Mercury Living Presence Box Set
Posted by: JeremyB on 08 March 2012
Arrived this week, it has exceeded all my expectations. Unbelievably good and unique recorded sound and of course almost all the playing is first class. The selections may seem strange to some but to those unfamiliar with Mercury their programming was adventurous, even the Bartok recordings were vey rare at the time. An interesting interview appears on the bonus disk. Wilma Cozart Fine appears such a warm, honest humble and gentle person, I had no idea.
This set also contains the first 3 Mono recordings, made with a single microphone 25 feet above the artists (my ideal spot in a concert hall if I could only sit there!) that was also used as the main centre mic in the later stereo recordings. Wilma Cozart Fine herself "mixed down" the 3 channels to 2 direct to the CD Master using the original tapes and tape machines. This gives a real solid feel to the stereo CDs.
