aussievintage Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 (edited) When the subject of best classical record labels comes up, one that is often mentioned, is the Deutsche Grammophon tulip label (right along with RCA Shaded Dogs, Mercury Living Presence, etc). I just opened a box set of DG records - "The World's Most Famous Concertos". All have tulip labels, and dates in the leadout tracks seem to be early '60s. They are in NM condition and the sound is wonderful. The first concerto was for two violins and David and Igor Oistrakh blew me away. I have played 2 records and look forward to hearing the rest today - 10 records in total. All picked up for a $1 at the Lifeline Bookfest. I am glad I donated a bit extra as that is just too cheap. Edited January 31, 2019 by aussievintage 1
audiofeline Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 Excellent score - a NM box set for $1! It can't get much better than that! The tulips have a reputation for being the better DDG recordings/masterings. I'm not sure what happened later to spoil their reputation. Unfortunately I haven't been very interested in the music in tulips I've seen to acquire any, my DDG's are other periods (preferring releases on their Archiv label).
aussievintage Posted January 31, 2019 Author Posted January 31, 2019 38 minutes ago, audiofeline said: Excellent score - a NM box set for $1! It can't get much better than that! The tulips have a reputation for being the better DDG recordings/masterings. I'm not sure what happened later to spoil their reputation. Unfortunately I haven't been very interested in the music in tulips I've seen to acquire any, my DDG's are other periods (preferring releases on their Archiv label). I have many DG records and some Archiv acquired mostly at charity sales amongst the many records I grabbed at these cheap prices. I found it worthwhile to buy stuff I was not sure about. It is worth $1 to listen to a recording just to see if you like it. I would base purchases on the composer, or orchestra, or conductor, or even just the label if the content looked mildly interesting. I have expanded my education and tastes in music this way, long before we had Spotify Listening to DG, from the early monos, through the Tulip stereos, and on to the later recordings, I would say the Tulips were a kind of peak period. But the later digitally recorded DGs are also quite impressive IMO. I am mostly judging sound quality and general enjoyment from listening. I am not qualified to judge the performances.
audiofeline Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 What is your opinion of the early DG monos?
aussievintage Posted February 1, 2019 Author Posted February 1, 2019 Thanks for asking that. It has prompted me to clean a couple more of the old monos sitting on the "to clean" shelf. It has been a while since I played one, so I will clean and listen to them. While I am doing that, I put on a Oistrakh DG mono that was already cleaned, one of the earlier ones. Comparing that to the sound of his violin on the DG stereo tulips I was just playing, it is evident that there is some top end frequency response missing, but the sound is nice and full and easy listening. My absolute favourite mono label is Decca ffrr, and the DG mono I am playing is not as good as that. However, I have 3 more lined up to play, and I will report back after that. 1
aussievintage Posted February 1, 2019 Author Posted February 1, 2019 OK, second record is a later recording and is sounding much better. The first was David Oistrakh - Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D-major from 1954 the second is Mozart - Symphonies 39 and 40 from 1959 Something I noticed, the 1959 recording has the triangle symbol with M33 written in it, which I believe denotes the use of RIAA eq. This might explain the lack of top end on the older one if it used the old eq. as that seems to require 3 db or so less rolloff. Other differences in the two are a change from the old white sleeve with a yellow vertical band, to the modern sleeve with the familiar yellow banner across the top. 1
aussievintage Posted February 1, 2019 Author Posted February 1, 2019 So, listening now to the final record of the 4 shown in the picture below. Some Mozart symphonies 35, 26, 32. I believe it's the oldest, from 1952, and unfortunately I can hear some groove wear and or embedded dirt (might need further cleaning). Not surprising I suppose, given what it must have been played on originally. So, final opinion? They are very good. With the eq curve tweaked, the pre-RIAA recordings sound just as good. I still think I favour my Decca ffrr, but these are right up there with other mono stuff I like, such as the RCA Shaded Dogs, Mercury Living Presence, and too mention one that is a bit different, the Australian Coronet hexagonal purple label with gold lettering. 2
audiofeline Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 The early DDG covers - yellow stripe with the composer's signature - remind me of the early classic penguin covers. A generic design, but nicely done, and a design icon. I didn't know about the Australian Coronet hexagonal purple label with gold lettering - will keep my eye open for them.
aussievintage Posted February 1, 2019 Author Posted February 1, 2019 32 minutes ago, audiofeline said: I didn't know about the Australian Coronet hexagonal purple label with gold lettering - will keep my eye open for them. They come with silver writing as well, maybe it's my imagination but the gold have impressed me more 1
audiofeline Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 It's a fantastic cover photo of Bruno Walter. I can never work out if it's deep and pensive, or if it's a still from a horror movie. 1
The Blues Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 4 hours ago, aussievintage said: They come with silver writing as well, maybe it's my imagination but the gold have impressed me more Agree with the Coronet purple label, great sound and quality heavy records. Apparently this is the only record label to use a hexagonal design
aussievintage Posted February 1, 2019 Author Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) 10 hours ago, The Blues said: Agree with the Coronet purple label, great sound and quality heavy records. Apparently this is the only record label to use a hexagonal design As far as I know, yes, the only one. Red colour for pop and jazz (many of my Brubecks are on this label), purple for classical. There was a round version for a while at the start of the stereo era, and they also used green for 45 rpm singles. Edit: I just realised I said hexagonal earlier when of course it's an octagon. They even released a multi-hit record much later called the Rocktagon where the vinyl itself was cut into the shape. Edited February 1, 2019 by aussievintage 1
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