Pinned post* (please keep checking-in for additions, which you’ll find in the first Comments box)
May 19, update for procuring replacement CDs: For UK residents ONLY with faulty Ansermet CDs, numbers 20 & 37, please email mk.customerservices@umusic.com for replacement copies. For anyone outside of the UK, you are advised to go back to your original point of purchase and request replacements from there.
***
May 1: The good news, https://www.colinscolumn.com/ansermet-update-release-date-for-deccas-box-of-all-his-stereo-recordings-is-now-april-28/, and there’s no bad…
My conversion to so-called classical music was immediate. Little old me, aged eleven (this was September 1969), in Room 17 (a grand piano dominant) of Erith Grammar School, music-teacher Mr Palmer (the organist at morning Assembly, and singer Felicity Palmer’s father) presiding. He put on an LP of Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of Animals (Decca, Skitch Henderson conducting the LSO) and I was hooked, and never looked back. I bought a few records at the time (okay, my father did) – serendipitous choices – Debussy/Munch, Prokofiev/Reiner, Mahler One/Giulini, Swan Lake/Rozhdestvensky, Schubert 9/Boult. And then, enter Ernest Ansermet, all those reissues on Decca’s World of the Great Classics series (£1.00 less a penny) – Debussy, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Ravel, Respighi, Tchaikovsky, et al, all discoveries – and although I had no idea who Ansermet was, those recordings, which sounded wonderful, really made a huge impression. And they hold their own – whether as SXL vinyl (expensive trades), on CD in Japan, or the Eloquence label, and now all of Ansermet’s Decca stereo releases collected in this big box, the eighty-plus CDs adorned with LP livery, and with the promise of the mono tapings also to come, already catalogued as Decca 485 1584.
Swiss-born Ernest Ansermet (1883-1969) formed L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in 1918 and conducted it for fifty years, making numerous recordings along the way in the excellent acoustic of Victoria Hall in Geneva. (Ansermet’s successors have included Paul Kletzki, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Walter Weller, Horst Stein, Marek Janowski, Neeme Järvi, and currently Jonathan Nott.)
The best way to approach this set, I thought, was to ‘lucky dip’; whatever I grabbed I would play. Beethoven’s Overture to Egmont proved a compelling start – weighty, and distinctive, especially in woodwinds and basses, with a thrilling coda; and then Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (Ansermet recorded all Nine, all are here), powerful and exciting, lyrically alluring, flexibly paced; none of your metronomically rigid and vacuously fast renditions. Allowing that I may not have heard this vibrant performance/recording before, it certainly leaves a big impression now, played with blazing commitment. To be honest, I was bowled over – a magnificent start to my Ansermet sessions.
Where next my wandering hand? To Bizet. Music from Carmen, for L’Arlésienne and La Jolie Fille de Perth, as well as the Patrie Overture, Jeux d’enfants, and the always-welcome Symphony in C. The latter is a little plodding, but the rest are vivacious examples of the characterful SRO at-one with its maestro’s individual but not interventionist wishes – tempos that serve the music articulately – and this 2-CD Bizet bundle is completed by Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin and Tzigane with Ruggiero Ricci relishing the gypsy-style violin writing, and he is also heard in Prokofiev’s two Violin Concertos.
I next strayed to “French Overtures”, a delicious selection of fancies from the original LP supplemented by other works that fit the bill, all brought off with style; add in impassioned for a dramatic example by Lalo. Ansermet didn’t only record with the SRO as an RCA Victor release entitled The Royal Ballet Gala Performances shows, with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, a collection of terpsichorean treats, including from Tchaikovsky’s triptych, on two CDs in superb sound. Compare that with the bleak and black world of Sibelius’s Fourth Symphony, which Ansermet views uncompromisingly (using bells rather than glockenspiel in the Finale, rightly so despite the composer’s preference for the latter instrument), pertinently coupled with Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead, Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, part of a twofer that also includes SRO tapings of Sibelius’s Second Symphony and Tapiola.
Now, a change of tack … what else did Ansermet record in stereo? Much. Such as J. S. Bach Suites and Cantatas (distinguished singers in the latter), Symphonies by Haydn, including the ‘Paris’ set (82-87), Beethoven’s Nine and Brahms’s Four (including a personable Second, with first-movement exposition repeat) and German Requiem, Chausson, Franck, Magnard (the latter’s Third, Ansermet’s final recording), Honegger and Roussel, Berlioz’s fantastique (plus rehearsal), Liszt’s Faust, Saint-Saëns Third (“avec orgue”), Schumann’s Second…
Also, Tchaikovsky Suites & Ballets, Weber Overtures, Wagner chunks, wonderful collections of Chabrier and Fauré, and not forgetting a complete Delibes Coppélia, Dukas’s Sorcerer, Glazunov’s Seasons, Respighi’s Pines & Fountains, and Falla’s Three-cornered Hat.
There are also the composers that Ansermet is regarded as being among the finest interpreters, such as Debussy – including Pelléas et Mélisande, La mer (twice) – Ravel, including Daphnis complete & Suite II, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Mother Goose (without interludes), Shéhérazade (twice; Crespin; Danco) – and Stravinsky – Firebird complete (twice, Geneva and London, New Philharmonia, plus rehearsal), Petrushka (1911 original), Rite, Pulcinella (complete & Suite), Symphonies (in C; in Three Movements; of Wind Instruments; of Psalms), The Fairy’s Kiss (complete & Divertimento) – and not forgetting Bartók, Prokofiev, and Ansermet’s fellow countryman Frank Martin.
(Anything missing from the above is probably mono and can be expected in that release.)
During Ansermet’s time the SRO was never a super-virtuoso ensemble, but it did consist of accomplished and willing musicians who knew exactly what Ansermet wanted and they delivered it with charisma and distinction, the conductor himself analytical but not antiseptic, with heart and soul, creating music-making the very opposite of slick and homogenous that is unfailingly alive, living and breathing, supple – as moreish now as back then.
This was no teenage infatuation of mine, for, despite exposure to so many other interpretations of so much repertoire at concerts or through other recordings, Ansermet’s artistry is undimmed and is proving to be a lifetime’s association – a great conductor and a series of recordings that in many cases remain touchstones. I was very fortunate back then – and remain so: this is absorbing and illuminating music-making for the duration, with annotation that is excellent.
I would like to dedicate this post to the late Paul Westcott. Paul was an avid Ansermet admirer, and although he no doubt had all these recordings (rarely if ever out of the catalogue one way or another) he would have loved this set, and so do I. Decca 485 1583 (88 CDs) – which became available on April 28 or, according to one mail-order website, is due on May 5, or another, May 26 – does exist, and has so much to offer. I may post occasional updates on listening activities*.
https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/p51-i0028948515837/ernest-ansermet/ernest-ansermet-the-stereo-years/index.html [repertoire details]
Elly Ameling
Teresa Berganza
Regine Crespin
Michel Cuvit
Suzanne Danco
Anton Dermota
Agnes Giebel
Ernst Haefliger
Marga Hoffgen
Tom Krause
Werner Krenn
Ian Partridge
Andre Pepin
Hermann Prey
Norma Procter
Heinz Rehfuss
Ruggiero Ricci
Gerard Souzay
Joan Sutherland
Helen Watts
Choeur de la Radio Suisse Romande
Choeur Pro Arte de Lausanne
Ansermet/SRO tasters:
Regarding the Debussy La mer, Mr Hurwitz doesn’t say if it’s Ansermet’s 1957 or 1964 recording. Both excellent.
Also recommended:
*Here we go (SRO unless stated):
May 2: Just played Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict Overture; Ansermet’s tempos are ideal and he has obvious affection for this lovely piece.
May 2: Some Bach Cantatas now, rare for me, performed in a manner that probably goes against ‘authentic’ practice, perhaps a horror show for some, yet these are sincere accounts, if on the ‘heavy’ side, that relate to a bygone way of performing this music, and I for one am enjoying the experience.
May 4: Disc 29 (a twofer with 28), the third part of Delibes’s Coppelia (Ansermet’s complete recording is a masterclass as to how to play this music) followed by a Suite from this composer’s Sylvia, then one of the finest accounts of Ravel’s Second Suite from Daphnis (instructive conducting from Ansermet, not least at 4’25” where the trumpets ring out when the lovers reunite and kiss – no performance does it better; BTW, the Suite is not extracted from Ansermet’s complete version) – the whole of ‘Daybreak’ is ecstatically climaxed, and, following the rejoicing conclusion, Regine Crespin steals in with a magical Sheherazade, and this 85-minute disc ends with alternative Coppelia takes.
May 4: CD 56: a really impressive Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel), and the disc includes the first stereo release of the delightful Gopak from Sorochintsy Fair (orch. Liadov), recorded October 1955.
CORRECTION – June 22 – the Gopak on CD 56 is in fact mono (apologies for not noticing this on May 4! I must have heard what I read; good sound, nonetheless).
May 6: CDs 64-66 are entirely Rimsky-Korsakov. The first of them (85 minutes) couples instructively Ansermet’s two stereos of Scheherazade: Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, 1954, and SRO, 1960. For its year the Paris version sounds amazing, so well detailed, and the Parisian timbres, if not to all tastes, are colourfully distinctive (and long disappeared, unfortunately), the performance as a whole being a corker, ardent and exciting. The Geneva account is more sonorous if perhaps marginally less involving for all its excellence and character.
May 7: CDs 35 & 36 contain pieces that deserve far greater exposure, such as Roussel’s Spider’s Banquet, Symphonies 3 & 4, and Petite Suite – engaging invention, wit, gravitas, colour, and a whole lot more – plus Dukas’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice (this Ansermet recording introduced me to this great piece) & La Peri (with Fanfare; Ansermet’s previous taping was without it) and Chausson’s Symphony in B-flat, the latter a neglected masterpiece, and all sound wonderful.
May 9: CD 16 includes a likeable Beethoven 8 (1956 recording; there’s also a later one; two Beethoven 1s, too), the end of the first movement left alone to be its witty self (too many conductors do ‘something’ at this point, usually ruinously, Monteux and Ormandy notable exceptions), and excellent accounts of Schumann’s Manfred Overture & Second Symphony (Ansermet tampers with the timpani writing at the very end, however, if not drastically). (NB: on disc 6, concertante works, is Schumann’s Adagio & Allegro for horn, Edmond Leloir, with the piano part tastefully orchestrated by Ansermet.)
May 9: CD 48, Saint-Saens’s Symphony No.3 (the one with an organ as part of the orchestration – nicely integrated here) together with Respighi’s Pines and Fountains of Rome. In each case, my first recordings of them; they made a big impression back then and, despite intervening competition, continue to shine.
May 9: CD 57, plenty of variety from the pen of Alexander Borodin, including the wonderful Symphony #2, the Prince Igor Overture & Polovtsian Dances (the latter with chorus) and In the Steppes of Central Asia. Ansermet’s is one of the best recordings of the Symphony, alongside Martinon and Smetacek, https://www.colinscolumn.com/found-it-smetaceks-czech-phil-recording-of-borodin-2-pieced-together-but-its-all-there/.
May 11: Discs 3-5 embrace Haydn’s six ‘Paris’ Symphonies (82-87), long familiar to me, https://www.colinscolumn.com/from-the-anderson-archive-no-4-ernest-ansermet-records-haydns-paris-symphonies-with-the-suisse-romande-orchestra-for-decca/, but less well-known I’m afraid are Symphonies 22 (Philosopher) & 90, which EA & SRO do in fine style, I’m glad to have, plus Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (Paolo Longinotti) & Hummel’s (Michel Cuvit), both SRO members.
May 11: CDs 74 & 75, mostly Bartok, including a rather tentative Concerto for Orchestra, albeit instructively conducted, the highlight being an intense ‘Elegia’, but not all details register with the needed clarity, and the cymbal clash seconds before the end is missing; yet, typically with Ansermet performances, there is an allure, an authority, that keeps you listening. On the other hand, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta is excellent, as are the two pieces by Ansermet’s fellow-Swiss Frank Martin, a composer off the radar these days, unfairly.
May 11: CD 13: Wonderful performances of eight Weber overtures, brought off with theatrical flair and tender affection, the SRO enjoying every minute; plus Weber’s Bassoon Concerto, with Henri Helaerts (1907-2001), the SRO’s principal bassoonist at the time of recording, and he’s terrific.
May 11: CDs 24-26 are all-Berlioz – overtures including the above Beatrice, three pieces from Faust, a fine fantastique plus a rehearsal (brass alone for ‘March to the Scaffold’, and overall easy to follow despite Ansermet speaking in French; even easier if you speak the language) and Crespin singing Les Nuits d’ete, one of the top recommendations for this cycle.
May 11: CD 47 is Ravel, a complete Daphnis (as mentioned above, the Second Suite is a separate venture), full of delights (just like the contemporaneous Munch, his first version, and Cluytens), a stunning La valse (1963; the 1958 recording is also here) and a marvellous Alborada.
May 11: In mentioning above the Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures, I had not known then that there is another performance of it here. That above is from 1959; the one I am listening to now (CD 55) is from the year before (seems odd to have made recordings of the same work so close together but that’s what the annotation states and they are certainly different readings).
May 12 and CD 12, a Beethoven compilation: a spry First Symphony, the earlier, 1956, of Ansermet’s two stereo versions (the later one, 1963, being part of his survey of all Nine), several overtures, and a gutsy account of the Grosse Fuge, the original Finale of the B-flat Quartet (Opus 130), as transcribed for string orchestra by Felix Weingartner.
May 12: CD 88, the final disc, is an “Audio Documentary Feature”, illuminating as to Ansermet the person, in rehearsal, when recording, his friendships with Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, and more. Interesting.
May 16: CD 19, the third and final disc of a triple package housing Brahms’s Four Symphonies, plus, of which No.4 is superb, of persuasive energy, beauty, passion and intellectual grasp; compelling. Also included on 19 is Academic Festival Overture, Nanie, and Alto Rhapsody (Helen Watts). https://www.discogs.com/release/13404263-Brahms-Ansermet-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-Fourth-Symphony-Academic-Festival-Overture/image/SW1hZ2U6MzkzMjg1Mzg=
May 17: CDs 67 & 68, you can’t go wrong with Ansermet’s conducting of Glazunov’s ever-delightful The Seasons (a ballet masterpiece), his two Concert Waltzes, and Stenka Razin, also an orchestration by various hands (including Rimsky) of Schumann’s Carnaval for dancing purposes, and numerous Russian shorts by Glinka and Liadov … pure pleasure for 155 stereophonic minutes.
May 18: CDs 22 & 23, mostly Liszt, including A Faust Symphony, and also, CD 23, Alberich Magnard’s Symphony No.3, a strong, sinewy piece that repays attention; it and Lalo’s Scherzo formed Ansermet’s final recordings, September 21-24, 1968, issued in the States with this cover, https://www.discogs.com/release/5996745-Ansermet-Magnard-Lalo-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-Ansermet-Memorial-Album-His-Last-Recordings/image/SW1hZ2U6MTYxMDI4NzU=, and as SXL 6395 in the UK, https://www.discogs.com/release/5695285-Alb%C3%A9ric-Magnard-%C3%89douard-Lalo-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-Ernest-Ansermet-Symphony-No3-Scherzo-/image/SW1hZ2U6MTI0MzIzODI=.
May 18: CD 45 includes one of Ansermet’s most-favourite works, Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges, given a suitably magical performance that enchants the listener, captured in great sound. SXL 2212. https://www.discogs.com/release/4053798-Ravel-Motet-Choir-Of-Geneva-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-Conducted-By-Ernest-Ansermet-LEnfant-Et-/image/SW1hZ2U6MjE4NjU0OTg=
May 21: CD 76 …and the magic continues with a complete Stravinsky Firebird capitalising on the distinctive timbres of SRO (there’s also a later one with the New Philharmonia, plus rehearsal), dating from May 1955, in very good sound for the period, and the atmospheric and revealing performance, despite some less than pristine playing, reflects Ansermet’s experience as a ballet conductor and also his acquaintance with the composer; SXL 2017, released April 1959 – https://www.discogs.com/release/4711006-Stravinsky-Ernest-Ansermet-Conducting-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-The-Fire-Bird/image/SW1hZ2U6OTQ4NjQ2MA== – and this CD also includes Petrushka, the original 1911 score, a sizzling account recorded vividly during October-November 1957; SXL 2011.
May 23: Further Stravinsky on the eighty-four-minute CD 77: a wonderful account of Apollon musagete, sounding just fine from 1955, with excellent violin solos from SRO leader Michel Schwalbe (who went on to be a concertmaster in Karajan’s Berlin Philharmonic) – music that Decca has rather made its own with recordings from Marriner and Dorati, https://www.colinscolumn.com/dorati-detroit-complete-decca-recordings/; also a vibrant Song of the Nightingale; and a Rite of Spring full of ‘insider’ observations, not least dance-related tempos rather than concert-hall showpiece ones; a few departures, too, such as the cymbal (track 27; 4:36, which I believe was excised following the 1913 first night; maybe Ansermet was in Paris then). https://www.discogs.com/release/8240535-Stravinsky-Ernest-Ansermet-Conducting-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-Apollon-Musag%C3%A8te-Renard/image/SW1hZ2U6MjIyMzk5ODE=
May 24: CD 79 – Stravinsky Symphonies – …in C; …in Three Movements; …of Wind Instruments (1947 version, but not confirmed in the annotation) – performances of authority and rightness that negate any fallible playing. https://www.discogs.com/release/4968452-Debussy-Stravinsky-Ravel-Ansermet-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-Images-Symphonies-Of-Wind-Instrume/image/SW1hZ2U6MTAwODkyMzM=
May 25: CD 49 – Ansermet recorded three of Arthur Honegger’s five Symphonies – numbers 2 to 4 – music that is unfairly neglected at present (hopefully only a temporary hiatus), which Ansermet conducts with numerous insights, Symphonies 3 (Liturgique – a masterpiece completed just after WWII) & 4 (Deliciae basilienses – and it is delightful) among his final recordings, September 5-9, 1968; SXL 6394. https://www.discogs.com/release/5673309-Honegger-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-Ansermet-Symphony-No-3-Liturgique-Symphony-No-4-Deliciae-Ba/image/SW1hZ2U6MTIzMTc5NTM=
May 25: CDs 14 & 15 are mostly Mendelssohn, including my go-to account of Ruy Blas, plus other overtures, including MND (and some of the Incidental Music) and the ‘Italian’ Symphony (serviceable!), together with some of Schubert’s Rosamunde score.
May 31: CD 27 – In March 1961 Ansermet certainly knew how to conduct Cesar Franck’s Symphony in D-minor, cohesively, a really impressive performance played with strength and warmth by SRO.
June 6: CD 82 – a generous coupling of two complete Stravinsky ballets – The Fairy’s Kiss (owing to Tchaikovsky) and Pulcinella (looking back to the Italian Baroque) – the occasional allowance needs to be made for the playing and, in Pulcinella, the singing; yet, once again, Ansermet’s authority in both scores compensates for the odd frailty.
October 5: I am pleased to report that the previously faulty discs 20 & 37 are now repaired – so, Brahms’s German Requiem now plays without technical problems, and the 1964 La mer now occupies disc 37 instead of the duplicated 1957 account.
Like Colin I have an adsorption with the great Ansermet
This can be traced traced back to omy early years exploring the general repertoire, meaning devouring everything that was available and affordable.
So my collection contains box sets of Ravel and Debussy and the Fourth Symphony of Sibelius on the original Decca LP.
Later the twofer CDs of the rest of Sibelius.
Plus the Overture LP.
La Valse is played almost daily.
Just for starters.
The music is undoubtedly great, but there are some issues here. There is a fault during Brahms’ Requiem; only one version of La Mer because the same version is mistakenly used twice; one disc has spine text that has nothing to do with this set of discs; and another refers to those French Overtures as “Ballet Overtures” on the spine. Considering how long the box has been delayed, you’d think these mistakes could be avoided. Hopefully the disc with the incorrect recording, and that with the audio problems, will be replaced – but how, I’m not sure. But it shouldn’t be happening, and Decca need to step up their quality control. Perhaps too many of these mega-boxes are being released in quick succession, and the care and attention given to the wonderful Decca Sound boxes is no longer present.
Thank-you Shane for advising about the Brahms fault, and also the duplication of La mer, whether the 1957 or the 1964 version. I shall check all three; unfortunately I had not listened to any of these before posting the above words given my familiarity with them on LP and subsequent CDs, so decided to catch-up retrospectively with what is a lifetime’s-worth of recordings.
I have just listened to the whole of Brahms’s Requiem – no hardship, it’s a Desert Island piece and Ansermet’s conducting of it has many virtues – but I wish you had said where the fault is, which for me is at the very end (track 7, from 10:46) a disruptive crackling, which I assume is the same for you? La mer(s) next.
Yes, La mer is duplicated, it’s the 1957 version used twice. I’ll contact UMG/Decca. Ideally disc 37 needs to be re-done to include the 1964 recording given that’s what the annotation promises.
About the La Mer, in terms of performance there’s not much difference if any at all – same timing also, but on my high end Sonus Faber/Mcintosh/dCS two channel stereo set the 1964 (CD 37) sounds so much fuller and has far more presence (than CD 40) – not just louder (as someone in the comments on the Hurwitz YouTube video commented) but so much fuller i immagine it may come across as louder. In my opinion the difference is in the recording technique – and not just mere remixing and or remastering. Remember also that the recording venue is the same, so not much difference in that either! But hey, i might be wrong. I just compared them side by side – both played on the same (high) volume, to me they are two different recordings – that’s how different they sound to me. Now, there’s also rumour that some box sets have indeed two of the exact same copies (both equally “loud”) – i can not judge on that.
For UK residents ONLY with faulty Ansermet CDs, numbers 20 & 37, please email mk.customerservices@umusic.com for replacement copies. For anyone outside of the UK, you are advised to go back to your original point of purchase and request replacements from there.
Undoubtedly a great conductor: for me, it was the early post-war 78s (couldn’t afford LPs or a player, got the 78s second-hand from The Gramophone Exhange second-hand) of Stravinsky that knocked me out – especially the Symphony of Psalms and Rite – later Petrushka, this last being the only LP that caused thousands of people to buy the new long-playing equipment, two years before EMI started to issue LPs. But that 78 set of Symphony of Psalms – even the memory now sends shivers down my spine.
In 1939, at the final pre-war Lucerne Festival, Rachmaninoff gave his last concerto appearance in Europe with orchestra, with Ansermet and the Suisse Romande. He played his Paganini Rhapsody and Beethoven 1. Rachmaninoff always forbade broadcasts of his concerts, but a Swiss friend of mine, in the 1970s, told me that concert was broadcast – he heard it.
I’ve tried several times, when I’ve been in Geneva, to get the Suisse Romande to investigate and check their recording archives, but they are very dilatory in that regard – I still hanker after there being, somewhere, a recording of Rachmaninoff playing Beethoven 1 live. Can UMG/Decca put some pressure on the Swiss to check their tape vaults?
Bob, I’ll drop a line to Jonathan Nott (OSR music director) in case its archive contains a Rachmaninov/Ansermet Beethoven 1. Col
I’d love to buy this set, and hopefully Decca will repair those discs that are faulty, but how do I know that I will get a repaired set or whether whichever company I buy from will send one that I need to return, at cost and inconvenience?
I am in the same boat, reluctant to place an order in case the set I receive has the two duff discs within. Hopefully Decca can advise.
Is there a latest from Decca regarding the faulty discs? I am not buying until I know it’s safe to do so.
You ask the very question I was about to.
Just bought the box – arrived today. The Debussy discs are correct (2 different versions of La Mer), the Brahms requiem is not. Directly e-mailed Decca (info@decca.com) if they have a replacement available or will have so in due time.
Sebastian, please note:
“May 19, update for procuring replacement CDs: For UK residents ONLY with faulty Ansermet CDs, numbers 20 & 37, please email mk.customerservices@umusic.com for replacement copies. For anyone outside of the UK, you are advised to go back to your original point of purchase and request replacements from there.”
I’m from outside of the UK, the info@decca adres was the way to go globally for the issue with the Grumiaux box, but sadly no reply this time yet.
I bought from Amazon and they know nothing, it has not been reported to them yet – they say- and thus to their knowledge it is impossible to say whether this is a manufacturers issue. They only offer a replacement – but cannot guarantee that same issue will not occur.
So apparently I’m the first reporting this to Amazon (NL), not that strange – Buyers who have not read about the issue on this website will only notice it when actually playing the cd and for many people that can take a long time – considering the total number of over 70 cd’s and dependent on listening habits.
I will point Amazon to the discussions on this website, hopefully then they get a better understanding.
Although I’m outside of the UK I will also mail the music.com adress about amazon, see what they have to say.
Any further suggestions?
No further suggestions at the moment, but your wing of Amazon, the vendors, need to know the situation and also secure repaired copies of CDs 20 & 37 for those with faulty discs.
Hi Colin. This is indeed odd. I purchased, a few years ago, a large number of Ansermet recordings (both mono and stereo) as issued by DECCA Eloquence. They came as a series comprising single discs, twofers and multiple sets. Although I didn’t capture all of them I guess I amassed about 40 to 50 cds in all.
One issue was of 4 discs encompassing the Brahms Symphonies, Haydn Variations, Overtures, Nanie, Alto Rhapsody and German Requiem, (catalogue number 480 0448, and still listed on the Eloquence website). I have just listened to the Requiem (for the second time) and can detect no problem whatsoever in the final section.
Clearly, a ‘clean’ tape must be in DECCA’s possession. I wonder how a defective mastering slipped through into their bumper Ansermet edition?
Hi Ian, regarding the German Requiem, the fault is more the manufacturing of the CD itself, I believe, rather than the quality of the tape.
Could you comment on the remastering. One early review on Amazon said it sounded “flat” compared to earlier versions. What is the quality of the jackets and booklet?
Many thanks,
Roy
Hi Roy, happy to respond. The remastering is excellent, I think in some cases using Eloquence label transfers, and certainly not “flat” in the pitch sense. Inevitably there will be some variation in sound quality between the first stereo tapings (early-1950s) and those made during the 1960s, but all are good and many are superb: I do comment on sound in the review and subsequent ‘diary entries’, first Comment box. The booklet is fine, the jackets less so, especially those holding three discs; trying to get the middle one out is tricky. Hope this helps, Colin
Thank you Colin for your quick response. I believe the term flat was regarding a sense of spatial dimension. I own the previously issued box sets issued by Decca entitled French Music and Russian Music. Do you think the new set would be a sonic upgrade?
Many thanks,
Roy
Difficult to say without listening, but I would suggest a guarded yes.
I purchased the Ansermet set and I am very disappointed with the remastering. There is far greater stereo spread and clarity and sweeter sound in the new remasterings. However, the sound has lost body and amplitude. Brasses and strings sound thin. There is a lack of tonal weight in the midrange. The LPs and earlier CDs had a close up visceral impact typical of Decca recordings. The remastering in the new set places the orchestral much further away in an artificial space created by the remix. The new set has a completely different balance than the LPs and old CDs. As if one moved from an orchestral seat to high up in the balcony.
Good news, all customers worldwide can contact info@deutschegrammophon.com for replacements, the correct cd’s 20 & 37 plus a new CD sleeve for disk 81 with corrected spine text will be provided. Some proof of ownership is needed, a photo or receipt will do., and your address and phonenumber. Deutschegrammophon replies e-mails very rapidly, shipment goes from Decca London! I mailed them on Sunday, received the replacements on the next Thursday !
Also requests for other boxes like the Grumiaux can be made through info@deutschegrammophon.com.
The replacements are fine indeed, no more distorted finale of the requiem (disc 20) and the correct 1964 version of La Mer (disc37). The 1964 La Mer is more transparent and detailed with a lovely detailed harp and impactfull timpani, the 1957 is very warm sounding.
The initially provided disc 37 contained the 1957 in a different remastering, as are all the other compositions on that disc, and it puzzles me because I love that alternate (apparently abandoned) remastering. Maybe Decca can clarify what happened with that remastering, but I’m afraid it will remain a mystery.