Living Stereo 60

"RCA I" focuses on recordings from the golden age of stereophonic reproduction -- approximately 1955-62. Listening to all 60 discs over a two-month period confirms two aural observations relative to contemporary classical music:(1) The late 1950s state-of-the-art ability to electronically capture a stereophonic soundstage and accurately reproduce it in your listening room subsequently underwent no significant improvement. Relative to contemporary recordings, recording quality of virtually any RCA / Living Stereo recording is far more realistic in its reproduction accuracy. As there was essentially no real-time or post-recording technical tinkering, the sonic feel of the recordings appear more accurate, musically honest, and natural to the ears (provided, of course, one employs a quality stereo tube amp ran flat with two quality loudspeakers -- which was, of course, how this music was intended to be enjoyed).In a head-to-head, "RCA / Living Stereo" vs. "Mercury / Living Presence", matchup (from the same 1955-62 period), one will notice Mercury engineers utilized closer miking techniques -- indeed a photo from the Mercury box set exhibits the famous three mics suspended stage-front, overhead, whereas RCA engineering appears to have incorporated a pick-up location a few rows off-stage into the hall. The noticeable trade-off is apparent: the Mercurys are brighter, tighter, and have more direct punch (one gets the feeling that the conductors "conducted" the players to play to the mics...), while the RCAs have a more thorough sound stage and a larger overall robust sound -- with the latter, your listening room can truly approximate the recording hall, which, of course, is what stereophonic reproduction was supposed to do. In short: with the Mercurys you hear more, with the RCAs you feel more.(2) Conductors and their musical interpretations, the instrumental competency of the orchestras, and the compelling ability of featured soloists from the 1955-62 period far and away outshine their contemporaries. One listen to Charles Munch's interpretation of Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 or Fritz Reiner's interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scherazade" and it's immediately apparent there are no contemporary conductors or orchestras who can approach these or the many other truly remarkable recordings in the set. The reason is simple: in the case of both conductors as well as many orchestral members, there was either a direct link or near-direct link to many of the 19th century composers and teachers responsible for the music at hand. Such links are absent from today's classical culture.The number of satisfying performances in the set are copious: Munch's readings of "Daphnes Et Chloe" (Ravel), Prokofiev's Violin Conerto No. 2, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, as well as Reiner's readings of "El Amor Brujo" (Falla), and Berlioz' Symphony Fantistique are notably outstanding. Soloists such as Rubenstein, Cliburn, and Heifetz are without contemporary parallel.There are about 10 CDs devoted to opera -- not enough to satisfy an appetite for that sort of thing, yet surely enough to blemish an otherwise incredible cross-section of RCA's golden "stereophonic" age of formal Western art music. There's also a CD each of solo pipe organ music and Spanish guitar music. In all three cases, these would be better served in sets addressing their respective music genres.This set, along with its recent Decca, Philips, and Mercury counterparts, serves as an excellent method to instantly acquire quality recordings of formal Western art music; and at approximately $2--3/disc this wonderful music can be had at a fraction of the traditional single disc cost. Most discs are coupled with additional works to routinely tally individual disc playing times to over one hour.The set is a truly phenomenal and inspirational collection or formal Western art music and will provide a lifetime of satisfaction and enjoyment.

At this point the Sony Korea RCA Living Stereo CD box set collection comes in and out of availability, so I had to wait a bit before it came back into stock and I could get a copy.In the mean time, I spent months reading the reviews and checking out the individual SACD releases, many of which are going out of print again, waiting for it to come back into stock, so I could grab one for my dad.Now it came back in stock for a week at a slightly increased price over the original price and it's already sold out the 14 copies they got in. (If it is available currently stop reading the reviews and order it now)It was worth the wait, even though some of the other reviews made my choice more difficult than it needed to be.This is a set of CDs, NOT SACDs, but the CDs contain the stereo remasters that were on the 3 channel SACDs, (which is a combination of the original simultaneous mono and stereo recordings).The sound quality is fantastic from the days of analog recordings that capture the warmth of the medium and have a spacious sound field from recording in historic music halls.This is my first dip into the classical CD market, it was more for my father who was interested in getting his Living Stereo lps transferred so he could listen to them on his MP3 player, but as a fan of historic recordings this set caught my eye and I'm glad I waited for it.This will sell out and being an import only collection from Korean Sony, it is already diffcult to track down.A perfect companion to the Mercury Living Presence box for an instant reference library on CD of some of the finest analog classical recordings of the late 20th century, with minimal overlap of material.There has been a flood of classical import CD boxes of late to move the copyrights from the original American labels to the new owners and this has been a boon for people just starting to build a classical CD collection. This also helps the new labels get ready for the future with download only versions of the original lp based albums once these discount boxes sell out.This Sony box is the best of all of them with 60 CDs and an almost half inch thick book with the complete liner notes from the Soundmirror remasterings including all the original liner notes and liberettos for the operas.If you are even thinking about it and it's still available, go for it before the undocumented MP3 downloads are the only versions of these historic recordings left in print.

The reviews for this set have been largely on the money, I think. This is great value, and contains great performances in great sound. Original liner notes are also included in a nicely put together CD sized book (an overview of this 60CD project would have been nice, but you can't have everything).Trev-R's review already contains the official track listing, but you actually get much more than this on a dozen of the discs (sometimes another complete LP! Here are the CDs this effects with the additional tracks in brackets.8 FIEDLER, ARTHUR Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Concerto in F; An American in Paris; Variations on "I Got Rhythm" (+ CUBAN OVERTURE)9 REINER, FRITZ Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (+ MARCHE MINIATURE, MARCHE SLAVE, NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN, POLOVTSIAN MARCH, RUSSLAN AND LUDMILLA OVERTURE, CALAS BREUGNON OVERTURE)19 REINER, FRITZ Dvorák: New World Symphony (+ BARTERED BRIDE OVERTURE, SCHWANDA POLKA AND FUGUE)20 REINER, FRITZ Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (+ STRAVINSKY'S SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE)22 FIEDLER, ARTHUR Offenbach: Gaïté parisienne (+ LA BOUTIQUE FANTASTIQUE)24 FIEDLER, ARTHUR Hi-Fi Fiedler (ORIGINAL ALBUM + ESPANA, LISZT'S HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY NO 2, RAKOCSZY MARCH)32 STOKOWSKI, LEOPOLD Rhapsodies (ORIGINAL ALBUM + LOHENGRIN PRELUDE TO ACT III, TANNHAUSER OVERTURE AND VENESBURG MUSIC)36 REINER, FRITZ Vienna (ORIGINAL ALBUM + VIENNA BLOOD, ROSES FROM THE SOUTH, TREASURE WALTZ, THUNDER AND LIGHTNING POLKA)38 FIEDLER, ARTHUR Pops Caviar (ORIGINAL ALBUM + GAYANE EXCERPTS, EUGENE ONEGIN POLONAISE, SLEEPING BEAUTY WALTZ, FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE, GALOP FROM MASQUERADE SUITE)41 LANZA, MARIO Mario! Lanza At His Best; Vagabond King Highlights (+ FOUR UNRELEASED VAGABOND KING TRACKS)42 FOX, VIRGIL Encores (ORIGINAL ALBUM + POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE MARCH)53 HEIFETZ, JASCHA Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor (+ MOZART SINFONIA CONCERTANTE IN E FLAT, BRAHMS CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO)55 PRICE, LEONTYNE Albeniz: Navarra, Iberia; Falla: El amor (+ THREE CORNERED HAT, LA VIDA BRAVE, INTERMEZZO FROM GOYESCAS)

Very nice collection I was especially pleased with Haifetz's Concerto performances his Prokofiev Concerto was a moving discovery for me.I was also happy with Piatogorsky (Whose wife sponsored some famous chess events in the 60s)in Dvorak Cello Concerto and Rubenstein's Pianism.The enclosed booklet is very good with the track details and notes on the performances on each CDPossibly the sound quality is a little clearer on the Mercury living Presence Set but the performers are usually better on this RCA set. I would pick the Living stereo set if I could only have 1 of them.

This set far exceeded my expectations and at any price under £100 it is an astonishing bargains. Containing some of the earliest commercial stereo recordings ever released, it also features benchmark performances of classic repertoire which have rarely if ever been surpassed. Whether you're taking your first steps in classical music, or looking for a fresh take on old favourites, this is not to be missed. Even the novelty items--marches, Mario Lanza, the opening sampler, are all a good listen at least once.

When I was young and wandering through the classical record stores, I'd see the displays of performance after performance, and dream of one day being able to afford as many as I could get my hands on. Half a century later, I know the performers have changed and the repertoire has gone off in all sorts of directions, but opening this treasure-chest of so many of the recordings I'd dreamed of has been a magical experience. What a gift!

A box to delight even the most jaded listener. I envy those who have yet to listen to these recordings, which remain unequaled, so far as sound quality is concerned. I didn't need this box as I own earlier incarnations of these discs, but purchase forced me to reacquaint myself... Supreme artistry the like of which we shall not see again, I'm afraid.