Well, here is the most recent addition to the turntable family - a well taken care of vintage Bogen. This is essentially a Lenco re-branded for the American market and featuring the all-important North American electronics ensuring correct speed (European models have different parts that run faster making it almost impossible to hold 33 1/3 speed - yeah I have one of those, but I'll save that story for another time).
The Bogen arrived in beautiful shape. It features a nice stock tonearm - quite well-regarded in Lenco / Bogen circles. The only thing I could fit into that fearsome-looking headshell was an old Shure cart that I got a new "conical" stylus for. Maybe not totally audiophile by today's standards, but it can sound good! The conical stylus is pretty essential for this tonearm which was designed before anybody became concerned about anti-skate issues. So how do you compensate? A little extra weight courtesy of the counter-balance mechanism - not something you want to do with an elliptical or micro-line stylus! The conical is much more forgiving on the LPs under such barbaric conditions.
Mahler doesn't seem to mind though! I'm playing this recently rescued LP as I type this right now. Talk about a mint vintage disc! I swear this LP looks like it was NEVER PLAYED. And I got it for $1 last weekend. I really like Mahler's First Symphony and I have a bunch already on CD and LP. But this disc looked so clean and sparkly-new I couldn't leave it in the bins. Plus the conductor Sir Adrian Boult I really enjoy as well. And it's a mono PROMO copy that feels like it was pressed not on vinyl, but styrene! Odd for the Everest label since I had yet to see a styrene pressing from that label. Somebody once told me that some labels used styrene as an "audiophile alternative" to vinyl - something about the properties of styrene making for quieter surfaces than vinyl. If that was the logic here, it certainly worked. What a great sounding record and a great vintage performance as well. I can highly recommend this disc for the Mahler buffs out there!
I'm sure there was a stereo counterpart for this album since the release date listed is 1958. But the mono is no slouch here! Discoveries like this remind me how much I love mono classical records.
I also found this classic Mahler book last weekend (as if I should be reading more new books - I still have several I haven't finished yet.......). I picked it up in spite of the fact that the author - the former Mrs. Mahler - is rumored to have played fast and loose with some facts here and there. No matter - the best stuff here is really the letters Mahler wrote and received. Just glancing through the book I noticed an entertaining letter that Mahler got from Arnold Schoenberg who gives an unorthodox yet enthusiastic review of Mahler's Third Symphony (which AS had recently heard performed live). Check it out:
Now if there ever was a wildly subjective review of a symphony here is the grand example! Neat to read considering how Schoenberg's own music seems to be so devoid of feeling (at least on the surface). Just this letter alone was worth the price of the book. With any luck I'll get to read more this coming fall and winter.
Speaking of sparkly-clean vintage LPs - here's a Steinberg / Pittsburgh SO platter I picked up recently that also looked totally untouched by a stylus. Can't fathom why since the performances were really enjoyable.
Folks must have shunned mono classical LPs like they could give you leprosy or something. The above picture really doesn't capture how clean this baby really is. Sounds great!
Here's a few nifty Westminster LPs I scored recently.
This Schubert album is from the early 50s and the cover art is a giveaway. This era saw a lot of modern-looking covers and I sure like 'em. This album also had a different style to the usual red Westminster label. See here:
Check out that scripted lettering for the Westminster logo. I don't think I'd seen that before. Most red labels had a more stylized Westminster logo like this:
The above record also carries a 1952 release date, but is obviously a few 40 record releases away from the Schubert LP above. Here's the cover for this album - a modern-ish composer, in fact!
According to the liner notes Franz Schmidt was from Vienna and lived between 1874 and 1939. Although he was a contemporary of the more radical composers like Schoenberg, et al.... Schmidt was more conventional with modern strains through his work. The above LP is a good example of such an aesthetic. Quite enjoyable!
Though the Westminster LPs are not quite as mint as those above the sound is really excellent. I especially like that early 50s cover art. By the mid to late 50s, the covers began looking more conventional and, basically - BORING. Why more people don't seek these things out I have no idea. As long as I can keep finding them in thrift stores I can't complain!
It's been awhile since I've written here - some changes have blown through my life lately and finding the time to keep up is a challenge, but my passion for this stuff goes on! Keep listening and seeking!
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