Posted by Rick Denney on June 20, 2003 at 14:19:43:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Is it me? posted by Instrumentation... on June 20, 2003 at 14:08:16:
I also think it's microphone placement and mixing--there's more room reverberation in Fletcher's sound. The Swedish orchestra didn't get the same change of color during the muted string section in the second movement, but the orchestra's intensity seemed about the same between the two. The LSO during the 1954 recording wasn't as full sounding as in the 1967 recording, but that is probably a combination of recording technology and orchestral style more than anything. The Swedish orchestra sounded less idiosyncratic, like most American orchestras, than did the LSO, which sounded like a British orchestra. Catelinet was softer with respect to the orchestra than Fletcher, with Lind loudest of all.
But the effect I'm talking about is even noticeable during the cadenzas. Certainly Fletcher isn't miked as close, but it is also clear to me that for much of the work he simply played softer.
Rick "who likes both the later recordings" Denney