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Re: Gould's CBC recordings
Hello Ingvar and the list,
I'm afraid I disagree with Ingvar. To me, the whole purpose of CDs and
LPs and other recording media is to give the listener the illusion that
he or she is in the room or hall where the recording took place. Anything
that destroys that illusion is to be avoided.
Historical recordings are a pain. People seem to go wild over recordings
from 1900-1910 of Caruso and Galli-Curci and Melba when they all sound as
though they are being strangled. I had the same problem with John
McCormack until I found an excellent CD with some truly beautiful and
modern-sounding tracks recorded in the 1930s. One track sounds as though
it was recorded last year. Suddenly I knew why people raved about him.
Piano recordings do not suffer from the strangulation effect but the
degree of distortion can often be enough to drive me away. If it doesn't
sound like a piano it might just as well be a box of whistles, as GG said
(I think).
I have a number of Pearl CDs. They are, as Ingvar says, very well done,
and I wouldn't be without them because they are the best that is
available; but I would far rather have better reproduction, even if it
wan't historically correct.
Tim
<timcon@comswest.net.au>
Broome, Western Australia