SWR Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden, Jascha Horenstein - Horenstein conducts Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Symphony of Psalms (2014) [Hi-Res]

Jascha Horenstein's only recording of The Rite of Spring was made in stereo, alongside his Firebird Suite and other recordings made in and around April 1957 for Vox. Yet when Vox issued the original LP - and again when they reissued Horenstein's recording of The Rite fourteen years ago - they did so in mono. To most reviewers this seemed no great surprise, even though the Firebird was offered in stereo. The assumed explanation was this: recording industry was at a point of transition, and what passed muster one week in mono might be rejected the following week, as the new vogue for stereo quickly spread.

Incredibly, fake stereo LPs of the Rite were later issued, yet this is no fake stereo recording. Something very unusual happened to Vox's stereo master tape of Horenstein's Rite, and I suppose it's unlikely we'll ever discover quite what. It appeared on a 1970s stereo LP on the rather suspect Classica Records label in the US (CLAS 108), under a false name: the Rome Symphony Orchestra, conducted by one Leonardo Scotti - one of a number of older Vox or Everest recordings the label issued in disguise. Only recently has the recording been correctly identified as the 1957 Vox by Jascha Horenstein - as his cousin, Misha Horenstein (and others) verified to me.

I managed to source two copies of the Classica Rite LP to work from, together with a near-mint English pressing of the Symphony of Psalms, originally issued by Pathé but released in the US on Angel. The latter, despite being winner of the Grand Prix du Disque in 1954, was not well-recorded. However the LP was well-pressed, and XR remastering has made a superb job of rendering it not only listenable, perhaps for the first time, but also very enjoyable.

The stereo Rite LP, meanwhile had had its sides reversed and suffered a thin tone with a distinct lack of bass. Both faults, and others, have been rectified for this release.