EMI Classical Reissues and the Hi-Q Supercuts Audiophile Vinyl Series

[@LynnePedigoRidayReiter]

Thanks to your education, I recognized a heart-stopping deal on eBay: a dozen living stereo albums, some of which you have already reviewed. I bid seventy bucks, thinking I would sacrifice for the flurry of bids to come at the last minute. After a long week of waiting, I won! I was the only bidder! The total price? $9.99 plus shipping and handling. You have so earned all the coffees I have bought you by subscribing :)

[@ThePressingMatters]

That's great news. What a deal!

[@poetryonplastic]

I guess I'll have to scrap the video I was planning on this topic... very well done sir. I think in the last couple years Testament has been doing some of the bigger orchestral recorder, I have their reissue of Schuricht's Bruckner 9, as well as the Klemperer Mendelssohn 3, and I think they sound excellent. I just wish they would put their Ravel/Cluytens box back in print, I'm pretty sure it sounds much better than the shrill sounding ERC that I once heard at a friends house.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you! I has been hesitating on releasing this video, not sure if there would be much interest in it. I'm glad to finally get it out because the EMI catalog really is being overlooked. I had not been following Testament recently and I was glad to hear you mention that they are still producing titles. I too would love a reissue of that Ravel box. I enjoy your work and hope you'll touch on the subject in one of your presentations. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.

[@poetryonplastic]

@@ThePressingMatters I recently picked up all the CFP (Classics for Pleasure) reissues of the individual records found in the Ravel box. The interesting thing is, one of them uses the same plates as the original (mucho $$$$) silver label pressing, while the others are recuts. They are still waiting to be cleaned though. But for 10-15 dollars a record I doubt I'll be disappointed. Do you have any SAX silver labels in your collection?

[@FLOWERINGSPIKES]

@ThePressingMatters @poetryonplastic I have the Bruckner Schuricht 3 which sounds amazing! would highly recommend ! also have the Klemperer Bruckner 4 , which sounds ok but nothing special.

[@ThePressingMatters]

I have two but they were thrift store finds and not in great shape. They were moved out of my main collection and I'd have to dig to find the titles. It was a thrill to find them as I never come across them in the wild. I have a few CFP reissues, and always thought well of them.

[@musiconrecord6724]

I agree. Would love to hear poetryonplastic's take on these Hi-Q releases. I plan to do something myself - eventually.....!!!@@ThePressingMatters

[@ergloo6660]

​"Pre Cut" is a signal to the lathes cutting head allowing the lathe to "scale" the size of the cut to minimise the master from being too hot, it's sort of read ahead warning "hey big signal coming"

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you for clearing that up! Do you think that these are completely analogue from the descriptions here and online? Could the preview head be a digital preview?

[@poulslot]

Since a pre cut would not be needed if it was in the digital domain, it is most likely all analog.

[@ergloo6660]

@ThePressingMatters Sadly there is some confusion with this matter. In the early days of the preview heads it was discovered that the lacquer was accidentally being cut from the preview head and not the master read head and was digital in some cases. To the best of my knowledge this error was found and fixed after a short period of time

[@ThePressingMatters]

My concern was a digital vs analog preview head. I know analog type is not that common any longer. I'm not sure if it's a digital preview head if it's truly in the signal. Confusing indeed. Maybe a workaround has been found as you say.

[@musiconrecord6724]

Interesting backstory on that English String music. The Barbirollis were friends with Bernard Herrmann who suggested they record the Vaughan Williams Fantasia in London's Temple Church (just off Piccadilly, and well worth a visit - featured in the film of DaVinci Code). It's that unique acoustic which gives this recording such a "glow". (The other indispensable English string music record is Britten's on Decca; I also love Boult's record of the Fantasia etc. on a later EMI). I also picked up a bunch of the HiQ records in that same sale, and have yet to get through all of them. The Kurtz condensed Tchaikovsky LPs are delicious, and a great go-to for someone who doesn't want the complete ballets, but more than the Suites. Yes, the pressings can be noisy, but a deep clean goes a long way to making them tolerable (I uses Disc Doctor's Heavy and Regular fluids, plus distilled water rinse). Yes, those EMI Greensleeves are terrific, and quite a few are not reissues but brand new recordings of unusual repertoire. I love the Satie Monotones - orchestral versions of his piano pieces. Sublime! Thanks for a great overview on this topic. We really need new audiophile reissues of this catalogue. I own quite a few early silver and magic-note pressings of the Columbia/EMI catalogue and they are gorgeous. But later postage stamp reissues get you a long way there for a fraction of the money.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Great story, and I hadn't realized the recording was done there. It does give it a unique sound that works well for this music. I've since cleaned it a few more times, and finally got it near perfect. Really made a huge difference in my perception of the music! I love Side Two in particular.

[@rufus_the_cat]

Man I'm so glad this comment caught my eye. I love hearing that acecdote about a record that is in my top 5

[@vidabogotana]

The Hi-Q Supercut pressing of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 (dir. Carlo Maria Giulini) is outstanding. This collection definitely deserves a reissue

[@ThePressingMatters]

Good to know, thank you!

[@Lundy3112]

Scott , again thank you for the effort you put into your videos , your knowledge of and passion for records comes across in your videos , Bruce Milner from Brisbane Australia

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you, Bruce I'm glad you are enjoying these videos. I really do love doing the classical videos and I guess it shows :-)

[@kurjan1]

Bruce, hi from Gold Coast Australia.

[@scottwheeler2679]

The pre-cut signal is just the preview signal. That it is analog is evidence that the signal fed to the cutting head was a direct feed from the analog signal fed to the cutting lathe. Many cutting systems use a low res digital preview that also feeds the cutting head.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Ok thank you I understand it now.

[@AudiophiliaChannel]

The Hi-Q Beecham/Heldenleben/RPO is superb. Great video, Scott. Thanks for the hard work.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you for the recommendation. There are a few great ones in the series and I'm so glad you mentioned this title.

[@Muzik20]

Fantastic video! The Grieg Peer Gynt on Hi-Q is one of the best records in my collection.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you! I love that recording and I do have it in the Greensleeve reissue. I had intended to get the Hi-Q and it went out of stock! Good to hear some feedback on some of the successful Hi-Q records. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video.

[@primeanalogrecords]

I don’t listen that much to classical, but I must say EMI is an absolute genius with their mastering processes and their packaging! I have enjoyed their devotion to music through all of my Pat Metheny albums! Interesting video, Scott keep it up!

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you Matt. EMI put incredible effort into their classical program during this era. Just trying to raise some awareness. Thanks for checking it out!

[@sidesup8286]

@Prime Analog. Wrong E label there. Pat Metheny's label was ECM, not EMI. Totlally different label; both great though. I think I'd rather listen to Pat Metheny music than classical on any label 90% of the time. But sometimes classical music really calls out to you. Someone mentioned they wished they'd re-release the Cluyten's Ravel. Agreed. Also would wish for the Skrowezewski Ravel box. Or has that already been re-released by someone?

[@ThePressingMatters]

The Vox Box is great and has never been reissued in its entirety. There was a short lived series from Reference Recordings that issued one record from the set.

[@sidesup8286]

Interesting. I didn't know that Scott; about the Vox Box record. Your showing all those other records was novel. Don't recall seeing them. Early on, many years ago, when AP, Classic records etc. started re-releasing classical lps, the one cover picture for some reason that stuck in my mind was the de Burgos conducting El Amor Brujo. I found a promo copy of it on it's original London label, and it sounds great. I've started tube rolling with my new tube preamp. People saying the old old 1950s/60s NOS tubes sound best are not kidding. I replaced perhaps the highest rated modern made 12AU7 with a vintage matched NOS pair from the 1960s or 70s and it didn't take me 10 seconds to hear the sound was cleaner, more defined, more transparent etc. And the tube isn't even broken in yet probably. Unless someone put some hours on it and it wasn't NOS, but still read that high on the testing meter. It wasn't a real expensive vintage tube like Telefunken, Mullard, Siemens, or Amperex either. I got the pair for a song.

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@sidesup8286 as I recall there were five records in that short lived series. Another two were from another Vox Box which was the Gershwin. Then there were two Ravel discs and one Rachmaninoff, all from those stereo/quad Vox tapes. Analogue Productions did another disc from the Ravel set as one of their first reissues and it retained the cover image from the Vox set.

[@analogueanorak1904]

Hi Scott another great video right up my street. As sadly the chances of EBS working on EMI rereleases are pretty remote I have few tasty tips for you to consider. I did manage to pick up a few years back the Nimbus supercut (nothing to do with HiQ) repressing of Boults VW Symphony 6/ Lark ascending which was done in conjunction with Practical Hi-Fi magazine. Many spine chilling moments especially in Lark. It’s not cheap but in comparison with the prices of the Beatles discs that also came out as part of this series it’s a steal. A Salvatore recommendation of an original pressing that is astonishingly good and really cheap is London Festival Ballet Gala, incredibly transparent and I’m sure the only reason it’s not at ridiculous prices is the repertoire chosen is not the usual suspects. It’s highly authentic as it was originally recorded for tapes for a ballet company on tour use of venues too small for live orchestra and the results were so sparkling a commercial release was negotiated later. last but not least is the Concerts Classics budget rerelease label using early stampers so you still get a bit of tubey magic in there. The Guilini Debussy La Mer/Nocturnes is magical but sadly lacks the awesome cover which would be the only reason to get the HiQ version.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Great information, thank you! I had forgotten about the Concert Classics series. Im going to track down some of your other recommendations. I need to revisit Arthur's site. What a labor of love that site is!

[@robertmorgan9205]

I came here to post about the Concert Classics series too but thought I’d better check first to see if they’d Ben mentioned.

[@analogueanorak1904]

@@ThePressingMatters Yes so much more useful than TAS list because of the text justification for so many of his choices. Also I forgot to mention Barbiirolli’s English Strings is fairly heavy going Elgar to get through on side A so it may not be the HiQ version sound quality. For me ES is all about side B and VW with arguably the finest version of Fantasia on Thomas Tallis ever recorded. So I would say give just that one a listen, with the lights dimmed, before it goes on your sell pile.

[@ThePressingMatters]

This is exactly what happened. Side A was a bit heavy and since B was so filled with noise , I didn't really experience it. Now that it's clean and quiet, I am really enjoying that side.

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@robertmorgan9205 Hi Robert, Yes they were mentioned and I admit I had forgotten all about h them. I have several and can recommend them.

[@ellischernoff8603]

A pre-cut signal is used by the cutting lathe to adjust the spacing between groves for high dynamic content.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you, I hadn't heard the process described with that term when I made this video. Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Happy New Year!

[@christopherbarker181]

I have too many Classical reissues (44) so I don’t know if I would add anymore.😊

[@ThePressingMatters]

Well, I definitely would not search out these. But I have two reviews coming up that are very positive! One is a big surprise to me how much I like it and how fantastic it sounds! Stay tuned

[@kurjan1]

Scott, great information thank you. I’ve been buying the Deutsche Gramophone releases.

[@ThePressingMatters]

You're welcome! I've only heard Rite of Spring so far. Any that are a favorite. Looking for suggestions.

[@joseauger1353]

Have you tried cleaning records with Tergikleen? It contains tergitol that is used by the National Archives to deep clean records for archiving

[@ThePressingMatters]

I have not yet tried it, but I am familiar with that wonderful paper on cleaning records where he talks about it. What dilution do you use? Just that and distilled? I am ready to try something more effective.

[@joseauger1353]

I use 15 dropsof Tergikleen per gallon of distilled water. It cleans used and old records not played in a long time perfectly well.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Excellent, I'm going to order some. I assume it's fine for a VPI. One rinse should be fine, right?

[@joseauger1353]

I use a Spin Clean to apply the Tergikleen solution. I use a label cover that I acquired from Amazon. Then I use a spray bottle full of distilled water and spray the water several times for each side. The water pressure should be enough to wash the records. After that, depending on the record, I either go directly to the ultrasonic machine or to the VPI Cyclone.@@ThePressingMatters

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@joseauger1353 Awesome, I'm going to try it out and I'll let you know the results!

[@Brighamdoc]

I have a local used record store where I can get many classical records for $3-5 because of the low demand. Many are unopened Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Hyperion. It’s hard to justify $35 until that well drys up.

[@ThePressingMatters]

I agree. A new series would have to have everything done just right to justify this kind of price. The title selection needs to be well thought out, analogue master tapes and top notch mastering, pressing and presentation. Classical on vinyl is a hard sell for sure.

[@deadquietvinyl]

I also have a store that is specialized (and I mean it!) in Japanese OGs of all kinds. Most of them are also in the classical area. EMi Angel, Telarc, Decca, London, etc. most of them are new, I can tell. Not really-really cheap but when I hear the sound of these records, all my muney go there. They are unbeatable. I do have super-analog ones, but made in Japan and from 80s

[@mcgjohn22]

yes, agree. hard to argue with especially when 40 dollars buys a new pressing that has lack luster sonics. Some of the Hyperion recordings are quite nice.

[@mcgjohn22]

@@deadquietvinyl you are quite lucky to have a store like that nearby. The Japan EMI Angel are really good, on par with the EMI UK pressings, but usually much quieter. On the super Analogue discs, King Rerecords only pressed vinyl for the local Japan market. For the US and ERUO markets, King Records cut the lacquers and had RTI in Camarillo, CA press the vinyl. If you have one you can easily tell which you have. At the bottom of the label, if it reads "Made in USA" then was pressed by RTI. If it reads "Made in Japan" then you have a King Records pressing.

[@deadquietvinyl]

@@mcgjohn22 very good information! 🙏 Indeed, this store is filled with them. 😎 I am super-happy about this. I just hope this lasts as much as possible

[@robertmorgan9205]

Hi Scott. I’ve become a bit of a fan of ‘budget’ label re-issues/re-pressings, up to a point. With a bit of research it’s easy to find which are cheaper releases of those expensive early Decca, EMI, Columbia records and the sound quality is still superb. I do have some of the more collectible originals but people shouldn’t be put off from scouring charity shops/record bins for these bargain priced ones. Same applies to all used records of course that I give them a good cleaning before playing and I can’t say I’ve been disappointed so far. Currently I’m adding any Ace Of Diamonds (Decca) recordings I find to my collection, particularly from the first 150-200 or so that were released

[@ThePressingMatters]

I agree with you, I'm a big fan of the various UK reissue series for EMI and Decca. Here in the states it's Stereo Treasury for Decca and most are UK pressing. I also collect Victrola, though those are not as consistent.

[@robertmorgan9205]

@@ThePressingMatters Funny you should mention Victrola as it was only this last weekend I was looking at my modest Victrola collection and giving them a thorough cleaning.

[@ThePressingMatters]

I've got most of them, US Plum label, and I really like them. I've sorted through a few copies in many cases to arrive at my keeper copies. That might be an interesting video actually.

[@robertmorgan9205]

@@ThePressingMatters I’d definitely be interested in seeing that one …saying that, I watch all of yours anyway. Just today I bought three cheap classical LPs that are on bargain labels. One, which sounds great to me, is Janos Starker playing the Dvorak Cello Concerto. It’s on the World Record Club label and cost me 99 pence instead of the eye-watering cost of an original pressing. I’m sure those will be fabulous sounding but this will do me just fine until the lottery numbers come up 😄

[@mcgjohn22]

Be sure to look for the London Treasury series. They were pressed from the same lacquers as the Ace of Diamonds Decca SDD discs. There are 4 label variants. The first was a deep groove pressing with Orange label and silver lettering. 2nd was non deep groove pressing with smaller print but still silver lettering on an orange background. the 3rd was black lettering on an orange background. All off these were pressed by Decca in the UK. the 4th variant was black lettering on a light yellow label. These were pressed in the US. Sonics on these light yellow label US pressings is inferior to any of the UK pressings.

[@raywelsh5335]

Hey Scott Great vid. Just wanted to pick your brain. A run of Erato recordings have just hit my local store. They are in a gatefold type sleeve. I bought one at $10 and it sounds really good to me. (Vivaldi, Les Concertos pour Mandolines). They look in great condition. Do you think they are worth picking up? Cheers Mate.

[@ThePressingMatters]

I would say so, if the music looks interesting and they are in excellent condition. I don't have many but those I do are truly excellent sounding records.

[@raywelsh5335]

@@ThePressingMatters Thanks so much. I'll have another look at them. Actually, I've just pulled up to the store.😂😂🙏

[@ThePressingMatters]

Anything to report? I checked and I have some nice organ recordings on Erato

[@raywelsh5335]

@ThePressingMatters Yep, I got three all Vivaldi. These were the blue and white label variety. Sound fab. Cheers.

[@raywelsh5335]

Just ordered Body & Soul and more goodies from AP. Just wanted to ask, have you heard Melody Gardot? Maybe, I've asked this before? Anyway, I think you'd love her. Beautiful Jazz voice, and the songs just take you back, back and back.😃

[@rufus_the_cat]

Anyone that knows me knows that my two copies of English string music are my most favorite records. I have the HQ and I have a UK 70s Reissue. I would love a first press but… wow if Simone did a good reissue of that I would be bouncing off the walls.

[@ThePressingMatters]

You know, I have some of the selections on other labels by other conductors. I think I have some of this music on the Argo label. I Can tell that Barbirolli has a feel for this, but perhaps my copy has issues. It would be wonderful to have a carefully curated selection of EMI recordings done to the level of an AP, Tone Poet or Original Source Series. I Can submit my list if EMI is listening! I'll give the Hi Q another listen. The fact that's it's one of your favorite recordings has me wanting to reassess it :-)

[@rufus_the_cat]

@@ThePressingMatters well I think the Fantasia on the theme by Thomas Talis is my favorite piece of music of all time. This particular version is one that grew in me after hearing so many. I have a CD boxed set of the entire works of Vaughn Williams. If you say the HQ may not have been well done then you would know better than I.

[@lokitio]

I wonder if the nimbus supercut of the same record is an improvement on the Hi-Q

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@rufus_the_cat Did you find it an improvement on your 70's reissue? I personally had no comparison. Is your reissue a UK Greensleeve? I'm going to play the one I grew up with which is Marriner on Argo. It has Tallis, Greensleeves and The lark Ascending and compare sound wise to the Hi Q. I'll chime back in shortly.

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@lokitio My Hi Q of this is pressed very poorly unfortunately. It's got a slight warp and lots of snap crackle and pop. As @noblebagheera notes above the Tallis is magnificent, and I would love a clean quiet pressing of this. Perhaps the one you mention might be the ticket.

[@mcgjohn22]

Nice review. Also agree completely with your comments on the sonics and pressings of Hi-Q re-issues. When I bought the first few Hi-Q's was a bit of a disappointment on the sonics. I ended up buying over 20 of the Hi-Q releases, none of them blew me away the way I was expecting. Most have been thinned out over the last few years to a local used record store. You are also quite correct about the EMI 2 - Christophers recordings (Bishop and Parker). They are akin to the Lew Layton and Richard Mohr team for RCA in the late 1950s and early 1060s. Just some fabulous recordings. The Previn Holst - Planets EMI recording is a great one. The UK small nipper pressing is quite good. The title was also issued in Japan by Toshiba at both 33 RPM (single disc) and 45 RPM (2 disc set). Interestingly both sets of lacquers were cut by EMI in Hayes- Middlesex, but to my knowledge the 45 RPM 2 disc set was never issued in the UK or anywhere else. Also agree with you on the EMI UK greensleeves re-issues. Some great discs in that collection still coming out of the UK at that time, and many times they are not that expensive to pick up.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Thank you for this comment. I knew, even without comparisons, that something was off about this series. I was the same as you. . A bit underwhelmed with the sound, concerned about the QC, but kept trying anyway. I loved seeing the original art used and have always been interested in this period of EMI. Here in the states we had to settle with Angel or Capitol, until imports started appearing. I'd love to see a small Bishop and Parker focused series developed - even two titles a quarter, done by the best, would be a thrill for me!

[@mcgjohn22]

@@ThePressingMatters Angel and Capitol US pressings were not as good as listening to an MP3 of the UK originals. Do not know how US Capitol pressing plants could crank out such dreck. Some great EMI recordings turned into AM radio sound. The US pressed Beatles albums can't hold a candle to any of the UK pressed titles. But that was done intentionally by Capitol US to ensure all those Beatles titles sold would play on a 19 dollar phonograph.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Yes, the two labels couldn't press a good record. Crap vinyl, copy of a copy tapes. I have shed most of them. I did Kind of like Angel's rough watercolor paper jackets with the maroon spine. That was the best thing about them!

[@mcgjohn22]

@@ThePressingMatters The earliest red label Angels were almost all pressed by the Capitol Scranton, PA pressing plant. Same with most of the light Blue Angels. When the yellow label Angels came out Capitol must have heard their pressings were crap. With the Yellow label Angels, a few were were pressed by Wakefield pressing plant in Phx. AZ. Normally a good plant, but think they used lacquers cut by the Capitol Hollywood plant. At most of the Capitol pressing plants, their cutting and plating processes were ancient and not well kept up to snuff. The Hollywood plant had the latest or newest plating operations, so eventually all lacquers were plated by Hollywood plant before being send out to Scranton, Jacksonville, IL, Winchester, VA pressing plants.

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@mcgjohn22 Great information as always! Maybe you would know the significance of the black ring on some blue Angels. I've always wondered if it was an indication of source.

[@automatedelectronics6062]

I was never interested in the Angel recordings, but I do remember that Angel was into SQ quadraphonic and they were also issuing albums in 45 rpm.

[@ThePressingMatters]

Yes! I almost forgot about those Angel 45s. I had a few at one time. Interesting that they even attempted that, and it was well before the 45 thing really took off. I think I recall reading one review, probably in The Absolute Sound, that wasn't complimentary.

[@mcgjohn22]

yes, quite correct. The lacquers for the Angel 45 Sonic series were all cut by Capitol Records in Hollywood. Some of the dynamics from the master tape were captured, but the depth, imaging and sound stage sonics were all filtered out.

[@AudiophiliaChannel]

Update. Delivery 1 of 2. Bruckner 4 to come. Legendary EMI with Philharmonia/Giulini playing Debussy La Mer/Trois Nocturnes. Dreadful! The famous performance/recording has been kneecapped. Awful, noisy pressing (sealed copy) followed by a muffled underpowered recording. Who the hell was the remastering engineer? Oh well. The Beecham Heldenleben is so good. I was expecting a lot more from this one.Anyway, Bruckner 4/Klemperer should be here soon. I’ll report here. In the here and now, avoid the Guilini Debussy like the plague!

[@ThePressingMatters]

Gee, I almost ordered that one too. That is so disappointing to hear. I had to clean my English String Music FIVE times to get it quiet. But beyond that, this is why we need a real audiophile quality reissue campaign. Many of these are difficult to get clean originals of, especially here in the states. Warner's EMI digital cuts aren't the answer. Heck I'd be happy with a few choice titles a year, done right, AAA, from tape, mastered by someone who knows what they are doing, and pressed by a top plant, with original artwork and labels. Make it special and people will buy them. Yes this series is a crapshoot. Some are fantastic but too many disappointing. Pressing quality is all over the place. Thanks for warning us on this one, I hope the Bruckner turns out better.

[@AudiophiliaChannel]

Avoid the Bruckner 4, too. Same dull sound. In the same delivery came the Alto High Fidelity reissue English String Music (Barbirolli). Superb. Followed by Bernie Grundman’s ORG Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony 45RPM, which is also superb. What a difference to these two pretty awful Hi-Q releases.

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@AudiophiliaChannel That's terrible! Were the HiQ bought new? Any chance you can return?

[@ThePressingMatters]

@@AudiophiliaChannel I have that ORG Scotch. Very nice, agreed.

[@AudiophiliaChannel]

@@ThePressingMatters they were sealed, play perfectly if a little noisy. I have to be more careful. I gave them to my nephew. I’ll have another listen to my Beecham Heldenleben, but as for any more, no way. Was thinking Klemperer Schubert 5&8. No chance now.