SHEFFIELD LAB THE MOSCOW SESSIONS FABULOUS 3 LP COLLECTOR'S BOX SET KITAYENKO EX

$

114

  SUPER SOUNDS – PERFECT PRICES

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

ARTIST:  Lawrence Leighton Smith, Dmitri Kitayenko, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

COMPOSER:  Various

LABEL:  Sheffield Lab

CATALOG #:  TLP-1000

COUNTRY:  USA

CONDITION – (VISUAL GRADING):  EXCELLENT

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:  Rare and hard to find limited edition 3 Lp box set audiophile pressing. Stunning immediacy and transients.  One of the best sounding record sets money can buy.  Low reserve price of $99.00.  From a Stereophile review in February 1988 by Bernard Soll:

"The ecumenical collaboration between Sheffield Lab, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, conductors Lawrence Leighton Smith and Dmitri Kitayenko, an imposing gaggle of businessmen and bureaucrats, and partial sponsorship by The Absolute Sound's Fund for Recorded Music, if somewhat short of epoch-making, is, nonetheless, a positive example of free enterprise and socialism bedding down together, liberally (pardon the expression) lubricated with glasnost. Art, we are told, is universal. It transcends philosophical, racial, political, and religious differences of opinion. Yet, despite the implied altruism of this international cooperative effort, the actual genesis of the project was essentially pragmatic, fundamentally bottom line.

In Stereophile's April/May 1987 issue (Vol.10 No.3), Sheffield Lab's Lincoln Mayorga and Doug Sax, in conversation with J. Gordon Holt, disclosed that the soaring cost of recording American orchestras virtually forced the enterprising duo to seek cheaper, if not necessarily greener, pastures. Whatever the motivation, a recording of an American conductor directing a Soviet orchestra in Russian music, juxtaposed with a Soviet maestro interpreting Copland, Gershwin, Barber, etc., sounds promising and, we are told, is a first.

The Moscow Philharmonic is, of course, no stranger to US record collectors. Under the baton of Kiril Kondrashin (among others), their Melodiya recordings, mainly released by Angel here (and now Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab), made a great contribution to Shostakovich enthusiasts (of which I am one) with an almost complete discography of the 15 symphonies. By most accepted musical standards, the Moscow band is a fine ensemble on a par with the acclaimed Leningrad Philharmonic, but ranking, perhaps, lower than the Ministry of Culture Symphony.

As with all Russian orchestras, the perceptive listener may hear subtle differences of instrumental tone. Lawrence Leighton Smith points out in his notes that Russian horns play with a marked vibrato (particularly noticeable in the Tchaikovsky), their oboes have a darker sound, and, as their cellos' end-pins are both longer and angled unusually by American standards, the sound projection strikes the US listener's ear rather differently. I would add that Russian brass and woodwinds emit a somewhat coarser, earthier sound that invariably appears less studied and more spontaneous than that of their US counterparts. The strings, too, are weightier, less silky, and more plangent. Under the leadership of both Smith and Kitayenko (the orchestra's music director), homogeneity and balance are wholly admirable, and the rank-and-file musicians appear to be thoroughly involved emotionally with their duties. Of course, these recording sessions were embossed with an extraordinary sense of occasion which must have stimulated all concerned.

Lawrence Leighton Smith, presently music director of the Louisville Orchestra and the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, California, is an extremely accomplished musician whose talents merit far greater recognition via both the concert hall and the recording studio. A musician's musician, Smith is one of a coterie of gifted American conductors (Los Angeles's Daniel Lewis is another who comes to mind) who frequently languish in the boonies making beautiful music, while lesser mortals overflowing with charisma and/or expensive PR guidance conduct major orchestras in minor recordings.

The Moscow Philharmonic is probably capable of playing Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, et Russian al, in their sleep. However, Smith's overview of the 18-year-old Shostakovich's first symphony, a student composition, is, in its own way, as impressive as Kondrashin's despite different emphases. After a jaunty, appropriately light-hearted opening Allegretto which captures the requisite quizzical buoyancy and sets the stage for things to come, he settles down to a more expansive, thoughtful reading. Shostakovich's omnipresent wit is graciously underlined, yet heavy doses of "subtle" effects are not allowed to overpower and smother compulsive piquancy. Transitions of tempi variations and mood are allowed to occur naturally, leading to a moving, integrated, synergistic totality.

I am less enthusiastic about the performance of the Tchaikovsky Fifth. If you like your Tchaikovsky with a surfeit of Sturm und Drang, this version may please you. Although Smith succeeds in controlling the orchestra's seemingly natural exuberance—possibly over-stimulated by that sense of occasion—for the Shostakovich, he appears to be waging a losing battle in the Tchaikovsky. In the aforementioned JGH article, Doug Sax was quoted as saying that this Fifth was "positively stunning, that this is the most impassioned, moving performance of this work you've ever heard." Well, I find it stunning, but not in the same sense. I have heard many interpretations far less emphatic, far less overwrought, yet infinitely more persuasively moving. Tchaikovsky created a passionate score; the intensity of emotion is all there in the notation. The last thing it needs is such overemphasis and underlining. With apologies to Mr. Sax, whose opinion could be nonobjective, if I wish to be stunned I'll climb in the ring with Mike Tyson.

I am impressed by Smith's reading of the Glinka and Shostakovich overtures. Similarly, the Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky, played with idiomatic elan, whetted my appetite for more of this melodious opera from these performers. Having long championed the cause of Alexander Glazunov, whose estimable symphonies are inexplicably ignored in this country—although they have begun to appear in recordings on such European labels as Olympia, Orfeo, and Chandos—I am thankful for small mercies, even for the Concert Waltz No.1, a pleasant but distinctly minor piece. This Slavic equivalent of a Strauss waltz is liltingly played with terpsichorean elegance.

For reasons solely musical, I am distinctly disenchanted by Kitayenko's plodding attempts to communicate the American musical idiom. True, he was apparently unfamiliar with this repertoire prior to having been given the scores by the Sheffield Lab people. One assumes from his obvious lack of sympathy with these pieces that he was not provided with records or tapes to familiarize himself with, at least, a requisite musical milieu. He sounds remarkably ill-prepared. Copland's evocative Appalachian Spring, for example, has had an international concert-hall life for years and exists in several helpful recordings. In his notes, Smith talks about hearing his Soviet colleague rehearsing and playing with what he describes as "a Russian accent." Methinks that maestro Smith is being ultra-tactful. Kitayenko's halting phrasing is four-square, his accentuation is sometimes out of whack, the playing, so boisterous in the Tchaikovsky, is tentative, and the artistic communication is at a low and distinctly un-American level.

Walter Piston's The Incredible Flutist, a charming ballet score seldom programmed these days, emerges a trifle more successfully but hardly offers competition to the excellent Louisville Orchestra recording with Jorge Mester conducting, or Howard Hanson's Mercury version. I'm afraid that I cannot honestly be more enthusiastic about Kitayenko's other American excursions.

As Sheffield Lab is the champion of direct-to-disc, it may surprise some fans that they decided to record digitally for CD release, and via two-track analog for LP. Obviously, marketplace dictates were largely responsible for this decision. As my realm of analysis and opinion is music, I don't intend to dip even my little toe in the waters of contention that surround the analog vs. digital debate. In several decades of reviewing concerts and recordings, I still have not heard any music reproduction to completely capture the sound quality of a good seat in a fine, audience-filled concert hall. Methinks I never will. In sum, for me, a recording is to a live performance what a motion picture is to a play: they are similar but different art forms offering similar yet disparate aesthetic experiences.

That, succinctly, is my audio credo. In general, I am impressed with Sheffield Lab's engineering; they appear to have chosen music rather than audio impressionism as their end-product. Their digitally engineered CDs are notable for pristine clarity, expressive dynamic range, and exciting transients. As with many of their ilk, I am conscious of some sterility in the actual musical quality of the sound, but this seems to be endemic to a great deal of digital engineering. This also manifests as coolness in the sound character. Conversely, the analog LPs offer amiable warmth, rather less impressionable transients, and more natural-sounding string reproduction. I do not have keen preference for one over the other, but do confess to playing the CDs more often than the LPs. This, I admit, is probably due more to laziness and the CDs' undoubted convenience. Both recording methods serve their musical content admirably".—Bernard Soll

AFTER THE AUCTION ENDS:  It is imperative that you wait for us to send an invoice before paying. We will get an invoice to you within an hour after the last item of an auction has ended.  Failure to wait will mean that the shipping amount you paid is incorrect and this will involve us having to go to Paypal and bill additional shipping which takes a good deal of time so please be patient and wait for an invoice before paying.  Thank you. 

A note about Lps:  We love, enjoy and have collected Lps for over 50 years now.  We have sold records internationally for over 35 years.  Records can provide fantastic, state-of-the-art sound quality however, not unlike the other formats in audio they are not perfect.  Very few records play perfectly without any surface noise.  If you are looking for perfection please look elsewhere.  We try our very best to accurately grade these record albums before listing them.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.   ANYTHING GRADED LESS THAN EXCELLENT WILL PLAY WITH MORE SURFACE NOISE.

Condition:

This item has EXCELLENT quality.  Not sure what this means?

Jackets:   We do NOT assign letter-grades to the jacket of a record;  IF you see more than one Letter Grade with a slash (/) between them, that is for when the individual SIDES of the record itself grade differently; we do grade each side of every record; when the grade for both sides is the same, the record will show only ONE Letter-Grade

Here is our grading scale:

Our Grading Scale:

All LPs are graded visually, under careful inspection by collector/dealers, with many years' experience at LP evaluation.  Some of the most sought-after (and/or more questionable) will be play-graded on a fine 2-channel system; if the LP has been play-graded, that will be stated in the listing - - but, in any case, all LPs are scrutinized carefully, and described to the best of our abilities.  We do realize, of course, that a visual estimation can be mistaken - - we plead humanity, and offer apologies, in that hopefully-rare instance where this occurs.

E  (or Ex, or Exc) =  Excellent, our highest grade for a used LP; such an LP has been well cared-for by a collector, and contains no scratches expected to sound.  An LP which is play-graded by us, and listed in this condition, should contain no more than about half-a-dozen or so ticks per side, actually better than many brand-new discs play out.  Our E is the equivalent of some other dealers' NM, or NM-minus, or yet other dealers' A.

E- (or Exc-minus), signifies that the LP is rather very well cared-for, but may contain one or two light scratches, which are not expected to produce much surface-noise.  This grade is roughly equivalent to some dealers' NM-minus-minus, or others' EX, and yet other dealers' A-minus.

V+ (or VG+, or Very Good-Plus):  an LP which is assigned this grade still is in very positive condition, with a few more light marks than would warrant an E-minus.  A disc in this condition is expected to have a bit of extraneous surface-noise, but it should not be expected to interfere much with the enjoyment of the music for most collectors.  Our V+ is roughly equivalent to some dealers' Exc-minus, or VG+, and yet other dealers'  B+.

V (or VG, or Very Good):  It is at this point which we expect the surface-noise in at least a part of the disc to interfere with enjoyment of the music for a majority of collectors.  May contain one or a few feel-able scratches.  It is possible, however (best-case scenario), that such an LP might tick loudly for, perhaps, half a minute, and yet, the rest of the side might play flawlessly.  We would generally encourage only those collectors who consider themselves pretty tolerant to pursue an LP in this condition.  V  is roughly equivalent to some other dealers' VG or VG-minus, and to others' B, or B-minus.  You will generally not see us list records below this condition, unless scarcity & demand compel us.

In decreasing desirability, the remainder of our grading scale is:  V- (or Very Good-minus),  G+ (or Good-Plus),  G (or Good) (which, really, isn't so great),  G- (or good-minus),  F (or Fair), and P (or Poor).  You will not normally see records in these condition descriptions in our listings, as they all describe what we consider to be only a stop-gap copy at best - - just so the collector can say he DOES have the LP

INDIVIDUAL SIDES  - -  Each side of every LP is graded individually; if only one grade is listed, this means both sides of that LP grade the same.  In a case where the sides differ in condition, 2 grades will be listed, with a slash-mark  (/)  between them

(for example,  E/-, meaning, of course, one side grades straight Excellent, and the other, Excellent-minus)  (or E-/V+, would mean, of course, Excellent-minus over Very Good Plus (still a pretty desirable LP) , and so on....

LP SETS - -  In the case of a multiple-record set, again, each side of each LP is assigned its own grade, and listed as such - -  so, for example,  6E would signify a 3-disc set, in which ALL six  sides are graded Excellent    or, say, 7E/2-/V+ would then signify a five-disc set, in which seven of the sides graded Excellent, two graded at Excellent-minus, and the other one, at Very-Good-Plus....

We do not automatically down-grade an LP for paper-rubs or light scuffs - -  only for scratches.  In our experience, often-times a scuff or paper-rub, or discoloration in the vinyl might not sound at all.  A further distinction is made between feel-able scratches, and those scratches which are visible, but cannot be felt by careful, gentle probing.  Any LP graded above VG should contain ONLY non-feel-able scratches (if any at all);  if there is a feel-able scratch on an LP side, that side should be graded VG or lower.

PAYMENT - U.S. buyers to pay only by PAYPAL.

MEDIA MAIL SHIPPING IN US - Media Mail shipping is for U.S. Buyers only.  Delivery time for Media Mail is usually pretty prompt but occasionally it can take several weeks to reach the west coast. In late-November and December Media Mail can be very slow because it is treated as 4th class mail and so many other packages take priority over it.

PRIORITY MAIL IN US - UPGRADE TO PRIORITY MAIL: Rates differ by zipcode/zone. We provide an option at checkout for Priority Mail you can choose by selecting this. We charge close to actual USPS Priority Mail shipping rates.

SHIPPING & HANDLING – Your item will be shipped with a tracking number in a good-quality cardboard LP mailer box cardboard inserts and a heavy-duty new poly sleeve.  Special packaging requests can sometimes be accommodated at an additional charge for added materials and added postage. If you have specific packaging requests (protected corners, double boxing, etc), contact us with these special requests BEFORE paying so that we will be able to assess what the additional shipping cost will be. 

MULTIPLE PURCHASES  (COMBINED SHIPPING) – We gladly and automatically combine shipping cost to make your purchase as economical as possible.  This will be done when you receive your invoice from us. 

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS – General Information

PAYMENT - Payments are to be made only by PAYPAL.

SHIPPING & HANDLING – INTERNATIONAL:

Kindly disregard eBay's shipping calculator as it is incorrect.  Here are the actual shipping costs to ship Internationally:

PLEASE READ: If your package weighs less than 4 pounds and your total purchase (single item or multiple items) costs less than $50 USD, then you will have a choice between First Class International (not insured, customs # only) and Priority Mail International (tracking # included, insurance additional). For packages weighing over 4 pounds (usually 4 to 6 single Lps) and valued over $50 USD you will have a choice between Priority Mail International and Express Mail International. This is because First Class is not possible above 4 pounds as it is usually intended for envelopes and small lightweight packets.

If you have specific packaging requests (protected corners, double boxing, etc), you must contact us with these special requests BEFORE paying so that we will be able to assess what the additional shipping costs will be. 

MULTIPLE PURCHASES  (COMBINED SHIPPING) – We gladly and automatically combine shipping cost to make your purchase as economical as possible.  This will be done when you receive your invoice from us. 

ALSO NOTE: If your single item or total purchase is over $50 USD then shipping MUST be by PRIORITY MAIL (Insured) for your protection as well as ours. Purchases valued at over $100 USD must ship by EXPRESS MAIL (Insured & Tracked). ***We do not ship expensive packages without insurance & tracking***

AVERAGE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING COSTS:  WE CHARGE BASED ON ACTUAL WEIGHT SO THE FOLLOWING COSTS ARE ONLY APPROXIMATIONS BUT SHOULD BE PRETTY CLOSE TO ACTUAL SHIPPING COST – (ACTUAL SHIPPING COST MAY BE MORE OR LESS DEPENDING ON ACTUAL WEIGHT):

SINGLE LP

First Class International $18 for the first single Lp or Priority Mail International $42.

TWO SINGLE LPS OR FOR A 2LP GATEFOLD SET (not including box sets)

First Class International $24 or Priority Mail International $45.

THREE SINGLE LPS (not including box sets)

First Class International $28 or Priority Mail International $47.

FOUR SINGLE LPS (not including box sets)

First Class International $32 or Priority Mail International $51.

If your order includes BOX SETS or purchases of more than 4 single lps, costs will need to be determined after you make the purchases because it will be based on the exact weight of the items.

SHIPPING & HANDLING FOR CANADA

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING ARE AVERAGE SHIPPING COSTS AND THAT YOUR EXACT SHIPPING COST MAY BE MORE OR LESS BASED ON ACTUAL WEIGHT.  WE CHARGE ACTUAL SHIPPING COST BASED ON WEIGHT TO SHIP.

BUYERS IN CANADA – your rates are different from other overseas rates.

Single LP: First Class International $15 or Priority Mail International $34

Two single lps or one 2LP gatefold set: First Class International $19 or Priority Mail International $36.

Three single lps: First Class International $22 or Priority Mail International $37.

Four single lps: First Class International $25 or Priority Mail International $38.

If your order includes BOX SETS or purchases of more than 4 single lps, costs will need to be determined after you make the purchases because it will be based on the exact weight of the items.

All International Buyers – Please Note:

Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.

Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.

Please do not ask us to alter values on customs forms – this is a violation of eBay rules and federal law. TRUE VALUE must be stated on all expensive priority mail and express mail packages for insurance reasons and to comply with all USA and International Shipping Laws.

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• If you are dissatisfied with your purchase from us we will accept returns no questions asked. We do not accept returns for SEALED records once opened. We do not cover return shipping.

• Analog Paradise is a group of collectors dedicated to the acquisition and trade of audiophile Records, Audio Reels, and Vacuum Tubes. We pride ourselves on providing accurate descriptions of our products, fast and secure services, and building a professional relationship with our customers. If you have a collection for sale and are interested in finding a buyer please contact us.  Thanks for looking and best of luck to you!