Search - W.a. Mozart, Carlo Maria Giulini, Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra :: Mozart: Don Giovanni

Ugh... another horribly remastered opera from EMI

Great Faulkner's Ghost | Washington, DC | 11/30/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ugh... This appears to be a repackaging of the horribly remastered three-disc "Great Recordings of the Century" from 2002, with the addition of a so-called "bonus disc," which simply replaces the printed libretto. I guess the "bonus" is that you get to print it out yourself on your home printer. But, the real fiasco is the re-use of the 2002 remastering, which is quite simply, horrible. It has no almost no high frequency response, sounds dull and muffled, more like a digitally synthesized message from your voicemail box than the sound of a splendid opera. It seems as though the only purpose of the 2002 remaster was to remove the tape hiss from the master tape, which was made in the golden era of stereo in the late 1950s, even though the hiss was hardly objectionable in the first instance, as evidenced by the excellent sound of the previous 1987 compact disc release. If you want to hear the difference, go to the MP3 download of the 1987 version, which still uses the 1987 mastering. You might also consider buying the highlights disc on CD, which still uses the 1987 mastering, and which, unlike the full opera, is still in print."