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Pristine News: Friday 19th February, 2010  Krauss's Ring - Part 2...
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to Pristine Classical? Get Started Here:
A Beginner's Guide to Downloading - Five ways to find recordings at Pristine Classical - Full printable Pristine Audio catalogue New release today: WAGNER Die Walküre Pristine Audio PACO 040 XR
remastering by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio, February 2010 Total
duration: 3hr 30:55
An
astonishing sonic resurrection of this all-time classic - superb in all
respects Source
information: Live
concert recording, Bayreuth Festival, 9th August 1953 CD,
MP3 and FLAC information: CDs: Triple set - The second act of
this recording is a little too long for a single CD and so it has been
necessary to fade the audio (during a natural pause in the music) in
order to accommodate the recording on audio CDs - Act 2 begins at the
end of CD1 and concludes on CD2. Acts 1 and 3 are presented
uninterrupted on CDs 1 and 3 respectively. FLACs:
No fades have been applied to the FLAC files. If you wish to transfer
FLACs to audio CD you may of course split the recording wherever you
prefer from the tracks you download. If you're listening from a non-CD
source replay will be continuous through each act. There is a "fade to
black" between acts. MP3:
Purchasers will receive two sets of files, both as Zip files within a
single large Zip file: -
a single long, continuous MP3 with no breaks within acts, together with
accompanying cue sheet for track splitting Please
check our help section for help with FLAC, MP3, Cue and Zip files. Clemens Krauss's 1953 Ring Cycle continues its
remarkable sonic transformation this week at Pristine Classical, as we
release the second XR-remastered opera of this legendary set. For many Wagner lovers, the four Ring operas recorded at
Bayreuth in 1953 under Krauss's baton have long been regarded as one
of, if not the, greatest ever recorded. With a cast to die for, singing
at their peak, and with one of the greatest orchestras assembled for
the festival, all the pieces were in place for a superlative series. Three weeks ago we issued Das
Rheingold. It was an instant hit - as you can see from our top
four (right) - with often-ecstatic e-mails from purchasers, all of
which urged us to hurry up with the next in the series,Die
Walküre. Now it's here, and if anything the XR remastering has
proved even more successful here than before: the whole of this opera
recording is - in every way - truly sensational!
Technical
notes: A
few short weeks before this recording was issued we took our first
tentative steps in the remastering of this, one of the greatest Ring
cycles of all time, with our issue of Das
Rheingold. Noting that the entire cycle was available elsewhere at
budget price, the decision to spend the enormous time and effort
involved in producing a full XR remastering of these increasingly
lengthy operas was taken with some trepidation. I wanted to be
absolutely sure that I could bring a major transformation to the sound
quality of the recordings - one which not only satisfied me, but also
the legions of Wagner lovers who already knew these recordings well. The
responses to that first Rheingold issue were nothing if not
encouraging: "...the
Krauss is my favourite Ring of the moment, and I own it in two other
incarnations, so I am in a good position to judge the improvements that
Andrew Rose has achieved. The sound is more open and focused than ever
before and it is a real treat to hear the finest singers of their
generation sing their signature roles in a faithful representation of
the Bayreuth ‘noise’. The audio spectrum has been cleaned at the top
and opened out at the bottom. Hans Hotter sings his best Wotan,
slightly more sensitively than for Keilberth in the Testament stereo
Ring, and in far fresher voice than for Solti in the 1960s. Astrid
Varnay is marvellous as Brunnhilde, and has the benefit of really
attentive, flexible conducting. Clemens Krauss’ approach may not be to
everyone’s taste, being at the other end of the tempo spectrum to
Knappertsbusch, but to my ears the naturalness of what he does serves
the composer without drawing attention to itself..." "...I
just downloaded and played he 53 Krauss Rheingold that you recently
released. it is utterly fantastic! Much more alive than the CDs out
there. When will Die Walkure be released?..." "Yesterday
I downloaded your XR remastering of Das Rheingold. What a superb job
you have done with it. I own the Krauss Ring on Archipel, but what an
astonishing improvement the Pristine version means. I just would let
you know, since I am so enthusiastic about it. Looking forward to Die
Walküre!..." Since
these initial comments from listeners, I've been continually nagged by
e-mails requesting Die
Walküre, and naturally given the success of Das
Rheingold, I was somewhat nervous with regard to my ability to
match up to that standard. I
should not have been. If anything, this was a better-made recording to
begin with. This of course makes sense - recorded a day after the first Ring opera, the opportunity would
have been there to make adjustments to microphone placement and
recording equipment based on the experience of the previous day's
taping. As
a result, Die
Walküre frequently
surpasses Das
Rheingold in overall
sound quality - it truly sounds wonderful throughout. I've managed to
deal with various faults which existed in the recording - hums, high
frequency tones, occasional drop-outs, a tendency to high-frequency
'fuzz' around 10kHz, and removed a number of coughs and other
intrusions. But
above all the delight for this listener of this new remastering will be
the absolute clarity and stunning sound quality of the whole - the
perfect balance of orchestra and voice for which Bayreuth was designed
is conveyed brilliantly in one of the finest opera recordings and
performances I've ever heard. Andrew
Rose
Looking back: WAGNER Die Walküre - Act 1 Pristine Audio PACO 024 Recorded
in Musikvereinssaal, Vienna 20-22 June 1935 Total
duration: 61:58 This
stunning remastering leaves all previous issues redundant Wind the clock back to 1935 and here's another
landmark recording of Die
Walküre - only the
first movement, alas, but what a remarkable performance, brilliantly
captured on disc by EMI. Lotte Lehmann's Sieglinde and Lauritz Melchior's Siegmund have
surely set the benchmark for these roles ever since. Meanwhile, the
Vienna Philharmonic under Bruno Walter are superb, and yes, the
recording quality was really excellent for its day. What we didn't realise though, when dusting off those vintage 78s,
was just how good that recording actually could be when given the
Pristine XR remastering treatment - this 2008-remastered release could
surely now be considered alongside almost any mid-50s recording. Voices are ultra-clear, the orchestra full and well-balanced, the
Vienna Musikvereinssaal's acoustic is remarkable - audition it today!
Notes
on the recordings: This
recording is legendary - it is frequently held up as the greatest
recording ever made of music by Wagner, despite its vintage sound. My
aim, therefore, was simple to describe, if not so simple to achieve: to
get beyond that vintage sound and elevate it to a level which would
bring dramatic and significant new life to the recording - to literally
leave previous issues in the past. I believe I've succeeded beyond all
expectations - certainly my own. By applying the very latest XR
remastering techniques I've been able to lift the sound quality of this
recording to a level I would not have considered possible just a few
weeks ago. At
the time of writing I regard this as my finest ever remastering work.
As one respected reviewer put it to me ahead of release: You've
done wonders here; if I hadn't recognised Lehmann's voice, I'd never
have believed this dates from 1935. I'm not surprised this has been
described as the cream of all Wagner performances. The detail is all
there, the balance is superb and there's an ample acoustic preserved
from the originals allowing the voices to expand naturally. There's
such depth to the soundstage, too... But
what is it that is so special about this particular, single-act-only
recording? Here I hand over to the Wagner experts - the reviewing
public, as remarked on websites around the world in reference to
previous issues of this legendary recording: Made
in Vienna in 1935, this recording of probably the most popular act of
the Ring Cycle has always been the benchmark. It employs three
unbelievable singers, under the glorious conducting of Bruno
Walter...Lauritz Melchior is unquestionably the greatest Heldentenor
who ever lived. Here he is in fabulous voice, even by his standards,
and he is so much more involved and intelligent when he is working with
a great conductor...Lotte Lehmann is just as fabulous as Melchior. She
has a very beautiful voice ideal for Sieglinde: solid at the core but
soft-edged, and she too has model diction and excellent
legato...finally, we come to the conducting of Bruno Walter. Helped by
the radiant playing of the Vienna Philharmonic, he conjures up Wagner's
unique world of blended sound and emotion like no one else on record.
He is as warm and lyrical as is possible, but realizes all the drama,
and never goes over the top... ...[Lehmann]
can be heard at her best in this recording of the first act of "Die
Walküre" made in Vienna in 1935. It preserves one of her most famous
operatic portrayals. Few Sieglindes have conveyed so much in their
singing: first an eager curiosity, then a guarded welcome, a wondrous
admiration, an intensity in the narration, and finally an impassioned
ecstasy. Such singing lives on in the listener's memory. Melchior is
also represented at his best, but the hero of the proceedings is the
conductor Bruno Walter. Under Walter's direction the performance has a
sweep, a warmth, a glow and a tenderness that I have never heard
equalled... Spectacular!
There is simply no better CD version of this opera, despite being
recorded in 1935. "Du bist der Lenz" with Lotte Lehmann has never been
surpassed. This CD is a "MUST HAVE" for any serious music lover. Modern
recordings obviously have better sound, but the singers are like
pygmies compared to these two giants - Melchior and Lehmann. Andrew
Rose, 2008
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Latest
Reviews, e-mails & comments
"This is a live NBC radio broadcast from Carnegie Hall, made on 28 March 1953, its source being a “recording from the private collection of Christophe Pizzutti”. As such, it inevitably invites comparison with the RCA recording made with the same forces, in the same venue, begun only three days later on 30 March and completed over 31 March and 2 April. Pristine have also produced an “ambient stereo” remastering of the RCA recording which I have not yet heard, but which they claim “ is the extraction of the natural reverberation as captured in the original recording and the opening of this out onto a stereo soundfield.” I should like to hear that, too, but note that Pristine concede that no modern remastering can address the main shortcoming of the RCA recording, which is that the soloists are placed too far back. The remedying of that defect, conveniently, is the main virtue of this live broadcast – but that comes at a price, which is a prominent hiss. The slightly dull ambience of the RCA version, even in its sharpened up 1998 incarnation (in a 2 CD BMG classics set with the “Choral Symphony”) is certainly easier on the ear but orchestral details are submerged and the solo voices less immediate. The disciplined but impassioned chorus emerge intact in both recordings and both convey not only the greatness of the work itself but the supremacy and conviction of Toscanini as its supreme interpreter. The radio announcements and audience applause have been edited in order to fit CD duration limit and one peculiarity is noted: “An organ malfunction during the Kyrie rendered it inoperable for the rest of the performance.” This results in some diminution in the heft of the continuo but it is scarcely noticeable except just before the return to the main subject of the “Kyrie”, otherwise the double-basses carry the burden adequately and I really don’t think it should be a factor. Comparisons with Toscanini’s earlier performances might be artistically enlightening but the sound of the famous 1940 version places it beyond any but the most enthusiastic historical buff when looking for a recording to live with. One thing is clear: once Toscanini had assimilated this monumental work into his concert repertoire he performed it more and more frequently and at an increasingly brisk pace without sacrificing any expressiveness, such was his care for rhythm, dynamics, phrasing and balance. The 1953 NBC recording is a full five minutes faster than that of 1940 and this live one sits exactly in between the two, mainly the result of the first two movements being more leisurely, at a minute and a half and a minute longer respectively, than that NBC version. I prefer the immediacy of the NBC tempi, but this being Toscanini, he makes all three work. In any case, the “Kyrie” has no metronome markings to act as a guide, even if one were to take any notice of such things. One thing is for sure: the Robert Shaw Chorale must have at first been terrified by the tempo he set for the notoriously challenging “Et vitam venture” – but they hang on and it makes for a thrilling ride. Timings for the last three movements are otherwise pretty much identical for both 1953 versions. Toscanini remains the quickest out of Karajan, Klemperer and Bernstein, and despite his “Gloria” being, for example, three minutes shorter than Giulini’s slightly turgid version, there is never any sense of undue hurry, merely a massive momentum and certainty of purpose. Even the most fervent admirer of Bernstein might concede that his evident reverence for this music occasionally tempts him into too etiolated and, yes,”indulgent” an interpretation compared with Toscanini’s more virile directness. I still love Karajan’s rapt account of the “Sanctus” and “Benedictus” with his ideal team of soloists, but find nothing lacking in Toscanini’s poised control here, which is ably enhanced by the beautiful playing of Daniel Guilet, the NBC concertmaster. Having said that, no violinist quite approaches Karajan’s legendary Michel Schwalbe for eloquence and purity of tone, even if the delicacy of Krebbers in the Bernstein set is also very beguiling. Overall, the closest comparison for precision, energy and attack is to be found, somewhat surprisingly, in Klemperer’s celebrated 1965 recording with the redoubtable New Philharmonic Chorus trained by Wilhelm Pitz. Key moments in this account come off so well owing to Toscanini’s famed combination of discipline, rhythmic precision and overt emotionalism. Hence the attack of the strings at “crucifixus” is heart-wrenching, contrasting tellingly with the beatific sense of the awe and mystery of the Incarnation, so powerfully conveyed by Conley at the words “homo factus est”. Given that one of Toscanini’s many strengths was securing balance between orchestral voices, we must assume that he consciously made the decision to place the soloists further back from the microphone than we now find ideal. Certainly Jerome Hine’s sonorous, thunderous bass could overpower other voices and one of the pleasures of this live recording is that we can now hear both him and that grossly under-rated tenor, Eugene Conley, much more clearly. It is in fact the men who most benefit from the sharper acoustic of this recording; the gentler ambience of the NBC recording softens Nan Merriman’s rapid, flickering vibrato and prevents it sounding too close to a flutter. Similarly, it flatters Lois Marshall’s occasional impurity and slight scratchiness of tone compared with the almost otherworldly, disembodied flutiness of Gundula Janowitz’s soprano. Nonetheless, Marshall delivers a courageous and generous performance; her pitch is true and her fervour wholly convincing. This new recording amply demonstrates the advantages of different microphone placement and forms a desirable adjunct to the commercial recording. Both provide ample evidence that in performance Toscanini was guided by the composer’s fervent superscription to this great Mass: "Von Herzen - möge es wieder - zu Herzen gehen". " -- Ralph Moore, MusicWeb International on PACO034: Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123 - Beethoven (Toscanini live, 1953) --00-- "Hello Andrew I am a new purchaser of online music from Pristine Audio, mostly Toscanini. You have provided the greatest service imaginable to Toscanini, who was always more poorly off sonically than his rival Furtwangler. I am going to have to buy a lot of Flash drives to back up these treasures. Meanwhile for Furtwangler, have you considered remastering the Lucerne 1954 Beethoven 9th? My copy from Tahra has a dreadful moment of wow in the 4th movement. It really renders this beautiful performance unplayable. By the way, I found purchase and download from Pristine to be flawless. It is interesting that the XBMC can play right from the ZIP files. Although I like XBMC, it is one of the most poorly documented applications that I have ever seen. I found several features by accident when I mistyped. I look forward to your introduction that you mentioned in the newsletter. Your note on tagging was interesting. Do you use Tag Tuner for everything? Not all taggers work with FLACs, and I would be interested in a short summary of what you use for FLACs. Your downloads are very well tagged and XBMC shows everything. Just heard the Missa Solemnis live! The 4 soloists were positioned in the front row center seats of the choir behind the orchestra. I loved this effect; do they perform it this way in England? The sonics of course were incredible. A choir must be the hardest thing to record. No recording that I have ever heard captures that sound, although some come close. All the best Yours faithfully " -- R.H. --00-- "Sir Adrian Boult (1889-1983) had a long and productive recording career which included the acoustic and digital eras and a very wide range of repertoire not restricted by any means to the music of Great Britain. However, much of reputation for his interpretations of English music is due in part to these fine Decca recordings from 1954 which have pleased so many music lovers since their first release. Boult never re-recorded Sir Malcolm Arnold's rumbustious sets of English Dances in stereo; for that we have the composer's own brilliant recording on Lyrita, yet Boult's swagger and energy impress still after all these years. The Elgar pieces are beautifully rounded, the Bavarian Dances especially rhythmic, and the two Butterworth works shaped as sensitively as anyone has achieved. Tintagel's ebb and flow and rough-hewn majesty is at least as finely done as Boult's later Lyrita recording, and for contrast, the sultry Siesta hums with atmosphere. And after all these years, Holst's trombones' appearance out of the acoustic still raises the hairs on the back of the neck! Recorded in the excellent acoustics of Kingsway Hall by the famous team of James Walker and Kenneth Wilkinson, the mono sound wears its years lightly; the application of ambient stereo for those who specify that opens up the sound, especially for headphone use. I spent some time comparing these new restorations with earlier issues on Belart and Decca and found small but important improvements particularly in the reproduction of the upper strings which now seem to me less astringent and better balanced. I look forward to a second volume." -- Peter Joelson, Audiophile Audition, on PASC193 - Boult conducts English Music --00-- "I think it is commendable that you care about the reputation of your XR releases, but I suspect that creating the SI “imprint” will still leave you with some troubling situations. The quality you are able to attain through your remastering process does not automatically fall into categories XR and SI, but rather spread over a spectrum. It would be ideal, in my view, if there was a means of measuring the success or final quality of your work. Can the amount of noise be quantified? Can the frequency range be quantified, etc.? In the end, I believe you may be left with a judgment. But even this would be worthwhile. I think your customers respect your work and judgment. It seems to me that the XR designation is about the process and not the result. So, I am recommending to you that you adopt a rating system that is finer that just SI or XR. You might come up with a system and ask your customers if they would find it useful, or even ask them to suggest a rating system for you. I think it would be better for you to create it, because you have a better idea about what kinds of judgments you are able to make." -- B.A. In reply: "Quite simply, SI releases will be those which would otherwise have been rejected on some specific sound quality grounds, but which we would otherwise love to issue on musical or historic merit. By the time I've finished a restoration and prepared it for release I'm not usually in a position to stand back and judge its success or otherwise, especially on a finely detailed sliding scale - I'd much rather have a lengthy sample available online and let people make their own minds up." - Andrew
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