Philadephia Met Riccardo Muti Mussorsky Quiz

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Arguably the best recording ever, of Mussorsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, took place in March and October of 1978
conducted by Riccardo Muti with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Old Metropolitan Opera House Philadelphia.

(Ah my spelling of Philadelphia is wrong in the title sorry )

I am thinking and hoping it is in some forum members collections. It was on Angel EMI as a LP and was reissued by EMI Classics on CD

Now the quiz is, what is the background sound heard on track 11 at 1.11 ? lasting for at least 6 seconds. For those with the LP The last section The Great gate of Kiev

The Metropolitan Opera House was reopened in December 2018 with a concert by Bob Dylan .

[Edward]

Suspect it is a violinist picking up their bow and getting it ready.

Or the sound recordist lighting a fag. :lol:

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Suspect it is a violinist picking up their bow and getting it ready.

Or the sound recordist lighting a fag. :lol:

er ... no not either of those two, but you are right you need to be listening closely.

[Edward]

It helps having a pre which lets all the detail through. :)

[Light Dependant Resistor]

It helps having a pre which lets all the detail through. :)

Yes agree, it helps a lot, early days in the Quiz, but suggests the other pre's out there are just not letting the quiz answer to be heard.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Whilst waiting for some brave soul to perhaps answer the Quiz, here are some of life's other unanswered questions :
https://www.instructables.com/community/lifes-unanswered-questions.../

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Can anyone solve the Quiz ?

[Edward]

Yes!

but I had some help. :lol:

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Edward had a little help and knows the correct answer, but anyone else ?
A clue is, your speakers should reproduce low frequencies to hear it.
Another is if you caught it at that exact time, you might have missed the concert.

[montesquieu]

Edward had a little help and knows the correct answer, but anyone else ?
A clue is, your speakers should reproduce low frequencies to hear it.
Another is if you caught it at that exact time, you might have missed the concert.

I don't have that recording but I do have a wondering 1960s recording of the Vegh Quartet playing Beethoven, and you can clearly hear the buses pulling away from the bus stop or traffic lights outside the studio (which may well have been Abbey Road).

[Barry]

I don't have that recording but I do have a wondering 1960s recording of the Vegh Quartet playing Beethoven, and you can clearly hear the buses pulling away from the bus stop or traffic lights outside the studio (which may well have been Abbey Road).

A bit like the infamous Kingsway Hall 'rumble' due to the Picadilly Line trains running underneath. All beautifully captured by Decca. :lol:

That is often a problem of 'live' recordings made in concert halls, churches etc. There are unwanted contributions from air conditioning; heating systems; traffic outside the venue, and sometimes from the poor acoustics of the venue itself, especially if care has not been taken with the choice and positioning of the microphones.



BTW Tom, which Vegh Quartet Beethoven recording do you have? I have a boxed set; but I'm not at home at the moment to check the recording label

[Light Dependant Resistor]

I don't have that recording but I do have a wondering 1960s recording of the Vegh Quartet playing Beethoven, and you can clearly hear the buses pulling away from the bus stop or traffic lights outside the studio (which may well have been Abbey Road).

That's getting closer. but the frequency and placement in the orchestral sound- is even lower still. I was actually quite surprised when I heard it.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

A bit like the infamous Kingsway Hall 'rumble' due to the Picadilly Line trains running underneath. All beautifully captured by Decca. :lol:

That is often a problem of 'live' recordings made in concert halls, churches etc. There are unwanted contributions from air conditioning; heating systems; traffic outside the venue, and sometimes from the poor acoustics of the venue itself, especially if care has not been taken with the choice and positioning of the microphones.



BTW Tom, which Vegh Quartet Beethoven recording do you have? I have a boxed set; but I'm not at home at the moment to check the recording label

Barry's answer is just too close, so well done your the winner, :):) it is indeed a subway train heard , the line running adjacent to the building,
called the PA611. https://moovitapp.com/philadelphia_pa-282/en/poi/Metropolitan%20Opera%20House%20(Philadelphia)/Chosen%20location?tll=39.96986_-75.16029&fll=39.971069_-75.158157&customerId=4908&ref=1&poiType=ehsite

[montesquieu]

Barry's answer is just too close, so well done your the winner, :):) it is indeed a subway train heard , the line running adjacent to the building,
called the PA611. https://moovitapp.com/philadelphia_pa-282/en/poi/Metropolitan%20Opera%20House%20(Philadelphia)/Chosen%20location?tll=39.96986_-75.16029&fll=39.971069_-75.158157&customerId=4908&ref=1&poiType=ehsite

This is the late 60s /early 70s set in stereo (as opposed to the 1952 mono cycle), I have the whole set on CD (released on Naive and quite hard to track down), also the original LP version on Valois and a German release on Telefunken. The bus is clearly heard in some of the slow bits of quartet no10 op 74, first movement.

[Barry]

Barry's answer is just too close, so well done your the winner, :):) it is indeed a subway train heard , the line running adjacent to the building,
called the PA611. https://moovitapp.com/philadelphia_pa-282/en/poi/Metropolitan%20Opera%20House%20(Philadelphia)/Chosen%20location?tll=39.96986_-75.16029&fll=39.971069_-75.158157&customerId=4908&ref=1&poiType=ehsite

Oh - I wasn't expecting that! :lol: Have I won a prize?

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Hi Barry
Why not, send me a PM

Cheers / Chris