FLTWS
Headphoneus Supremus
The Mercury Living Presence (and RCA Living Stereo Series) are some of the best recordings ever made and among them are more than a few classic performances. Simple miking techniques and a minimum of manipulation are the reason why, in my estimation.
One Mercury disc I never left home without when going to audition gear was Respighi's "Ancient Airs and Dances" with Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica. For me the concluding Passacaglia for string orchestra of Suite #3 was always a test of any 2 channel speaker systems ability to fill the stage from left to right without gaps as well as from front to back.
I owned the original LP and later the first CD issued by Phonogram International (416 496-2). There's no information on the CD, packaging, or liner notes as to when it was issued but I suspect the early to mid 80's. I also have the 92' remastered CD (434 304-2) reissue that would eventually find it's way into the complete remastered 3 box set on Philips Classics Productions.
Highly recommended.
I've toyed with the idea of getting the complete Mercury sets (the RCA's too) but already had so many of the remastered CD's as they were released, to replace my LP's, I still can't decide.
One Mercury disc I never left home without when going to audition gear was Respighi's "Ancient Airs and Dances" with Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica. For me the concluding Passacaglia for string orchestra of Suite #3 was always a test of any 2 channel speaker systems ability to fill the stage from left to right without gaps as well as from front to back.
I owned the original LP and later the first CD issued by Phonogram International (416 496-2). There's no information on the CD, packaging, or liner notes as to when it was issued but I suspect the early to mid 80's. I also have the 92' remastered CD (434 304-2) reissue that would eventually find it's way into the complete remastered 3 box set on Philips Classics Productions.
Highly recommended.
I've toyed with the idea of getting the complete Mercury sets (the RCA's too) but already had so many of the remastered CD's as they were released, to replace my LP's, I still can't decide.