same amount of material on 12 inch disc. Do you have BSDs or SREG?
DeleteMine are both the SREG issue. I think the original was BSD 751
DeleteMatrices for the SREG's are:
DeleteSGEG 1053 A-1G 1 A & SREG 1053 B-1G 1 A
SGEG 1053 A-1G 1 R & SREG 1053 B-1G 1 A
So remastered specifically for the SREG series
Beethoven's PC 1 on ASD 294 coupled with Sonata 27 and the Grieg / Schumann PC's on ASD 272 are good performances that deserve more recognition.
ReplyDeleteI also like the piano Sonatas 13 and 31 on ALP 1900 along with 14 and 26 on BLP1051
Thanks, AndyW. With the ASDs, would you recommend gold/cream, semi-circle, or postage stamp pressings?
DeleteI have both in mint G/C versions & also have ASD 272 in S/C and P/S versions.There is little to choose between the G/C & S/C versions.The P/S version has marginally quite vinyl but has slightly less warmth that is evident in the earlier pressings.
DeleteExcellent detail. These kind of pressing sound issues are so key with EMI. I think from this point forward we really need to explore what exactly EMI was doing with all their pressings and that really means looking at matrix information as they were app to keep using later stampers from the same mother rather than remaster. This really makes EMI unique from other labels where remastering with the latest technology was routine.
DeleteIn general, most postage stamps to have a sound like you describe, but this is a false premise as we really need to look at matrix information.
I've got ASD 272 in S/C-semi (I believe). My WRC should show up any day and I'll be in hot pursuit with EMI matrices soon. Thanks for your tremendous input.
Andy have another question above that I think you missed. Thanks again.
DeleteMeles - this notion that EMI kept using later stampers from the same mother as opposed to remastering. Perhaps that could explain why you don't like the sound of the semi-circle SAXes, which would theoretically be pressings made from late stampers with possibly more wear. Do you think, then, that the magic notes also used these stampers but EMI employed transistor technology rather than valve, which would explain the difference in sound? This argument would be supportive of the hypothesis that the original blue/silver pressings would be the finest in sound of the three.
DeleteWhere I am not sure that this necessarily holds true is with the EMI ASD series. As I think we've both commented, the semi-circle ASDs are hardly inferior to the original gold/creams. I have yet to do serious A/B comparisons between these two pressings, but essentially every semi-circle ASD (2nd pressing, not original 1st pressing semi-circle) I have heard has been quite excellent in sound. So how does on go about explaining the pressing phenomenon here?
Thinking about this logically, what we and others refer to as stampers fro the matrix numbers must in reality be mother reference and the individual stampers are defined by the code at 9 & 9 o'clock or to be more precise, the whole code.
DeleteSo for "hot stampers" do we accept that all derived from a given mother will sound the same and therefore they should be "hot mothers" (which has other connotations!) or can there be differences between the different stampers grown from the same mother.
The other issue regarding the sound quality of the early EMI recordings (all companies) is that there is not much information on the placement of the pics. Decca, RCA, Mercury etc as well documented but there is little information on the EMI recordings. The only guide seems to be who the engineers were.