I do not normally make comparisons in these reviews with other transfers, particularly with LPs, because they may only be available secondhand. In this case I will make an exception because the LP I got to know this performance from (an Australian pressed $AU3.99 “World of…” series) sounds rather different from the HDTT remaster.
Probably in an attempt to tame the slightly fizzy treble that—a feature of some recordings from the late 1950s, the LP transfer engineer applied a rather heavy filter to the treble, and boosted the bass. The resultant sound on the LP is symphonic in scale, to be polite; more like stodgy.
Turning to the HDTT transfer, it immediately is clear that Münchinger and his Stuttgart players were using quite a small orchestra, and the orchestral tone is much brighter, more like Claudio Scimone’s I Solisti Veneti or the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The listening experience was much fresher and more enjoyable.
Münchinger, with this and an earlier mono recording, did much to rescue Vivaldi from obscurity, so the recording is an important one in the interpretational history of the work. At times, as was the case with performances of Baroque works before the Original Instrument movement, the style can err a little to being stately, but with the brighter sound of this transfer, Münchinger emerges as part of the move towards a more authentic Baroque style, than as a throwback to the symphonic tradition of playing it.
24/352.8 DXD PCM Flac Digital Download
