One of the great Mercury recordings, served in three editions that sit closer together than you might expect, and further apart than any of them should be.
Dorati and the LSO recorded the complete 1910 ballet at Watford Town Hall in June 1959, with C. Robert Fine at the engineering controls and three Schoeps microphones feeding Mercury's three-channel tape machines. The Firebird here is not a suite, not a highlights package. It is the full score, and it sounds like it.
Editions
- Label:
- High Definition Tape Transfers
- Year:
- 2025
- Format:
- Up to DSD256
- Source:
- Mercury original pressing
- Preview:
This edition was released in HDTT's Vinyl Restoration series, and is a high-resolution transfer sourced from great sounding vinyl record pressing.
I purchased this edition with real anxiety. A vinyl needledrop of a Mercury classic felt like settling for less before I had even heard it. I was wrong. HDTT have transferred a great-sounding Mercury pressing, and the result is the most dynamic edition of the three, with sound that is full of life. Although you do have to crank up the volume to experience it fully . The soundstage is big. The sound is warm and rich, detailed and immersive. Notably, you cannot hear that it is a needledrop at all. What you do have to account for is the level: this edition is relatively quiet, and you need to turn the volume up to get it right. That makes it less suited to casual or interrupted listening, and more suited to headphones in a quiet room.
My preferred edition. Not ideal for casual sessions or noisier environments. But in a quiet room, on headphones, and ideally with a touch of tube sound, it shines like few other.
- Label:
- Mercury Living Presence
- Year:
- 2025
- Format:
- 24/192 FLAC
- Source:
- unknown
- Preview:
This is a hi-res version of the Mercury original release, containing only the ballet.
The level is louder here, pushed up slightly compared to the HDTT transfer. There is potentially some slight compression behind that, though the edition still manages to remain dynamic despite it. What it retains is real detail: bass notes are easy to follow, the lows do not collapse, and transients are neutral. The soundstage is smaller, though, and the highs may have been slightly subdued. Overall it sounds flatter and less exciting. But it is a solid, reliable edition for casual listening.
Good for casual listening. The flatter sound keeps it from being the edition I reach for when conditions allow, but it holds up when they do not.
- Label:
- Mercury Living Presence
- Year:
- 1990
- Format:
- 16/44 FLAC
- Source:
- Juding by the original CD release date, 1990, most likely based off an older mastering.
- Preview:
This version expands the original program with four other pieces: Fireworks, The Song of the Nightingale, Tango, and Scherzo a la russe.
The expanded programme is this edition's one genuine asset. Alongside the complete Firebird it includes Fireworks, The Song of the Nightingale, Tango, and Scherzo à la russe, which neither of the other editions offers. The sound is the weakest of the three. Mids and lows are muted, and bass notes become a one-note mush at times. The soundstage is the smallest here. The presentation is flat and lifeless. Not overly compressed, though, just without anything to hold onto sonically.
Not my choice for Dorati's reading. The additional repertoire is the only reason to be here, and even then you will want to return to one of the better editions for the main event.
Closing notes
These three editions tell an interesting story: the label reissues, both the hi-res and the older CD mastering, progressively close off what made this recording significant. The Mercury hi-res edition is competent but flat. The lossless edition is worse. The edition that actually delivers the warmth, the dynamics, and the sense of space comes from an original vinyl transfer, which is not where you would expect to find it.
I reach for the HDTT edition when I have the room and the time. Granted, it does ask for your full attention and a quiet environment, but it rewards both.
For everything else, grab the Mercury hi-res edition.
The 1990 mastering earns its place only if you want the bonus repertoire, and even then you will want to return to one of the better editions for the ballet itself.
Recording info
- Recorded
- Watford Town Hall, 7 June 1959
- Recording engineer
- C. Robert Fine
- Producer
- Harold Lawrence
- Mastering
- —
- Original label
- Mercury Living Presence
Personnel
Conductor
Antal Dorati
Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
Program
- Stravinsky: The Firebird, K10:
- I. Introduction
- II. Kashchei's Enchanted Garden
- III. Appearance of the Firebird Pursued by Ivan Tsarevich
- IV. Dance of the Firebird
- V. Ivan Tsarevich Captures the Firebird
- VI. Supplication of the Firebird
- VII. Appearance of the 13 Enchanted Princesses
- VIII. Game of the Princesses with the Golden Apples
- IX. Sudden Appearance of Ivan Tsarevich
- X. Round Dance of the Princesses
- XI. Daybreak
- XII. Magic Carillon, Appearance of Kashchei's Guardian-Monsters
- XIIIa. Arrival of Kashchei
- XIIIb. Dialogue between Ivan Tsarevich and Kashchei
- XIIIc. Intercession of the Princesses
- XIV. The Firebird Appears
- XV. Kashchei's Retinue Dances Under the Firebird's Spell
- XVI. Infernal Dance of Kashchei's Subjects
- XVII. Berceuse (The Firebird)
- XVIIIa. Kashchei Awakes
- XVIIIb-c. Death of Kashchei – Darkness
- XIX. The Palace Disappears and Kashchei's Spells Are Broken, The Stone Knights Return to Life – General Rejoicing