RCA LDS 6065 ORIGINAL Soria Series - Royal Ballet Gala - Ansermet

$

495

Audio Descriptions

! RCA LDS 6065 The Royal Ballet records

This is the justifiably famous ORIGINAL Living Stereo recording of Royal Ballet performances conducted by Ernest Ansermet. The Canfield classical catalogue comments that these records are “the second rarest RCA audiophile recordings”, and they are on “The Absolute Sound” magazine’s Super disc list. Please note that these are the original RCA Soria Series release (1957), not the Reference Recording 180/200 gram re-issues, which I understand are outstanding recordings in their own right.

The 2-record set comes in a linen-textured slip box with wooden spine and beautiful Skira illustrated booklet which gives background to the ballet music and historical performances of the music on the record. The music is excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, and the Sleeping Beauty, as well as excerpts from Giselle, Coppelia, Les Sylphides, La Boutique Fantasque and adaptions of Schumann.

As for the condition of the records, I would call them at least very good. This is not based on a thorough visual inspection and listening samples from each side. I have carefully listened twice through all the music side-after-side (once several years ago and once a few weeks ago when I decided to list) , There is one soft, low-level, low frequency “bump” on Side 3 that lasts about a minute. There are a few occasional subdued ticks and pops that are very mild and not very noticeable. There are no scratches, abrasions, distortions or repeating blemishes that distract from the music. The music jumps out at you as clear, vibrant, and warm – certainly one of the three of four finest recordings I have heard.

The box itself is very good too. It is not mint. There is a little bit of fading on the back, a barely perceptible dark smudge mark near the top back cover, and some very faded white writing (four letter/numbers) near the bottom of the back cover. Also, there is slight tearing on the slip box near the spine.

The Skira booklet is in excellent condition, with only the lightest signs of use and about three small faint reddish finger marks on the back.

The wooden spine is intact and unblemished, and the lettering is very good. It is not pristine, but it is certainly excellent.

The Nutcracker is certainly a favourite at Christmas. The discs mark superb musicianship, fabulous recorded sound, and a rare collector’s piece that captures festive music in a special way.

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