Revisited

Berkshire filled my order very quickly, and two of those 'The Fifties' 2fers arrived today: the Rubinstein set and the Cluytens/Opera Comique Carmen. I have not heard previous CD versions of any of this material, but the 'Fifties' transfers sound quite good. The sound is dry, but no more so than most mono early 1950s studio recordings. The source material is clearly not LPs; I hear absolutely no signs of LP surfaces in my samplings. In short, these appear to be copies of previous CD issues. The label makes no claims that these have been licensed from RCA or EMI. Strange - but very attractive bargains, given Berkshire's prices.

Paul Goldstein

I listened to the 'The 50s' issue of 'Vladimir Horowitz the Virtuoso' the other day. The transfers are quite good. There is no *audible* residue from LPs. What a knowledgable examination of waveforms would show, I dunno. The liner notes are scant and rudimentary, and no sources are credited. One of the recordings is of Rachmaninov's PC3, with Reiner and the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra. There are asterisks after both 'Orchestra' and 'Reiner', but these are decorative I guess, because there is no footnote or endnote. Copyright is claimed by Vandisc Belvideo SA.

Haven't got this one in front of me, but is there not an asterisk on the 'Concerto' line above, so that it just indicates (for the uninitiated!) to which work they contribute?

Ah yes. Since this is the only non-solo work on the CD, I had not considered that possibility.