TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Classical
This timeless gem is performed by L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Ernest Ansermet. This is a performance to be known as 'one of the greats.' The composition, Three-Cornered Hat was premiered by Ansermet, and with its lively rhythms, subtle narratives, dynamic development, and vivid contrast and tone-colors, this version is a masterly performance that none other appears able to exceed. The performance illustrates an ethnic taste that is rich in wild beauty in a truly vivid and dynamic way, while highlighting the lyricism of Falla's music in a sophisticated, uncompromising manner. The solo singing by the young Berganza is also worth listening to. "Like "Shaded Dog," the phrase "Blue Back" has special meaning for vinylphiles. It is the nickname for the classic London stereo LPs from the 1950s and '60s, whose sleeves do, in fact, have robin's-egg-blue backs. Due to a split in ownership of Decca Records, the London label was used for issue of English Decca LPs in the US, Canada and Latin America. Decca was renowned for its stereo recording technique, which engineers Arthur Haddy, Roy Wallace and Ken Wilkinson debuted in 1954. It made use of the famous "Decca tree," a stereo microphone system for recording orchestras that was responsible for the big, vivid sound of Decca/London LPs." - Marc Mickelson, www.theaudiobeat.com, 4/5 Music, 5/5 Sound!!! "...the most important reason to cut LPs at 45rpm is improved sound, and these [ORGLP0102-45 Falla The Three-Cornered Hat & ORGLP0104-45 Espana Vol. 2] reissues deliver in abundance. The soundscapes are huge -- wall to wall and as deep as your audio system will provide. Horns cascade, tympani is quick-paced and taut, and strings resound in mass while achieving adept delineation. Dynamics are massive yet scale up and down nimbly and smoothly. I have a dozen or so original Blue Backs, some recorded in the same venues as these titles, but none conveys the sense of the whole orchestra and the individual musicians as well as these LPs. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard an orchestra captured with greater expansiveness and focus. While one of these recordings is over 50 years old and the other is almost there, they both sound fresh, and the music is exhilarating, even for those who don't generally listen to orchestral recordings." - Marc Mickelson, www.theaudiobeat.com, 4/5 Music, 5/5 Sound!!! Click Here to read the entire review! "Two famous early stereos of "Spanish" showpieces [Espana & Falla: Three Cornered Hat] get the deluxe two-disc, 45-rpm treatment from ORG. The performances are thrilling, and the pieces full of grand tunes, catchy dance rhythms, and rousing orchestral display. Comparison of the ORG reissues with the original Londons reveals the advantages of careful re-mastering and 45-rpm encoding on dead-quiet surfaces Improvements are more subtle in The Three Cornered Hat (here complete) because ths is such a fabulous recording to begin with. Orchestra, chorus, and soloist are spread out across a wide arc before the listener. ORG offers a tad more spaciousness and bloom, and details are sharper against the jet-black background of its superior vinyl." - Mark Lehman, The Absolute Sound, May/June 2011, 4.5/5 Music, 5/5 Sonics!