“Decca Sound – The Analogue Years (Limited Edition)” – Various artists – 54 CDs and booklet – Decca 478 5437 Universal Music Group (11/19/13) [TrackList follows] *****
What a treat this 54-disc CD set is from Decca Records. In college many years ago I was an announcer at a commercial classical FM station, and I have many fond memories of playing some of these same recordings on vinyl discs.
I always knew that selecting something from the Decca or Mercury catalog would provide really terrific sound for my listeners. So it’s really a thrill that Decca has put together this wonderful box set. It covers 11 years from 1969 to 1980. Decca worked hard on its analog recordings, developing special microphone stands and carefully working out the positions of microphones for the best recordings. Decca started in mono, and some of those early mono recordings are included in this collection. When Decca moved to stereophonic sound it was a big event, and Decca proudly proclaimed its full frequency stereophonic sound methodology.
Of course good sound doesn’t mean much without the right artists, and Decca was lucky to have conductors like Ansermet, Haitink, Dutoit, Dorati and Monteux. The collection features some of the great classics, but it is not loaded down with obvious choices. Yes, there is Beethoven and Mahler, but also Bloch, Honegger, Kraft, Berwald and many others. Each disc is graced with the art that appeared on the original album release, and Decca has added ‘filler’ to use more of the CD storage capability than LPs have to offer even more music.
One can marvel at the Decca sound, and some of these discs sound as good as some modern SACDs. I didn’t listen to all 54 discs, but I eventually will. I totally enjoyed the Sibelius Symphony # 1, The Verdi Requiem conducted by von Karajan, and a few of the Scriabin selections.
Whatever Decca figured out about audio, they were certainly doing something right. There is not a bad or even average recording in the set. Equally interesting is the included large booklet, that goes into detail on Decca’s recording philosophy and the equipment they used. Also, the complete original liner notes for each album have been included.
The set is about $130.00 dollars online, working out to less than $2.50 per disc. It’s the best deal I’ve seen that combines musical and audio quality.
Box sets are quite the thing these days, which lets the labels get some use out of their back catalogs. It’s also great for listeners. Notable sets have come from Mercury, Phillips and DGG. The Decca set is an absolute treasure. My highest recommendation.
A track list in order of composer:
Bartók:
Suite No. 1, Op. 3, BB. 39, Sz. 31
Antal Dorati
Suite No. 2, Op. 4, BB. 40, Sz. 34
Antal Dorati
Two Pictures, (Op.10) Sz. 46
Antal Dorati
Beethoven:
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ‘Choral’
Berwald:
Grand Septet in B flat major
Bloch, E:
Schelomo
Voice in the Wilderness
Borodin:
Piano Quintet in C minor
Brahms:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
Clifford Curzon (piano)
London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell
Britten:
Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68
Bruch:
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Bruckner:
Symphony No. 6 in A major
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti
Chopin:
Études (12), Op. 10
Études (12), Op. 25
Copland:
Appalachian Spring
Lincoln Portrait
Debussy:
Préludes – Book 1 (12, complete)
Pascal Roge (piano)
Children’s Corner
Pascal Roge (piano)
Violin Sonata
Dvorak:
The Water Goblin, Op. 107 (B195)
My Home Overture, Op. 62
The Noon Witch, Op. 108 (B196)
Hussite Overture, Op. 67
The Golden Spinning Wheel, Op. 109
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Enescu:
Romanian Rhapsody in A major, Op. 11 No. 1
Fauré:
Fantaisie for piano & orchestra, Op. 111
Franck, C:
Symphonic Variations for piano & orchestra, M46
Gershwin:
An American in Paris, tone poem
Glazunov:
Stenka Razin
Decca’s first stereo recordings
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Gounod:
Faust – Ballet Music
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, John Lanchbery
Grieg:
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Haydn:
Symphony No. 94 in G Major ‘Surprise’
Symphony No. 100 in G major ‘Military’
Symphony No. 104 in D major ‘London’
Hérold:
La Fille mal gardée (highlights)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, John Lanchbery
Hindemith:
Violin Concerto
Holst:
The Planets, Op. 32
Honegger:
Symphony No. 2 in D for strings and trumpet
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Kodály:
Háry János Suite
Dances of Galanta
The Peacock
Variations on a Hungarian Folksong ‘The Peacock’
Kraft, William:
Contextures
Lecocq:
Mam’zelle Angot – ballet
Anatole Fistoulari
Mahler:
Symphony No. 2 in C minor ‘Resurrection’
Martin, F:
Studies for String Orchestra
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Concerto for 7 wind instruments, timpani, percussion & string orchestra
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Massenet:
Le Cid – Ballet music
Mendelssohn:
Piano Sextet Op. 110
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 ‘Scottish’
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 ‘Italian’
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Ruggiero Ricci (violin)
London Symphony Orchestra, Pierino Gamba
Montsalvatge:
Concerto Breve for Piano & Orchestra
Mozart:
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550
Serenade No. 10 in B flat major, K361 ‘Gran Partita’
Serenade No. 12 in C minor, K388
Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K595
Clifford Curzon (piano)
London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell
Offenbach:
Le Papillon
Prokofiev:
Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Weller
The Love for Three Oranges: Suite Op. 33a
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Weller
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100
Puccini:
La Bohème
Carlo Bergonzi (Rodolfo), Renata Tebaldi (Mimi), Ettore Bastianini (Marcello), Gianna D’ Angelo (Musetta), Renato Cesari (Schaunard), Cesare Siepi (Colline), Fernando Corena (Benoit/Alcindoro), Piero De Palma (Parpignol), Attilio D’ Orazi (Sergente dei doganieri), Giorgio Onesti (Un doganiere)
Santa Cecilia Orchestra & Chorus, Tullio Serafin
Rachmaninov:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Julius Katchen (piano)
London Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti
Ravel:
Violin Sonata in G major
Introduction & Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet
Boléro
Ma Mère l’Oye
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Rimsky Korsakov:
Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36
Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34
Symphony No. 2, Op. 9 ‘Antar’
Decca’s first stereo recordings
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Saint-Saëns:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D major Op. 17
Philadelphia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ‘Organ Symphony’
Schoenberg:
Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
Schubert:
Incidental music to Rosamunde, D797
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 ‘The Great’
London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips
Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D759 ‘Unfinished’
London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips
Schumann:
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, WoO 3
Scriabin:
Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 20
Prometheus (The Poem of Fire), Op. 60
Le Poème de l’extase, Op. 54
Shostakovich:
Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
String Quartet No. 15 In E Flat Minor, Op. 144
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
String Quartet No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 117
Sibelius:
Pelléas and Mélisande Suite, Op. 46
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Horst Stein
The Tempest, Op. 109
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Horst Stein
Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
Karelia Suite, Op. 11
Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43
London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Strauss, J, II:
Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald, Op. 325
Wiener Philharmoniker, Willi Boskovsky
Stravinsky:
The Rite of Spring
Violin Concerto in D
Surinach:
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1973)
Tchaikovsky:
Manfred Symphony, Op. 58
Valse-scherzo in C major for violin & orchestra (or violin & piano), Op. 34
Swan Lake, Op. 20 (excerpts)
Anatole Fistoulari
1812 Overture, Op. 49
London Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Alwyn
Capriccio italien, Op. 45
London Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Alwyn
Marche slave, Op. 31
London Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Alwyn
Verdi:
Requiem
Otello
Mario Del Monaco (Otello), Renata Tebaldi (Desdemona), Aldo Protti (Iago), Nello Romanato (Cassio), Athos Cesarini (Rodrigo), Fernando Corena (Lodovico), Tom Krause (Montano), Ana Raquel Satra (Emilia)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Kinderchor, Herbert von Karajan
Walton:
Violin Concerto
Wolf-Ferrari:
Il segreto di Susanna
—Mel Martin