What opera have you purchased recently?

**Florestan** · August 5th, 2018, 02:04 AM

I agree. LPs are not as good of sound quality as CD. My understanding is that vinyl sounds different because the vinyl adds something to the sound that some think is a better quality of sound, but really is an artifact of the vinyl. Funny thing, the person at my brick and mortar store said that vinyl sales are what is keeping them alive.

**MAuer** · August 5th, 2018, 11:59 AM

I'm not an audiophile myself and I'm perfectly content with my CDs (which also take up a lot less shelf space than the old LP box sets). But to judge from articles I've read in various publications such as Gramophone, LPs are making a comeback among some listeners.

Another recent (within this century, I think) development here in the States is the outdoor shopping mall in which buildings are constructed to resemble 19th century downtown streetscapes. It's another instance of something old being new again. (Of course, it would be nice if those old buildings would be restored, too.)

**Clayton** · August 5th, 2018, 03:53 PM

I saw an interview with Mr Turntable on the picture box yesterday and he was smiling whilst telling us he was at production limit of three hundred units a year, selling them for USD seventy thousand each. Of course he explained that the sound on these analogue devices were different because they incorporated frequencies that can not be fitted onto the standard cds.

**Hoffmann** · August 5th, 2018, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)

Well, if you said "some" audiophiles I assume that you meant some of them, not all... So, it would seem that we'd be able to find audiophiles who would say the exact opposite.

Frankly, I attribute this preference for LPs more to the charm of these older technologies than to actual aural advantages. I find it hard to believe that an LP will be truly superior, from the sound engineering standpoint, to a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track. The full immersion and high fidelity of the latter, I doubt it can be matched by the former. Frankly, those who say LPs are superior, I just don't believe in what they are saying. I think it's nostalgia.

Those old rounder TV tubes were not as good as the analog flat ones which were not as good as the digital flat ones which were not as good as the 720p ones which were not as good as the 1081 ones which are not as good as the 4K ones. With each technological advancement, the image got sharper, more realistic, clearer, with better definition, more life-like. I believe that with sound recording and reproduction, it's the same thing, so I have a hard time believing that the latest technology is inferior to one from precisely 70 years ago (LPs were invented in 1948).

There was a problem with LPs back in the day - and this was my experience, that the technology that makes LPs play is a sharp needle vibrating in a groove on a vinyl disc. It frequently was frustrating that my audio equipment (and I had what I thought was higher-end expensive equipment) and phonograph needles never seemed adequate to playing opera recordings. Many moments would be ruined when the sound would shatter because the needle apparently was worn or couldn't vibrate fast enough to convey the complex sound. CDs did away with that problem - high notes now ring clear as a bell.

With more advanced technology, specifically downloading opera recordings (hello, iTunes) it was difficult, when downloading very long recordings like the Ring operas, to successfully download without numerous and consistent skips that seem to result from compression. Thus, I buy CDS and download them using a lossless rate into my iTunes library, which playback very well. Downloading from an audiophile site like Pristine might work without a compression problem, but I'm too thick to understand the download software and I balk at their prices.

**Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)** · August 6th, 2018, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by Hoffmann

There was a problem with LPs back in the day - and this was my experience, that the technology that makes LPs play is a sharp needle vibrating in a groove on a vinyl disc. It frequently was frustrating that my audio equipment (and I had what I thought was higher-end expensive equipment) and phonograph needles never seemed adequate to playing opera recordings. Many moments would be ruined when the sound would shatter because the needle apparently was worn or couldn't vibrate fast enough to convey the complex sound. CDs did away with that problem - high notes now ring clear as a bell.

With more advanced technology, specifically downloading opera recordings (hello, iTunes) it was difficult, when downloading very long recordings like the Ring operas, to successfully download without numerous and consistent skips that seem to result from compression. Thus, I buy CDS and download them using a lossless rate into my iTunes library, which playback very well. Downloading from an audiophile site like Pristine might work without a compression problem, but I'm too thick to understand the download software and I balk at their prices.

Compression is used to reduce file size and download times. As the Internet infrastructure progresses more and more and bandwidth gets larger and larger, we see more lossless downloads.

**Florestan** · August 10th, 2018, 10:55 PM

This is more on the end of a highlights disk, but well worth it. $6 shipped, no book. Clips can be heard here (scroll down).

**Florestan** · August 11th, 2018, 03:21 PM

Sonnambula #22 (and my 5th Sutherland set):

Conductor Silvio Varviso - 1963
Amina - Joan Sutherland
Elvino - Nicolai Gedda
Rodolfo - Ezio Flagello
Lisa - Jeanette Scovotti
Alessio - John Macurdy
Notaro - Andrea Velis
Teresa - Lili Chookasian

Some pages from the MET's program booklet:
http://archives.metoperafamily.org/I...mbula1963b.jpg
http://archives.metoperafamily.org/I...mbula1963a.jpg

**Clayton** · August 12th, 2018, 09:07 AM

I like the Met's program booklet. Have you got page 14?

**Florestan** · August 12th, 2018, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by Clayton

I like the Met's program booklet. Have you got page 14?

No. I only have those as linked image files. CD set is shipping.

There is one more image link from it though:
http://archives.metoperafamily.org/I...Sonnambula.jpg

**Florestan** · August 14th, 2018, 11:37 PM

Sonnambula #23

**Florestan** · August 16th, 2018, 04:28 PM

**Florestan** · August 17th, 2018, 11:09 PM

Sonnambula #24!

**Florestan** · August 18th, 2018, 04:40 PM

Dearborn Music this morning. They are running their 20% off sale. Total for all three with sale: $20 Besides they gave me $6 for two CDs I paid 50 cents each for at the library, so my bill came up to just over $15. My first DVDs and recordings of the first two. Bought the one for Renee! Last one is sung in English and my third Hansel and Gretel DVD.

Also got this CD set for $10:

**Ann Lander (sospiro)** · August 19th, 2018, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Florestan

Dearborn Music this morning. They are running their 20% off sale. Total for all three with sale: $20 Besides they gave me $6 for two CDs I paid 50 cents each for at the library, so my bill came up to just over $15. My first DVDs and recordings of the first two. Bought the one for Renee! Last one is sung in English and my third Hansel and Gretel DVD.

What a bargain!