EMI HMV ASD 608 vs London Blueback CS 6224: Hat Showdown
Falla: The Three Cornered Hat (Complete Ballet)
Victoria de los Angeles, soprano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, conductor
Pressing: UK, ER1, semi-circle first
Date first published: 1964
Matrix numbers: 2YEA 950-2, 2YEA 951-4
Performance: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Price range: $21-335 (mean $60) on popsike.com
Victoria de los Angeles, soprano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, conductor
Pressing: UK, ER1, semi-circle first
Date first published: 1964
Matrix numbers: 2YEA 950-2, 2YEA 951-4
Performance: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Price range: $21-335 (mean $60) on popsike.com
London CS 6224
Falla: The Three Cornered Hat, La Vida Breve
Teresa Berganza, mezzo-soprano
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet, conductor
Pressing: UK, ED2 (wide-band FFRR)
Date first published: 1961
Matrix numbers: ZAL-5138-4D, ZAL-5139-2D
Performance: 9/10
Sound: 8/10
Price range: $25-491 (mean $82) on popsike.com [Decca SXL $20-1028 (mean $340)]
Comments: It's been a while since I've listened to these two favorites in my collection and thought I'd use this opportunity to reacquaint myself with them and compare their qualities. The London recording is probably the better known of the two, though I wonder if that's because more has been written about it in the audiophile press. For whatever reason, Decca/London also managed to fit Falla's La Vida Breve on side 2. Ansermet/OSR and De Burgos/Philharmonia each offer highly spirited and captivating performances. I'd venture to say that the Philharmonia may be the more polished and disciplined of the two, but the OSR "lets its hair down" more. I tend to prefer the voice of Victoria de los Angeles to that of Teresa Berganza, but that is just a matter of preference and both give strong solo performances.
Sonically, these are distinct in signature but both outstanding with vivid sound and natural presence. Both have a beautiful midrange, tight bass, and good treble extension. The London is brighter sounding, particularly in the treble, and in louder passages, violin string tone can become a bit steely on my wide-band FFRR pressing. This I could not detect on the semi-circle first label EMI, which is the warmer, more liquid recording. Clarity and definition on both are excellent, and distortion is mostly absent though more noticeable on my 4D/2D pressing of the London in loud orchestral tuttis. Percussion (including piano) and all string pizzicati are precisely articulated. Wind solos are imaged well. Hall acoustics (Kingsway Hall for the EMI and Victoria Hall for the London) are beautifully captured, with the London recording having a slightly more forward presentation. In the end, I objectively give the EMI higher sound marks for its more natural, less harsh treble, but in all honesty, I'd be hard pressed to have to single out one recording over the other. They're both fantastic and worth owning.
Cost-wise, the EMI and the London are comparable in price range for a decent copy, though the rarer Decca tops them both. Unless you've got to have the Decca, the London will likely be much easier to acquire and in my opinion (and my colleague Meles may disagree with me here) nearly identical in sound. Reissues do exist for both of these albums. Speakers Corner has reissued the Decca, and I believe that it is still available but often out of stock with online sellers. The Speakers Corner is on Arthur Salvatore's Basic List of Supreme LP Recordings. ORG has released a 45 rpm 2 LP audiophile pressing of the London, which I have not yet heard. Alto reissued the ASD some years ago. I also haven't heard this, but given the high quality of Alto pressings that I've owned, I'd trust this to be a pretty decent reissue.
In Full Frequency Stereophonic Sound, Moon and Gray write on the subject of CS 6224:
"A brilliant and dramatic performance recorded with great clarity and presence. Ansermet catches the vigor and spirit of this work, even though it lacks a bit of warmth at times. The Orchestra of the Suisse Romande often pays with a lack of refinement that is appropriate to this score. The CD transfer is brilliant. Recorded iN February, 1961 in Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland. James Walker, producer; Roy Wallace, engineer." Rating: performance 9, sound 10 ("The Top Rank").
Falla: The Three Cornered Hat, La Vida Breve
Teresa Berganza, mezzo-soprano
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet, conductor
Pressing: UK, ED2 (wide-band FFRR)
Date first published: 1961
Matrix numbers: ZAL-5138-4D, ZAL-5139-2D
Performance: 9/10
Sound: 8/10
Price range: $25-491 (mean $82) on popsike.com [Decca SXL $20-1028 (mean $340)]
Comments: It's been a while since I've listened to these two favorites in my collection and thought I'd use this opportunity to reacquaint myself with them and compare their qualities. The London recording is probably the better known of the two, though I wonder if that's because more has been written about it in the audiophile press. For whatever reason, Decca/London also managed to fit Falla's La Vida Breve on side 2. Ansermet/OSR and De Burgos/Philharmonia each offer highly spirited and captivating performances. I'd venture to say that the Philharmonia may be the more polished and disciplined of the two, but the OSR "lets its hair down" more. I tend to prefer the voice of Victoria de los Angeles to that of Teresa Berganza, but that is just a matter of preference and both give strong solo performances.
Sonically, these are distinct in signature but both outstanding with vivid sound and natural presence. Both have a beautiful midrange, tight bass, and good treble extension. The London is brighter sounding, particularly in the treble, and in louder passages, violin string tone can become a bit steely on my wide-band FFRR pressing. This I could not detect on the semi-circle first label EMI, which is the warmer, more liquid recording. Clarity and definition on both are excellent, and distortion is mostly absent though more noticeable on my 4D/2D pressing of the London in loud orchestral tuttis. Percussion (including piano) and all string pizzicati are precisely articulated. Wind solos are imaged well. Hall acoustics (Kingsway Hall for the EMI and Victoria Hall for the London) are beautifully captured, with the London recording having a slightly more forward presentation. In the end, I objectively give the EMI higher sound marks for its more natural, less harsh treble, but in all honesty, I'd be hard pressed to have to single out one recording over the other. They're both fantastic and worth owning.
Cost-wise, the EMI and the London are comparable in price range for a decent copy, though the rarer Decca tops them both. Unless you've got to have the Decca, the London will likely be much easier to acquire and in my opinion (and my colleague Meles may disagree with me here) nearly identical in sound. Reissues do exist for both of these albums. Speakers Corner has reissued the Decca, and I believe that it is still available but often out of stock with online sellers. The Speakers Corner is on Arthur Salvatore's Basic List of Supreme LP Recordings. ORG has released a 45 rpm 2 LP audiophile pressing of the London, which I have not yet heard. Alto reissued the ASD some years ago. I also haven't heard this, but given the high quality of Alto pressings that I've owned, I'd trust this to be a pretty decent reissue.
In Full Frequency Stereophonic Sound, Moon and Gray write on the subject of CS 6224:
"A brilliant and dramatic performance recorded with great clarity and presence. Ansermet catches the vigor and spirit of this work, even though it lacks a bit of warmth at times. The Orchestra of the Suisse Romande often pays with a lack of refinement that is appropriate to this score. The CD transfer is brilliant. Recorded iN February, 1961 in Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland. James Walker, producer; Roy Wallace, engineer." Rating: performance 9, sound 10 ("The Top Rank").
The Three cornered hat was a huge hole in my collection for quite some time until recently. I have the Speakers Corner of the Decca SXL 2296 with Anserment which Salvatore recommends. On Popsike the top selling Decca with matrix codes went for $900 and it had the same 4D/2L stampers. Here is a case where doing your home work can pay off. The London actually came out a little bit before the Decca and the top selling Popsike example came in at nearly $500 for a 3E/1E. This is big money for the London and I suspect it might sound better than the Decca, but lots of luck getting either so this is a great one to test the waters with Speakers Corner reissues (Audio Basics in Canada having 20% off sale and I think these can be had for like $21 US plus shipping.) Our guide shows some reissues and if the FFRR is not cheap enough you can get an SDD.
ReplyDeleteAQL must be slipping not to have listened to SAX 2341 with Giulini and perhaps London BB CS 6050 is on his shopping list. Also not to be missed is the Classic Records reissue of the Everest. I see a gold CD of the big Decca selling for $1000 and also a Japanese audiophile LP reissue from 2010. Here, it seems the Speakers Corner might be the way to go, but I can't say it is one of my favorites and I need to give it another chance. I've got several pressings of SAX 2341 and the Classic Everest and I really have not been bowled over by any of them, though all probably would rate an 8 for sound.
Alto reissued ASD 608 and that would be interesting to here I am sure. For the Alto and this original I will have a blind eye out.
Haha - slipping? This was a focused comparison -- SAX 2341 has already been reviewed on the blog. The Classic Records of the Everest is a worthy contender and also a Salvatore Supreme List LP, but I wanted to just put these two originals head to head. I'll stop back after listening to the Jorda/LSO reissue.
DeleteI used to own CS 6050 but sold it a few years ago and would like to get another copy! I remember performance being very good but sound not quite as impressive.
DeleteJust gave more of a listen and I recommend the Speakers Corner Three Cornered Hat! Salvatore Basic List, a 9 for sound and at 1/25th the price of the Decca very nice.
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