Author: Anton Stepichev

Brahms Double Concerto – Thibaud, Casals, Cortot – 1929 78rpm shellac rip

Brahms Johannes, Casals Pablo, Cello, Classical, Remastering from shellac records, Thibaud Jacques, Victrola, Violin
Anton Stepichev


This record made strong impression in analogue but after digitization the orchestra suffered greatly – the dynamics were smoothed, the clear tone weakened. The soloists on the first side recorded too quietly, starting from the second side the balance had been corrected. Something wrong happened with Victor's equipment on the last side: strange HF resonance appeared and the violin began to sound with distortions. Despite all this, what genuine emotions are audible in the record, how open and emotionally clean Thibault's violin sounds!

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Mozart violin concerto #3 – Yehudi Menuhin, Georges Enesco – 1935 78 rpm shellac rip

Classical, Enesco George, Menuhin Yehudi, Mozart Wolfgang, Remastering from shellac records, Victor, Violin
Anton Stepichev


Menuhin plays very beautifully, his pre-war records belong to the gold fund of violin music. In the recording we hear the typical, somewhat covered and colorated sound of Victor, the set is prefabricated: the first part is a reissue of the 1940s, the second and third parts – the Japanese first press of the 1930s. The losses of The Victor reissue are not as great as they were in Columbia and Decca, although in analog the quality deterioration was obvious, after the digitizing it almost fades.

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J.S.Bach – Brandenburg Concertos, Busch Chamber Players – 1935 78rpm shellac rip

Bach Johann, Busch Adolf, Classical, Columbia, Remastering from shellac records
Anton Stepichev


Re-released in the late 1940s with losses and superficial noises, Columbia had a series of such reissues albums, such as Chopin Godovsky's Nockturne and Bach Szigeti's solo partitas – both frank spoilage. But even in this form it is clear that the interpretation of bush's concerts is one of the best, and maybe the best – impressive delicate brass, not breaking into a cry and not lost in chorus, precise rhythm and good overall impression. The orchestra plays as a single organism, conducting above all praise.

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Frank Sinatra, 1940th 78rpm shellac rip

Columbia, Pop, Remastering from shellac records, Sinatra Frank, Vocal
Anton Stepichev

The plates are quite worn out by the housewives of post-war America, but they bring the timbre and intonation of Sinatra like no other source. The atmosphere of those years is conveyed perfectly.

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Django Reinhardt and Stefane Grappelly, 1935-1938 Decca personality series 78prm shellac rip

Decca, Guitar, Jazz, Reinhardt Django, Remastering from shellac records, Stefane Grappelli, Violin
Anton Stepichev


The post-war reissue, to estimate the loss of reissue clarity you can compare it with Honeysuckle Rose and Night and Day on the Ace Of Club vinyl, losses are definitely great. Well, Django himself – one of a kind, no one except him could not and can not extract from the acoustic guitar such a dense and expressive sound. The same can be said about Grappelli's graceful violin, as if created for a swing.

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Soviet records – vocals, 78 rpm shellac rip

Bori Lucrezia, Chaliapin Feodor, Galli-Curci Amelita, Gramplasttrest, Nogisky Zavod, Obukhova Nadejda, Remastering from shellac records, Vocal
Anton Stepichev


Amelita Galli-Kurchi and Lucretia Bori are so good that even in copies they still full of life and emotions, I doubt that in our time there are stars of this magnitude – digital recording and mic singing does not contribute to this. Obukhova and Chaliapin perform the famous elegy on an equal footing, it is difficult to give preference to someone, although, after all, it is Chaliapin. Partly because Obukhova is not so clearly recorded.

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J.S.Bach — Concerto in A minor— Guberman, Dobroven — 1934 78rpm shellac rip

Bach Johann, Columbia, Dobroven Issay, Huberman Bronislaw, Remastering from shellac records, Violin
Anton Stepichev


A prefabricated set of records from the 1930s, the first record sounds clearer. The orchestra is written so-so, the violin is amazing. Guberman is considered not only a virtuoso, but also a great interpreter.

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J.S.Bach — Concerto For Two Violins — Szigeti, Flesch – 1937 78rpm shellac rip

Bach Johann, Classical, Goehr Walter, Remastering from shellac records, Szigeti Joseph, Violin
Anton Stepichev

A compilation of records from different sets, the first record from the United States is recorded with serious loss of clarity, the sound of the second, English version is great, but it is printed on a crackling mass of English HMV. In the first movement, you can appreciate the Szigeti violin with its emphasized upper formant, somewhat angular and beautiful in this angularity. Thanks to the efforts of American technicians, the Flash instrument sounds helpless, and only at the end of Largo and in the final it becomes clear that two equally great masters are playing, and their instruments are as good as their masters. It should also be noted that the orchestra is well-coordinated, emphasizing the expression of the allegro.

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J.S.Bach — Concerto For Two Violins — Jascha Heifetz , 1952 78rpm shellac rip

Bach Johann, Classical, Heifetz Yasha, Remastering from shellac records, Victor, Violin, Waxman Franz
Anton Stepichev


Both parts are recorded by Heifetz using an overdubbing. The recording is considered a failure, in my opinion, because of the relatively dull sound and the unsuccessful first movement: the tempo is too high, the orchestra plays monotonously, the violins do not differ in tone or style. I think because of this, many people never got to hear Largo, the first half of which is played and recorded musically perfectly. In the second part of Largo, the violins lost their voice, but the finale is recorded very well-expressively and with mood.

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J.S.Bach — Concerto For Two Violins — Yehudi Menuhin, Georges Enesco ‎– 1932 78rpm shellac rip

Bach Johann, Classical, Enesco George, His Master's Voice, Menuhin Yehudi, Monteux Pierre, Remastering from shellac records, Violin
Anton Stepichev


Only the first record is present from the set. The orchestra sounds a little heavy, but Menuhin's violin is recorded elegantly – touching, soft and intonated, it is for this sound Menuhin loved by his fans. The Enesco instrument sounds calm and muted, the teacher does not interfere with his protege.

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