Check out the landlord Benoit’s spoken demand for “ Affito” in Act 1 it shows the difference in the acoustic with the EMI CDs quite plainly. The voices are set in an acoustic environment that has just a touch more resonance which brings an increased third dimensionality to the sound. I particularly noticed the difference in the increased impact of the plucked strings and harp. The transfer is done so skilfully that you cannot tell that producer Andrew Rose didn’t have access to the original master tapes. Pristine has used a clean LP pressing from which to obtain their master recording. The bass in particular has just a touch more presence than on the CDs. Here I find the warmth and presence to the sound that I felt was lacking in the EMI release. Upon auditioning the Pristine version, the sound has been completely revitalized with an ambient sound picture that is most noticeable in the orchestra. On paper it all sounds fairly impressive and upon listening the EMI CDs have a clean and well-focused mono sound that is a little lacking in warmth. That EMI release proudly announces that it utilized “noise shaping via the Prism SNS system for optimum sound quality”. However, this wonderful new transfer by Pristine Audio has offered me the opportunity, which I will happily pounce upon.įor my review I compared the Pristine release with the 2002 remaster done by EMI for its “Great Recordings of the Century” series (5677532). So much has been written about this recording that it almost seems pointless for me to write about its merits.
Sir Thomas Beecham’s 1956 recording has been amongst the most prized recordings of all time since it was first released. RCA Victor Chorus and Orchestra/Sir Thomas Beecham
Benoit/Alcindoro - Fernando Corena (baritone)Ĭustoms Officer - Thomas Powell (baritone)
0 kommentar(er)
