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TH E STEREO REEL
THE STEREO REEL
THE STEREO REEL
Reviewed By BERT WHYTE
62
ONLY FULLY
STEREOPHONIC
RECORDING AND
PLAYBACK SYSTEM ...
AT AN AMAZING
LOW PRICE!
Now, you can actually
record-as well as
playback-stereophonic
sound. The new
STERECORDER
captures all the realism
of the original performance
.. . then reproduces this
exciting "living sound"
with full dimensional
depth and direction.
STERECORDER goes
beyond high fidelity and
"half-way" stereo units
with only monaural
recording. Hear a
demonstration today!
From th e fam,ous name in motion piclures:
Superscope Inc., Audio Electronics Division,
780 Gower St., Hollywood, Calif.
PROKOFIEV: Lieutenant Kiie-Suite, Op. 60.
C hicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
condo RCA Victor BCS 96 $8.95.
The tragi-comic Kije is back with us
again, and as might have been expected,
is a perfect subject for stereo. His mythic
and fanciful life has been recorded many
times on disc; but good as some of these
were, they are pale shadows in comparison
to this magnificent stereo presentation.
In the bright spotlight of stereo
sound, there is much in the score that is
newly revealed. Certainly, it is startling
and sonically spectacular to go at the very
beginning from a very soft muted trumpet
and a rufHe on a snare drum to a massive
orchestral explosion of brass and percussion.
Reiner's performance of the wod<
is good, emphasizing the satiric nature of
the music.
The Chicago orchestra plays magnificently
and one is made well aware of tlle
excellence of the first desk men. This was
recorded witll moderately close microphone
pickup, and considerable care was
taken with the placement to take full
advantage of the justly famous Orchestra
Hall acoustics. Thus in the massive tutti
sections, one can almost taste the rich
full-bodied sonority of the brass. The
roundness and sense of depth are altogether
amazing. This, and the other
stereo attributes of directionality and instrumental
positioning afford an illusion
of breath-taking realism. Here is certainly
one of the finest Chicago Symphony
stereo tapes yet.
STRAVINSKY: Firebird Suite; Petrouchka­
Suite.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
condo Capitol ZF 49 $12.95.
Veteran collectors will recall that Stokowski
has recorded both of these scores
before-the Firebird in particular. Now
with the Berlin Philharmonic be offers his
first stereo version. These are not performances
for the musical purist, for
Stokowski has been given too much experimentation
in these later years of his
career. Thus his readings here are decidedly
unorthodox.
To some, this will seem a gross distortion
of musical taste. To others, including
myself, who choose to objectively view
his treatment as an experiment in sonorities,
tlus is a fascinating listening experience.
This is magnificent musical mutation,
sheer "pooh-bah," blatantIy supercharged,
and in its own way quite wildly
wonderful! Unfortunately, the sound on
this tape does not measure up to the
intriguingly eXllerimental nature of the
performance. The microphone pickup is
far too distant, making for very diffuse
sound, which can be likened to what
might be heard high up in the "peanut
gallery." A pity too, for ilie Berlin players
show their mettle with some line string
and woodwind work. This is a stereo recording
to be sure. The directionality is
tI1ere, and what is evidently a multi-mike
pickup allows for an artificial but clever
depth control. Instruments are "moved"
forward and back in the orchestra with
varying degrees of "liveness."
In my own humble opinion, if tlUs recording
were done by European engineers
(which I strongly suspect), they will have
to learn to control themselves in terms of
acoustic perspective when dealing with
stereo. It is true that, in monaural recording,
many people like the "big hall"
sound, as exemplified by the European
approach. But since stereo naturally enhances
the hall sound, it is all too easy to
go overboard in this respect, and thus so
exaggerate the acoustic spaciousness that
orchestral detail suffers badly. For tIlOse
seeking "standard" versions of iliese works
in the stereo medium, this tape cannot be
recommended; others more experimentally
nlinded musically may hear much that
is interesting.
SAINT·SAENS: Symphony No.3 in C Minor ,
Op. 78 ("Organ" J.
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
condo Westminster SWB 8030 $/2.95.
Lately there has been a veritable rash
of recordings of the Saint-Saens "Organ"
Symphony, but in spite of ilie opportunities
the score offers for hi-fi exploitation,
none have been completely satisfactory
from both musical as well as sonic standpoints.
In view of Westminster's reputation
for quality sound, I had high hopes
tIlat this would be "it." Alas, it strikes
no fire, and the "really good" recording
of this work is yet to come. Tlus stereo is
undistinguished in sound and tile performance
stodgy.
Abravanel drags tempi unmercifully,
crosses all tile t's and dots all the i's, and
very little of the music's lyrical quality
comes through. The sound has too much
"left-and-rightness" with almost no center
channel fill in evidence. A great deal of
the time the sound emanates solely from
tl1e left channel, with only an occasional
tympani beat or plucked string bass to
indicate that the right speaker is functioning.
Th;s I find most puzzling, as most
Westnlinster tapes are characterized by
excellent channel balance. The overall
sound is fairly clean, but this fails to
make up for the other shortcomings.
HIFI & MUSIC REVIEW
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