A real treat -- Everest's SACD of Appalachian Spring

[feinstein]

If you want to hear a really well done SACD of a classic recording, try to pickup the Everest SACD (dual layered so you can play it on a standard CD player too) of Copland's Appalachian Spring.

I think that Steve Hoffman mentioned earlier that they were finally using the correct 3 track masters to make these.

Sounds wonderful with a beautiful stereo image (20th row center perspective) and very well-done mastering. I bought mine for $16 at "Harmony House Classical Records" in Berkely, MI.

I never realized that Bert Whyte (spelling??) was so talented as an engineer. I grew up with Everest LP's that were noisy and badly pressed. It is hard to believe the jewels that were hidden behind the lousy pressings of the 70's and 80's.

These superb SACD reissues did a great service for me in that they reveal great engineering and great performances that I would have overlooked based on my experiences with the old Everest LP's. Can't wait to listen to the other ones tonight!

Fred

[Matt]

How would you rate the performance (in comparison to other Appalachian Spring recordings)? The two I usually listen to were conducted by Leonard Bernstein on one and Copland on the other.

[feinstein]

Matt asked:

How would you rate the performance (in comparison to other Appalachian Spring recordings)?


I reply:

Well, I think that the Copland is the best (also available on SACD BTW) as far as performance goes.

The one on the Everest reissue is the Susskind/LSO performance. He takes a kind of leisurely tempo through the main theme and the LSO seems to not be too involved emotionally with the performance. Still, very well executed and definitely worth listening to.

I was mainly referring to the state-of-the-art sound when I posted this thread initially. I guess I didn't consider the performance....

[FabFourFan]

Originally posted by feinstein
I never realized that Bert Whyte was so talented as an engineer.The late Bert Whyte always seemed like a wonderful and wise 'old guy' in audio, and in Audio magazine, for that matter! :)

What's sort of funny about your bringing him up, now, is that his columns and comments remind me of Steve Hoffman!

How?

I mean, in the sense that both of them (IMHO) displayed/display a similar understanding
of what's important in audio and what works and doesn't work.
Their comments were/are incisive rather than irrelevant.
If you see what I'm trying to say! :)

So, even though I never me the man, I'll always remember Bert Whyte fondly, as an audiophile.

BTW, here are a couple of Bert Whyte-related links. I'm sure there are many more.

http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?38
http://www.wendycarlos.com/surround/surround6.html