Mercury Living Presence SR 90216: Dorati conducts Stravinsky's Petrouchka
Stravinsky: Petrouchka
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Antal Dorati, conductor
Pressing: US, dark maroon, colorback
Date first published: 1960
Matrix numbers: FR6/FR5
Performance: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Price range: $25-104 (mean $47) on popsike.com
Comments: A decent performance of Petrouchka from Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra to compete with the likes of Ansermet and the OSR on Decca and one that I tend to favor. I find this Mercury to be more dynamic than the Decca with better bass. The presentation here is much more immediate ("up close and personal") than on the Decca. I can't endorse the sound of the strings on either of these recordings. Here, the violins tend to have that dry, harsh sound that is heard on many a mediocre sounding Mercury. Woodwinds and brass, however, are very nicely reproduced. No distortion on this copy.
Not an essential Mercury but worth investigating if you like Dorati's Stravinsky (and who doesn't like SR 90226?).
I have the odious Vendor pressing of this (says Vendor on lable and not a color back) and it is in my listening pile. Of interest is when the colorbacks ran out. The FR pressings go away at a certain point. The subject of RFR vs FR pressings on the early material is interesting. The Vendor says RFR1, but I believe they are a notch down from a color back.
ReplyDeleteI've made a pile of about 12 mercuries that I have that I doubt I've listened to that might be good.
The odous vendor is quite the opposite. Sure surface noise might not be ideal, but that is little matter when this piece soars and boy does this rfr-1 vendor fly with the eagles. Much better than my FR -1 Ballet for Band with incredibly crisp, defined dynamic sound. No bloat (almost). Magic. A solid 9 if you can take a bit of surface noise during quiet passages. WOW!
ReplyDeleteNow that is interesting. The RFR1 beats out the original FR1! You didn't find the presentation a bit forward? No dryness?
DeleteNo dryness. I need to listen to more Mercury because that one really clicked. I've never really settled in my own mind exactly the difference between FR and RFR. It seems I got schooled on the site about that and though RCA pressed the FR copies, they did not master them. There is quite a difference in sound between FR and RFR so I would have to assume that Mercury also changed their mastering setup around the time they started doing the RFR pressings. This would not be surprising as they were always on the move and even bought defunct Everest's 35mm equipment around 1960.
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