It has a very limited release history. Kingsway Hall was used more for convenience and a good acoustic (like many Methodist halls). It had a rumble from the underground train line (the Piccadilly Line from Holborn to Aldwych) and a lot of traffic outside. Bohm seems the obvious “big band” choice, but the standout recording must be Sir Charles Makerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on Linn, which was a multiple award-winning recording. I have the download, it was issued on SACD and may well have been recorded in DSD, but after using DSD extensively way back when, they stopped issuing DSD years ago. It was engineered by Phillip Hobbs, 40+ years with Linn and now also Professor of Recording at the Royal Academy of Music.
Yes, I have that Mackerras recording of the Prague Symphony and it is excellent. It was disappointing when Linn stopped using DSD and ultimately decided 24/96 was sufficient for high resolution recording.
Kingsway was always an interesting recording venue (with the subway rumble!). I always found the sound quality on the Decca recordings there to be quite lovely - just gorgeous acoustics, imo. I’ve read over the years that it was Wilkinson’s preferred recording venue and many legendary albums were recorded there. Ultimately, Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, became a common recording location (no rumble and no scheduling conflicts with EMI).
I get criticised here for not being interested in DSD, I’ve tried it, but I also see PSA doing what Linn did 20-40 years ago. In the early 1980s Linn wanted reference recordings for their audio business, so got into recording. The label became successful with a good roster of artists. In its early days DSD offered a high resolution advantage for recording when PCM was generally limited to 16/44, but when they designed their DS streaming systems that operated up to 24/192 they decided DSD had no advantages, only disadvantages in the recording process. So they abandoned DSD for recording and did not implement it in their streaming DACs. I bought a full Linn DSD system in 2009.
I used to walk past the Kingsway Hall every day for 3 years. You can walk from there to the Festival Hall in 10 minutes. it was also a manageable walk from the LSO’s former home at Queen’s Hall, opposite the BBC’s Broadcasting House. It was also minutes from many theatres where I presume musicians made a living in the evenings. In the 40s and 50s the LSO was the lesser of the London orchestras. Decca used Kingsway Hall for the first FFRR recordings, on which Wilkinson worked with Haddy for the Ministry of Defence. Walthamstow Assembly Hall is a bit out of the way, but big and spacious. Another one often used was Watford Town Hall. Decca also had its own recording studios in West Hampstead. The LSO finally got its own concert hall in 1982, the dreaded Barbican.
Wigmore Hall also has a rumble from the Central Line. It was rumbling last week, as does the Coliseum (the Northern Line), home of the English National Opera and the English National Ballet. Fortunately Covent Garden does not have a rumble. Going there tomorrow for the opening night of Handel’s Alcina - a new production and great cast with Lisette Oropesa in the lead role.
I swear I think some of Kenneth Wilkinson’s greatest recording efforts came when he was recording on contract for Lyrita and Readers Digest. And this recording is one of Wilkie’s best outings, in my opinion. But, what makes this recording really stand out is the “over the top” performances from Rudolf Kempe and the RPO. Kempe just lets it all rip! And the RPO plays their hearts out for him.
Kempe’s “Don Juan” is powerful, dynamic. and driving. But, he slows things down nicely to really savor the lyricism and delicacy that makes up so much of this work. It is just a superb performance, filled with color, sinewy dynamism, and taut emotional contrasts. The orchestra simply “nails” the details.
Kempe’s “Pines of Rome” is similarly powerful and beautifully played. The opening lines of swirling notes and color are beautifully delivered and set the stage for a completely engaging and dramatic overall performance. Horns, brass, percussion (huge orchestral gong) - oh, my yes. It is a sound junkies delight. Would I give up my treasured Reiner performance to live solely with this? Hmmm, perhaps… It is that good.
The sound quality throughout is excellent. While it doesn’t have that utter sonic transparency of the Pure DSD256 transfers from several of the recent 15ips jazz tapes that Bob has so brilliantly brought to us, it is utterly excellent. It is as good a transfer of this Readers Digest recording as I suspect I shall ever get to hear. I had the original Readers Digest/RCA releases on vinyl, and each of Bob’s transfers thus far have sounded better to me than I recall of the vinyl (all of which was beautifully mastered and pressed back in the day). I hope he will be continue to find more of these Kenneth Wilkinson and Charles Gerhardt gems to share with us.
Download here.
I just stumbled across this review - Ya just can’t make everybody happy. Mics too close? Mics too far away? Where is the best seat in the house for a recording? 10th row center? On the stage? First row balcony?
@xianharris, thanks for linking to this review. Gonzalo told me that ultimately he was very pleased with the way this recording turned out because the venue truly was not very conducive to making a recording with good natural acoustics. So, the reviewer in this article is not far off-base and I wouldn’t disagree with his assessment. I never did hear why this venue was selected, but sometimes when one is bringing in artists from around the globe, you have to work with what you get without the luxury of auditioning the venue ahead of time.
The sound of the instruments that Gonzalo does capture is superb and overall the capture of the instruments is the best I’ve heard thus far from him – a combination of his new microphones and mixing in the spot mics entirely in DSD with no PCM involved to muck things up. I continue to think this is one of the most transparent recordings in my library, and a true demonstration album for the sound of the instruments.
Released today by HDTT here. These recordings of Tchaikovsky symphonies that Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic made for DGG are perhaps my favorite recorded performances for each of Tchaikovky’s symphonies. HDTT had previously released the Sixth, and now the Fifth. I hope they will be able to find sources to release the others. As with the Sixth, the performance by Mravinsky and colleagues is spot on. The sound quality of the transfer is terrific - I am completely delighted with it.
What a delightful discovery is this release from HDTT yesterday (here): a superbly recorded Mercury Living Presence album (SR-90219) in outstanding sonics. Whatever you may think of Percy Grainger’s music, you need to hear this Mercury recording in this excellent transfer. For me, Percy Grainger’s music is largely that light fluffy taffeta with which a little goes quite a long way. Still, this collection of Grainger works is completely enjoyable, and some pieces verge on outstanding. Get it for the excellent sound quality, enjoy it for the delightful 45+ minutes of head bobbing and toe tapping that will follow as you listen to these tunes.
