Thankfully, a lot of important music from the earliest recording eras have been archived by the nations where the recordings were made, or by individual collectors.
This album from the IM Lab record label is an example of a commercial Red Book CD from the former USSR, and is titled Treasures from the Musical Archives of St. Petersburg, featuring Valeria Barsova, soprano; from the Orchestra of the USSR Bolshoi Theatre, Samuil Samosud, Vassily Nebolsin, Alexander Melick-Pashayev, and Maximilian Steinberg conductors; and The USSR Symphony Orchestra, A. Orlov, conductor.
There are eighteen tracks of archive recordings from 1931, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and 1952, from the personal 78rpm record collection of Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky, using his specialty 78rpm record analog-to-digital converter to make transfers for CD (signified by the AML+ emblem on the CD's documentation).
The liner notes state: “Historical recordings restored using the AML+ technology bring the listener musical performances just as they were recorded on vinyl many years ago. The recordings included on this CD have undergone no computer processes (including refinement and enhancement) in order to achieve this.”
This CD was given to me by Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)) while visiting him in Brighton, England, as an example of an important musical performance from the 78 era that is indispensable to have in one's music library.
I have been listening to this CD on the Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player that I am finishing up the Positive Feedback feature article on now (Sneak Peek HERE), so you'll be able to read more about this CD in the article.
This Red Book CD is a perfect example of why it is so important to be able to listen to historic performances from the earliest eras of the recording arts on your hifi, and the importance of having audio equipment that can present it with the musical grandeur it deserves.
Which I would also say is a validation of the effectiveness of Peter's "comparison by contrast" method for developing audio equipment, given what I'm hearing from the Oto integrated amplifier and CD 2.1x/II.
All of the normal audiophile considerations about musicality and visuospatial recording effects don't apply here, as these musical documents of rather incredible musical performances are transcendent of any audiophile considerations.
These performances are so amazing that I listened to this CD all the way through three times last night, just to experience the sheer sensual experience this music offers, which is just in another league from many contemporary recordings.
I don't know for sure - I'm just guessing - but I think part of what makes these recordings so amazing has to do with the speed they were recorded at, the simple and short recording chain used for the original 78s plays a role as well, and of course the AML+ analog-to-digital remastering.
Most of you have probably heard the premium Analogue Productions 45rpm versions of record albums, and noted that they are far superior to the 33rpm versions of the same album.
A 45rpm album has more data laid down in its groove, thanks to its ~ 1.4 times faster speed compared to the 33rpm version, and it is easy to hear the difference in the music's quality.
A 78rpm album has more data laid down in its groove during the recording process by a factor of ~2.4 compared to a 33rpm record, and that aspect of these 78rpm record transfers comes through loud and clear in listening, and the nice thing about being able to listen to these performances on a CD is one doesn't have to own a dedicated 78rpm record system to hear what these 78s are capable of.
It is a little challenging to describe the full experience of listening to these 78 transfers to CD, but they really transcend what I normally think of when listening to music on my hifi.
These 78s are by analogy kind of like comparing a really good single ended triode (SET) amplifier to an early solid-state amplifier in how they relate to many modern recordings, performance-wise.
These recordings and performances are lit from within with life, vitality, presence, and are an almost overwhelming sensual experience to hear, and the emotional impact that results from listening to them is off the charts. I'm hooked!
Listening to this CD on the Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player was revelatory.
The CD 2.1x/II made this music incredibly fun to listen to, and full of vitality and life.
The recording is dynamic, possesses natural sound, and provides a vivid presence and a sense of spaciousness that filled up my listening room (above).
Forget what you think you know about mono - or the acoustic and electric recording eras - these recordings transcend any thoughts about the differences between mono and stereo, or any audiophile considerations, as they are just amazing works of art to hear by any measure.
Soprano Valeria Barsova is stunning, and she is able to do remarkable vocal acrobatics that just left me pondering how amazing people can be.
There is surface noise from the 78s on these recordings, but I didn't find it distracting, as it is rendered as a soothing white noise that exists in a different plane from the music, one that doesn’t affect or detract from the music. I noticed the noise for the first few seconds of the music, then any thought about it disappeared while listening to the musical performances, as it just faded into the background unnoticed.
The subtle noise actually adds yet another element of exotic charm to experiencing a rare musical document of a remarkable performance from a different age, before the world got so complicated like it is today.
I think the important thing to keep in mind is that there are thousands of important 78 record musical performances archived around the world that are just waiting to amaze you, if they were only transferred to CD with a superior method like the AML+ technology, and made available commercially so you could have an easy way to access them.
Until that happens - if it ever does - you can scour Discogs looking for 78 transfers to CD like I do, in hopes of finding another AML+ treasure!
Forget everything you think you know about audio, give these 78s a listen, and be prepared to have your audio priorities adjusted so that you will want embrace a whole new world of music that you might not have even known existed, a new-old world of treasures from antiquity, that exist in our recorded music canon, that are waiting to amaze you as you feel the music instead of just listening to the sound in hifi fashion.
It is quite the illuminating experience!
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
