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Subject:
From:
Karl Miller <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Moderated Classical Music List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 1 Oct 2007 16:45:56 -0700
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"Norman M. Schwartz" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I'm feeling pretty dumb on two accounts, first not realizing that most
>probably there are no commercially released stereo recordings made during
>the time indicated and secondly for repeating anything seen in (Columbia)
>liner notes.

Unless it was a "processed for stereo" recording, indeed the date from
the 50s is early.  The first reel-to-reel stereo tapes were issued in
early 50's.  RCA started around 1954.  The first Bell Labs experiments
dated from around 1931.  And one of the first reel-to-reel stereo machines,
the Magnecord, dates from the late 1940s.

For me, the fact that the techniques developed by the Bell Labs were
not used extensively is one of the more tragic stories in the history
of recorded sound...We could have had Rachmaninoff, Koussevitzky, et al,
recorded in stereo, and with an extended frequency response.

As for Columbia liner notes...most of the time they were pretty good,
especially on the classical and original cast albums produced during the
Goddard Lieberson years.  The CD reissues produced by Dennis Rooney are
also, from my perspective, quite well done.

However, even during the Lieberson years there was plenty of nonsense
going on at Columbia, especially with the "Stravinsky" recordings.

And on the subject of truth and Columbia records...As collectors knew,
those "unedited" Horowitz live recordings were indeed edited, as collectors
recorded the live performances in the hall and noticed that there were
differences in the in house tapes, versus the commercial releases.  Now
Columbia (Sony/BMG) has come clean and issued them without the edits.
Another episode in the history of "truth" in recording...

Maybe we need a book on the subject.

Karl

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