Interesting finding

[whipped guy]

Callas was NOT Remastered!

 

Well not totally Remastered! I was shocked to get this news!

 

A few days ago a specialist who has written extensively about Callas shared some of his recent findings. He has the original LP's from the 1950's and 1960's and the equipment to play and analyze them in relation to the most recent mastering by Warner Classics as part of their Callas Remastered Edition. He has been comparing the original LP's and the various CD incarnations for the past two years. He has done extensive spectral analyses, a comparison of timings, and exhaustive listening tests. His conclusion is that Warner has worked from earlier digital versions as opposed to using the original analog tapes.

 

So it has all been a hoax!!! The remastering from the original analog tapes was simply advertising hype! This was initially suggested by Andrew Rose of Pristine Classics. Rose has issued his own masterings of many early mono Callas performances and as such he had monetary and commercial interests to protect as reasons to criticize Warner's efforts. Consequently, his opinion regarding Warner's remastering efforts was regarded with more than a hint of skepticism. However, it now seems that Rose was indeed correct in his assessment of Warner's Callas Remastered Edition.

 

Of course I don't have the original LP's in mint condition and certainly not the highend equipment on which to play them, but supposedly the Warner masterings don't replicate the sound of the LP's. In addition the timings are not identical... However, the timings are identical down to the split second when compared to earlier CD issues. That indicates that the same digital sources used for the earlier CD releases were utilized for the newest CD releases as opposed to the original analog sources. If analog tapes were used it would be impossible to have the timings be so exact. Where timings don't match up it is because editing errors and other similar discrepancies were corrected for the newest CD releases. Spectral analyses also indicate non analog sources.

 

Ironically the original CD issues from thirty years ago might be the closest to the original sources, but even those don't replicate the sound of the originals as transferred to CD by Keith Hardwick in the 1980's. Still, it is suggested that in some cases they might be the best versions to own in spite of a number of other defects such as preserving LP side breaks, background noises, and instances of poor editing as noted above. Also many of the recitals were issued in a hodgepodge format that did not respect the content and ordering of the original LP's.

 

So again a disservice has probably been done to Callas. What is ironic concerns the fact that even the golden audiophile ears at Stereophile Magazine were fooled.

 

In any event, the new Warner versions sound different than previous CD versions with the stereo recordings being the most improved and successful. Some of the mono recordings such as Norma, Puritani, and Lucia, while they have been cleaned up and seem to have a quieter background, have certain patches of distortion and roughness that are different from previous CD releases. That makes them sound bright and fatiguing and in some respects worse upon extensive listening.

 

In summary, and this is my point of view, taken as a whole the Warner versions in their Callas Remastered Edition are probably the way to go for the general collector. The stereo versions that I have heard all sound decent. Some of the mono recordings sound quite decent as well, but not all of them and it is in the early recordings where Callas is captured in her prime years that are the most problematic and especially the recordings referenced above.

 

Bottom line: where Callas is concerned nothing is ever easy or often as it seems. When EMI reissued the Callas performances on CD in 1997 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her death and then reissued them again as part of their Great Recordings of the Century series they only tweaked the sound of the original Hardwick mastering from the 1980's and in some cases actually made the sound of some recordings worse. Basically Warner took the same route for their Callas Remastered Edition. However, this time around they worked more extensively to try and improve the sound. However, not every recording was actually improved and as in the past in some cases the results can actually be demonstrated to have denigrated the sound. The final product in such situations could arguably be accepted if the results yielded a more accurate representation of the master tape, but that has not always been the case.

 

My recommendation for those who are concerned with the quality of the sound is to supplement Warner Callas Remastered with the Pristine Classics versions where available. I personally like the sound of the early Callas mono EMI and Cetra material that I have sampled as released on CD and available as downloads by Andrew Rose on his Pristine label. Even though he worked from the original LP's he has equalized and pitched them according to his liking and as such they supposedly don't replicate the sound of the original LP's. That has made many purists (the above noted specialist included) reject his efforts, but according to my ears they are among the best available.

 

So the saga of Callas reissued and remastered recordings continues. I doubt that this will be the final chapter!

[AdamSmith]

Of course I don't have the original LP's in mint condition and certainly not the highend equipment on which to play them, but supposedly the Warner masterings don't replicate the sound of the LP's. In addition the timings are not identical... However, the timings are identical down to the split second when compared to earlier CD issues. That indicates that the same digital sources used for the earlier CD releases were utilized for the newest CD releases as opposed to the original analog sources. If analog tapes were used it would be impossible to have the timings be so exact. Where timings don't match up it is because editing errors and other similar discrepancies were corrected for the newest CD releases. Spectral analyses also indicate non analog sources.

 

Ironically the original CD issues from thirty years ago might be the closest to the original sources, but even those don't replicate the sound of the originals as transferred to CD by Keith Hardwick in the 1980's. Still, it is suggested that in some cases they might be the best versions to own in spite of a number of other defects such as preserving LP side breaks, background noises, and instances of poor editing as noted above. Also many of the recitals were issued in a hodgepodge format that did not respect the content and ordering of the original LP's.

A sidenote and repetitive of earlier posts, but anyway: Somewhat (not exactly) similar lesson in my recent discovery on youtube that somebody has uploaded a lot of Chapuis's Bach performances from the Telefunken vinyl, not their later transfer (from the original analog tapes) to Valois CD. Listening to the two side by side, even in terrible MP3, has jarred me in making plain how clumsy the CD transfer was.

 

I have not heard in person any of the organs Chapuis used, but the vinyl sound is much closer to any I have heard live than the CDs.

[+ Charlie]

I wonder if Atty-Gen'l nominee Sessions will be interested in looking into this case.

[body2body]

I wonder if Atty-Gen'l nominee Sessions will be interested in looking into this case.

Probably only if he suspects that Maria is an alien who crossed the border illegally.

[TruHart1]

I wonder if Atty-Gen'l nominee Sessions will be interested in looking into this case.

Probably only if he suspects that Maria is an alien who crossed the border illegally.

Wasn't La Divina born in Hawaii before it became a state? :rolleyes:

 

TruHart1

[whipped guy]

I wonder if Atty-Gen'l nominee Sessions will be interested in looking into this case.

 

Probably only if he suspects that Maria is an alien who crossed the border illegally.

 

Wasn't La Divina born in Hawaii before it became a state? :rolleyes:

 

TruHart1

 

Cum on guys! I realize that you are simply being jokesters, but please don't get this moved to the Political Forum! I don't go there! (Insert stern BDSM Dom look here. ) or better yet...

 

 

Of course now we run the risk that this will be moved to the Fetish Forum...

 

Seriously, since the 1950's and 1960's Callas aficionados have been trying to collect Callas recordings in the best possible sound. It has generally been said that European LP pressings were the best. In the US there were red label Angel pressings and blue label Angel pressings. Both often had issues. With the advent of CD we thought that we would finally get "perfect sound forever". It's over 40 years since that event and as far as Callas is concerned it has still not happened.

 

However, I feel that I am almost there. With a combination of the best sounding versions from the Warner Callas Remastered Edition, some of what Andrew Rose has produced for Pristine, a few out of print Japanese CD's, and some duplicate material from the initial CD releases that sound good if different, I more or less have versions of my favorite performances that sound more than acceptable to me. Probably not something that would satisfy purists, but I tend to be more pragmatic about such things.

 

I won't even go into the problems of finding good sounding copies of the live material. That's a seperate challenge, but I'm closing in on that as well. With any luck I will be able to complete things before my demise.