[78-L] five favorite artists

[David Lennick]

On 12/29/2012 11:35 AM, Don Cox wrote:
> On 24/12/2012, David Lennick wrote:
>
>> I did a transfer for Allegro, but it was on their Opera d'Oro label
>> (CDO 1003 doesn't ring a bell). Results were not that great and we
>> omitted Beecham's talk because otherwise it would have required 3 CDs.
>
> The discs themselves are marked "Classico d'Oro".

You are correct..I couldn't find my file copy. That's the one.
>
> The solo voices sound OK in your transfer but the orchestra is muffled. I
> would guess that the curtains were drawn all round the walls in the
> Abbey Rd Studio One, where it was recorded. This seems to have been the
> usual practice at the time.

I had two complete sets on RCA 78s. One was pressed from stampers that seemed 
to have been coated with chicken fat, or from mothers that had been reamed to 
smooth out imperfections. I thought that only happened with ancient masters, as 
in that lousy John McCormack Sings Again set.

dl
>
> The 1959 RCA version was recorded in Walthamstow Assembly Hall, with the
> orchestra at ground level and the chorus (about 80 members, all
> professional singers) up in the balcony.  A much more lively acoustic.
>
>> I thought Pearl issued the 1927 version, omitting the Pastoral
>> Symphony (which for some reason was on a separate disc and not in the
>> 78 album). I've wanted to find the RCA version but never found it in
>> Canada or at a reasonable price anywhere else. And I did the earlier
>> Handel suites and arrangements for VAI Audio way back when (1993).\
>>
>
> Regards