Mengelberg in HIFI
Ralph J. Steinberg | New York, NY United States | 01/24/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Since most collectors will be familiar with these superlative performances, I will confine myself to commenting on the quality of these new transfers. They are nothing less than truly spectacular. Comparing the Academic Festival Overture on this set with the Pearl transfer, the Andante has someone more presence and bite but no less smoothness to the sound; good as the Pearl is, the Andante sounds more like a mint 78 original. The biggest difference is in the "Eroica'; the difference between the Pearl and Andante is not subtle. The Pearl is a bit constricted and somewhat deficient in clarity as compared with what I remember hearing on a Capitol-Telefunken LP; by contrast, the Andante leaps at you, with shining highs, full bass, and an aliveness that is startling. Again, it sounds more like a mint copy of an original 78. In fact, were it not for the slight background 78 hiss, this could be mistaken for an early LP recording. Along with this enhanced clarity come forth details of the performance that were not evident before. I have not heard the other items in this album, but I have no doubt that these transfers present the recordings in the best possible light. Given the lavish packaging and booklet of notes and photos, this is a perfect introduction to Mengelberg. I hope that Andante will eventually issue all of Mengelberg's recordings on Victor, Columbia and Telefunken, as well as his live performances. It seems now that Andante has taken the lead in presenting historic performances that live as much today as when they first appeared. Bravo, Andante!"