1. Home
  2. music
  3. 198834-7401

Haitink Mahler 5 on DECCA Pure Analog

Almost bought this but figured I ask if anyone has heard this reissue. 

From product notes…

For this release Rainer Maillard at Emil Berliner Studios has used the original, four-track quadraphonic master tape to make a new stereo mix sent directly to the cutter head. This preserves a pure analogue path throughout. The Philips engineers of the 1970s would similarly have mixed the four front and rear channels before cutting but this downmix would have resulted in a two-track stereo copy for mastering, whereas here the lacquer is cut directly from a ’live’ mix into stereo from the four Quad channels.
 

Any feedback on the quality of recording and vinyl?

audphile1
richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand
1,428 posts
 

@audphile1 

when it comes to Shostakovich, my preference is towards Soviet conductors of the same era

The most electrifying conductor I've ever heard live was Kirill Kondrashin, who recorded all Shostakovich symphonies with the Moscow Philharmonic, including world premieres.  When I saw him, he knew the scores by heart and conducted without a baton.  He seemed to guide every instrumental entry while balancing everybody else.

Towards the end of his life, he defected to the Netherlands and the Soviets banned his recordings.  I'd guess he fully understood the terror of living or dying under Stalin.

The young Norwegian conductor Klaus Mikela on Decca has started to record the symphonies with much better sound quality.  Thinking of Norway, I was surprised when I ran off the road in northern Norway and was rescued by a Russian driving an Audi Q8 SUV.  Turns out the Russian border was just a bit further up the road.  (In Australia, poles marking the edge of the road are on the road, not in the middle of a bloody snow-filled ditch).

audphile1's avatar
audphile1 OP
8,078 posts
 

@richardbrand funny story. glad you drove off the road before the border. It would have been a different Russian, and not on an Audi, and you would be chopping trees down now in Taiga instead of posting on the forums :)

Thanks for mentioning Kondrashin. He’s great. Haven’t listened to his recordings in a while though. For Shostakovich, I have to be in certain mood. Or he puts me in that mood forcefully which is not what I crave often. 
 

 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1 OP
8,078 posts
 

@dwette any thoughts on the DECCA records?

I just bought Stravinsky on eBay 

dwette
560 posts
 

@audphile1 

The Stravinsky is awesome. I love this record. BTW: it is 45 RPM. The jacket says so in fine print, but it’s not all that obvious.

This is maybe the best release of the Decca Pure Analogue series so far...except I just listened to the Varese and that’s pretty awesome too.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1 OP
8,078 posts
 

@dwette thanks that’s cool! made a good choice then
I know it’s 45 which I’m not a huge fan of for reasons other than sound quality lol

I’ll check out Varese on streaming 

 

 

More to discover