Ray Bayles wrote:

>Since early 1997 or so, I have noticed many problems with various Teldec
>discs... almost like there is a Teldec sound or quality
>problem...  I never buy Teldec discs anymore...

When I initially read Ray's post, I didn't feel any affinity with his
views.  But, after some reflection, I have noticed that a few piano
concerto recordings from Teldec have not pleased me: Barenboim doing
Mozart, Argerich doing Mozart, and Argerich doing Schumann.

For the other categories, I've been quite pleased with Teldec engineering.
To a large degree, I'm very fussy about the sound for piano concertos.  I
often find that getting the best piano sound can mess up the orchestral
sound and vice versa.

Regardless, I do empathize with Ray.  I've been saying for many years that
the Decca piano sound was tubby and excessively reverberant.  I don't think
a single person has ever agreed with me.  Fortunately, Decca has been doing
much better in the past two years or so, and I'm convinced I was and am
right.

Doing without Teldec all together is a tough way to go.  I would be missing
Schumann's Genoveva, Schiff's Beethoven piano concertos and Haydn piano
sonatas, Harnoncourt's Dvorak, Barenboim's Wagner, and much more.  But,
Ray has made his stand and appears to be holding up just fine.

Don Satz
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