boomac Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 What is special about a Mercury Living Presence LP? I noticed such an LP at a local shop today. This one is titled: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3, Byron Janis, The London Symphony - Antal Dorati. They wanted a good buck for it but it appeared to be in mint shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I just ordered a few of those and I'll let you know what I hear. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 ---------------- On 2/3/2005 7:51:21 PM leok wrote: I just ordered a few of those and I'll let you know what I hear. Leo ---------------- Leo, this appeared to be an older copy. Where are you finding the new LPs and is "Mercury Living Presence" the Label? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Boomac, take a look at the excellent website http://www.xs4all.nl/~rabruil/mercury.html I'm not steeped in this (Parrot is, hopefully will chime in), but Living Presence LP technology attempted to be at the cutting edge, with 3-channel taping on half-inch tape and 3 mics instead of multi-miking. Wilma Cozart was the guiding light behind these, and some 50 years later, as Wilma Cozart Fine (she married her tech supervisor and engineer), oversaw the release of some of those recordings on Living Presence CDs (one recent forum participant's pseudonymic handle was "WCFine"). Unfortunately, those Mercury LPs had a bright, brittle sound, so I keep the LP I have of the Saint-Saens 3rd ("Organ") symphony around mostly for historical purposes. I also have the CD of that recording, find it bright as well. BUT, the Saint-Saens, at least, has a real up-close-and-personal quality -- while one hears of recordings that put the listener in the front row or the back row, this puts one in the middle of the orchestra, like right on top of the players! This particular Saint-Saens (Paul Paray conducting the Detroit Symphony) has immense drive, right up to the last breathtaking chord, and it's right there, slamming you right upside the head all the way to the end. Please do let us know what you think of whatever you get. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSJ Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 these mercurys are some of if not the finest recordings and records ever made period many people will want to argue about this subject i say let them argue till the cows come home they are so good that they are being reissued on the sacd type format some people will say that the sacd is what is making them special well all i can point out is the sacds are being made from the same tapes from the 1950s 1960s other record companies have made good sounding records but none of them come close to mercury and rca during the golden years these are always very good performances at the least a time we will never see again no matter what the spin doctors and flavor of the month crowd say joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Maybe Leo was referring to the fact that many Living Presence titles have been rereleased on SACD recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSJ Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 larry i cant believe you or anyone else would call anyone a reprobate and expect them to take you seriously when you share your opinion on a record or records that kind of talk sounds like something coming out of a politicians mouth joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted February 4, 2005 Author Share Posted February 4, 2005 Great web site Larry. The exact LP I mentioned is pictured there and they believe it was a great recording. The guy wants $45 for it and as I mentioned, it appears to be in mint condition. I may take a flyer on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 ---------------- On 2/3/2005 11:34:27 PM JSJ wrote: larry i cant believe you or anyone else would call anyone a reprobate and expect them to take you seriously when you share your opinion on a record or records that kind of talk sounds like something coming out of a politicians mouth joe---------------- Fair enough. It was a dry aside, re someone who cropped up for a while in various guises (giving some folks a hard time), as part of noting where "WCFine" came from. Sorry if it was too "inside." A politician I'm not. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 boomac, Sorry, I misunderstood .. I ordered a few of the Mercurys remastered to SACD. My interest is 1) the simple microphone setups (2 or 3 mains and possibly a spot or two and 2) and the performances. At a recent meeting of the Boston Audio Society I heard a restored recording of Heifitz and was very impressed with both the sound and performance. That particular recording (part of the BSO archives) also used a relatively simple microphone setup. I have a cd version of the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony on RCA Living Stereo by Munch and the BSO. That recording used a simple microphone setup and projects very impressive sense of space. I have ordered that one also in SACD. I haven't heard Mercury Living Presence recordings and am looking forward to doing so. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 The disks I ordered arrived yesterday .. 3 Mercury Living Presence and 8 RCA Living Stereo, all remastered SACDs. It was a bit of a gamble, but with plenty of recommendation. They are all fantastic .. completely in a class by themselves. The sound is very clean. Massed strings are much more like the real thing than any other recording I have. And, in general, nothing comes close to the clarity. Mercurys sound like you're closer to the performers. RCAs sound like you're a bit further back, but closer than modern RCAs. RCAs are actually pretty cheap. Mercurys not cheap. But all a bargain in that the sound and performances are amazing. If there's anything in either series you like, give them a try. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted February 5, 2005 Author Share Posted February 5, 2005 Leo, where did you order them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 ---------------- On 2/3/2005 11:34:27 PM JSJ wrote: larry i cant believe you or anyone else would call anyone a reprobate and expect them to take you seriously when you share your opinion on a record or records that kind of talk sounds like something coming out of a politicians mouth joe ---------------- i cant believe that sort of thing bothers you further still i can't believe any self respecting computer company would ship out a keyboard with no enter key or any puncuation whatsoever oh well at least theres a space bar otherwise things would get really really hard to read rather than just really hard to read i suppose if i go to church ill feel better about things im really glad tomorrows sunday and by the way ive never seen larry speak ill of anyone on this board although i may have missed im neither omnicient nor omnipotent like that god guy that im so crazy about In other words, lighten up, Newb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 In the early days Mercury recorded Mono and Stereo at the same session simultaneously as two totally separate operations. I have today, for one of my all time Classical favorites, both a mint Mono and a mint Stereo. Believe it or not, I prefer the Mono. Maybe it is the sound I got used to, because I had the recording (my other worn Mono) since the late 50s. Prokofiev, Love For Three Oranges/ Sythian Suite/ Anatol Dorati. Classic. C&S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 boomac, www.amusicdirect.com You can search on RCA Living Stereo or Mercury Living Presence and get manageable listings. C&S, The Prokofiev sounds good. I'll see if I can find it. It turns out the CD versions of the Living Presence recordings, that are on the hybrid SACDs, were actually done some time ago by WC Fine. The SACD transfer is a totally separate recent event. If the Prokofiev is not on SACD it is probably on CD. Those CD tracks in the hybrid SACDs are very good. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete almquist Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 LMAO!!! BRAVO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSJ Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 ---------------- On 2/5/2005 8:00:20 PM bclarke421 wrote: ---------------- On 2/3/2005 11:34:27 PM JSJ wrote: larry i cant believe you or anyone else would call anyone a reprobate and expect them to take you seriously when you share your opinion on a record or records that kind of talk sounds like something coming out of a politicians mouth joe ---------------- i cant believe that sort of thing bothers you further still i can't believe any self respecting computer company would ship out a keyboard with no enter key or any puncuation whatsoever oh well at least theres a space bar otherwise things would get really really hard to read rather than just really hard to read i suppose if i go to church ill feel better about things im really glad tomorrows sunday and by the way ive never seen larry speak ill of anyone on this board although i may have missed im neither omnicient nor omnipotent like that god guy that im so crazy about In other words, lighten up, Newb! ---------------- you are absolutely correct about that the word is spelled OMNISCIENT so youve admitted you dont know the old adage dont say it if you cant spell it i will not go into details but my inability to use a key board in a manner that suits you goes to physical obstacles i face as a result of advanced disease of the flesh it is obvious you are unhappy and i will pray for you you feel the need to inject your anger and that is sad there is hope though as since you are willing to expose your anger that is a good sign some part of you is willing to admit that you need help and i hope you get it once you are prepared to admit that you have control over nothing in your life then you are half way there to true inner peace youll enjoy your stereo and music much more then too joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Buy these. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&item=4071846332&rd=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted February 6, 2005 Author Share Posted February 6, 2005 Yes JSJ, you need to relax a bit. Any time Larry wants to share an opinion on a record, recording or just about anything else, I and many other Forum members will be very interested. I suggest you go back and read a sampling of Larrys posts. It will certainly help change your opinion and Id bet youll learn a thing or two. Larrys prowess in both audio and the classical genre is quite well respected here on the KF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted February 6, 2005 Author Share Posted February 6, 2005 ---------------- On 2/6/2005 1:56:36 AM Allan Songer wrote: Buy these. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&item=4071846332&rd=1 ---------------- Very funny Mr. Songer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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