Donald Satz wrote:

>I thought it might be interesting to come up with some abstract record
>company/label awards for the past decade which salute various companies
>for the musical enjoyment we derive from their efforts to grab our money:
>.......
>Best Engineering Award - This goes to Hyperion.  I don't have a single
>Hyperion recording that's not well engineered, and a good percentage of
>them are outstanding.  Two other contenders of note are BIS and Nimbus.
>Right, most of you probably hate the "Nimbus" sound, but I've loved it from
>day 1, particularly the piano recordings which make me feel that I'm in the
>exact right environment.

I have to sound a note of reservation about Hyperion.  I have only ever
had two CDs suffering from the dreaded surface erosion problem.  But, one
of them came from Hyperion.  That's not just bad sound its no sound!

I am surprised you don't give Meridian a nomination here.  They've done
consistently well.  Also what about Sony, they're a major, but fair dos
their 20superbit remastering has a been a revelation.  Every disc with
this tag is superb.

>Best Early Music Label - How about Gimmel? That's my pick because I think
>this label has had more impact on the resurgence of early music than any
>other.  Harmonia Mundi and Hyperion get special mention.

Well yes, but I have to report that I have more early music on Naxos than
any other label!  Their Jeremy Summerville series was superb.

>Best Mainstream Label - There are a few that could easily be selected, but
>I'm going with Philips which had, imho, the best quality of artists.

I give Polygram my award as the company that ripped us off more than anyone
else since the start of CDs.  Until recently you could hold any Polygram CD
(Philips, DG, Decca etc) up to the light and see it peppered with holes.
Try that with a Sony CD and you won't see a single hole.  This matters
because, although the cds play, the error correction comes in more often
and the sound becomes grainier as a result.  Then, Polygram released Antol
Dorati's 20 year old Haydn Opera cycle at full price.  The re-mastering was
nothing to write home about either.  This is just one example of Polygram's
'we've got the tapes and you're gonna pay attitude'.

>Best "We'll Change How You Think Of Classical Music" Award - None other
>than Sony Classics which has seen the future and decided to dramatically
>alter it.

You've got my vote here.

Bob Draper
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 [Caution:  we will not be discussing the many technical errors in this post
 concerning CD technology.  Please address your discussions of CDs to Bob
 directly.  -Dave]