During a very enjoyable conversation, yesterday I was telling Peter and Daniel Qvortrup, and Adrian Ford-Crush, of Audio Note (UK) fame, how much I adored playing acoustic and electric era recordings back through the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book CD player.
The combination of the CD 5.1x CD player and the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET integrated amp driving my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers - hot-rodded with Duelund CAST crossovers - is so intoxicatingly musical that it is positively transcendent.
Last night I was lying on my listening couch experiencing Artur Schnabel's interpretations of Beethoven's sonatas for Klavier and piano flowing over me and immersing me in the restorative breath of musical life.
You know, of course, that I am crazy about recordings from the 78 eras of recording. I've built up quite a collection of 78 era recordings transferred to CD, and I'm always looking for more great performances from the past to add to my collection.
Sometimes it really does feel like there is benevolent, intelligent, divine plan of providence guiding the universe.
Case in point: I was out on Facebook perusing posts by my fellow audio enthusiasts and came across a post by Herb Reichert. Herb has been one of my favorite audio writers for ages, all the way back to the days of Art Dudley's Listener magazine. Herb is always fun to read, and he has great taste in music.
I clicked on Herb's link to a recent article he wrote for Stereophile, and Herb's mention of the Artur Schnabel Plays The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas On Klavier/Piano EMI mono 8-disc box set (Mono CHS 7 63765 2) just jumped off the page at me.
These recordings of Artur Schnabel playing Beethoven sonatas on piano/Klavier date back to 1932 - 1935 when they were recorded in the Abbey Road No. 3 studio in London.
I really lit up upon seeing Herb's mention of these 1932 to 1935 recordings from smack in the middle of the electric era of recording, and I immediately went out to Discogs to see if I could find a copy of this out of print box set for my listening pleasure. Providence.
There were quite a few of the box sets available on Discogs starting from about $20 USD including shipping. An absolute steal for this historic music, and I immediately ordered one.
You might want to order this out of print box set now too if you are at all interested, as these treasures will disappear rapidly due to being mentioned in Herb's and my articles. Fair warning.
There were so many recording curves during the acoustic and electric eras of recording that it is positively dizzying to think about, but when present day recording engineers transfer those ancient 78s to digital they apply the correct curve so you don't have to think about it. All you have to do is put the CD in the CD player and hit play.
According to the writing on the box set, it was "Produced by Fred Gaisberg & engineered by Edward Fowler. This compilation & digital remastering was done in 1991 by EMI Records Ltd. Transferred from 78s, digitally remastered, and audio restoration carried out at Abbey Road Studios by Keith Hardwick."
I'll tell you what, Keith really aced the digital transfers and they sound great, are powerfully dynamic in the way that only electric era 78s seem to be, and are naturally rich, warm, and beautiful to hear.
It sounds and feels like the ghosts of Schnabel and his piano/Klavier are in the room with me in a very enchanting way.
About Artur Schnabel, and to quote Wikipedia:
"Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-born classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th century's most respected and important pianists, his playing displayed marked vitality, profundity and spirituality in the Austro-German classics, particularly the works of Beethoven and Schubert."
"Music critic Harold C. Schonberg described Schnabel as "the man who invented Beethoven". Between 1932 and 1935, he made history by producing the first recording of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas. In 2018, the Library of Congress selected this recording to be placed in the National Recording Registry for its historical significance."
That's the Artur Schnabel recordings in this box set that are referred to in the second paragraph above. They're brilliant, incredibly beautiful and moving to listen to, and as the article says, of historical significance. I really think this important collection of recordings should be in every listener's library.
Through the combination of Audio Note (UK) kit, and my Duelund-ized Westminster loudspeakers, something remarkable happens with these ancient recordings.
You know how when you're out in nature and you can feel all the life around you? The trees, the wildflowers, and the birds singing merrily, are more than just there, they radiate life. You can feel their life, and it makes you feel alive in a very wholistic way, where you feel an interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit with nature.
As I was lying on my listening couch, soaking in Artur Schnabel's interpretations of Beethoven's sonatas, that's how I felt. The music was alive. Really alive, like it was a living, breathing, entity that radiated life force. I felt like I was wrapped in a big fluffy down comforter, soaking in warmth and life, while I was carried off in reverie.
Highly recommended. Providence.
Teaser: Before too much longer an Audio Note (UK) Ongaku 211 SET integrated amplifier will be arriving, and a bit after that the Audio Note (UK) IO Ltd field coil cartridge, as our survey of Audio Note (UK) hand-crafted musical exotica continues here at Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback.
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
