Decca London Phase 4 Stereo CLASSICAL Concert Series 41 CD Set Review

July 15, 2021

#430

Gentle reader, 

I grew up in a household where music was important to our parents and it was instilled in us to also treasure it.

I have done so, starting by buying 45 RPM records when I was in elementary school. My older sister gave me her Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow LP record, so it was my first.

Our parents had eclectic taste in music and so we were exposed to many different kinds of music, especially classical. They also loved C&W music, both having lived in Arizona as well as Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Mom played the trumpet as a child and I used hers when I tried to learn to play it. Turns out I am better at whistling than playing an instrument.

I never set out to "collect" recorded music, I was just buying LPs which I liked, and it grew to more and more of them. 

Over the decades (I'm turning 65 soon) this has formed a significant collection of thousands of LP records, CDs, SACDs, HDCDs and DVD-Audio discs as well as 100 cassette tapes. I limited those to what fit in our 100-tape shelf.

The "C" in CD stands for "Compact" and the "D" for "Disc". The first one is the important one. CDs take up so LITTLE room compared to LP records. 

In the age where so many are streaming music and storing everything (digitally) in "the cloud", not many people are hanging on to physical media. But, I am not one of those people.

This and the following two photographs and video are official photos created by Decca Records. Decca produced the same records for North America under the London and Richmond labels, with various things such as "ffrr" after the label name. That stood for "Full Frequency Range Records". 

This is every CD cover in the collection. One CD is a film score, (BEN HUR) others are not what I would strictly call "Classical", nor is the set ALL of the Phase 4 Concert Series of records.

This photo is a portion of the TWENTY track mixer Decca engineers INVENTED which led to multiple track recording and mixing. An industry first.

This is the official video Decca put out with samples from the CDs. It is also the first time I have uploaded a video to this blog.

In some cases, they combine music from a couple of LPs onto one CD. And the photos of LP covers, because they are Decca (and not London) are different than what I have in my LP collection.

Here is a link to Wikipedia's entry on Phase 4 Stereo records: Phase 4 Stereo - Wikipedia, therefore, I will not go into the history of what it is or means.

And here, is a link to Discogs page about them: Phase 4 Stereo Label | Releases | Discogs

I DO posses a "COMPLETE LONDON PHASE 4 STEREO CATALOGUE" which accompanied some Phase 4 Stereo records I scanned all four pages. Note that there are highlighted places in it which are LPs I own and check marks next to ones in the CD BOX set and pencil underlined ones I am interested in getting someday. They will be posted at the end of the article.

Since BEN HUR, a film score, is one of the CDs in the set, I decided to see if I had any Decca or London scores in my collection. These three are they, all mono, which I have in the soundtracks/scores collection. 

I found more Decca LPs in the Jazz/Big Band collection.

Below are Decca classical LP records in my collection.

On these are Decca classical recordings, I placed a small "sticky" note  on the edges of LPs which are "audiophile" quality, or which I suspect are, so that I can locate them quickly.

I believe the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture performance on this LP (the right one) is the same one used on one of the CDs in the set. I own a ridiculous number of different performances of the 1812 Overture. What can I say, I like it.

Note, the left one is vintage. The right one, as well as the one below, are reissues. Which a close-up photo below will indicate.

Alto High Fidelity is a German record label that specializes in reissuing classic records using the same covers as the originals.

These are the three Decca LPs I have in the classical collection. I have MANY London LPs and a few Richmond ones which was their "budget" label.

Now, I searched through the classical and soundtrack/score collections and pulled all the London Phase 4 LPs I saw and photographed them. I did not bother looking through my other genres since this review is of classical CDs.

Each of the photos of LP covers measure fourteen inches high, if fully enlarged, or, slightly taller than in reality.

Stanley Black and a number of other conductors and musicians of note signed up to be carried on the Phase 4 label as these covers indicate.

Ronnie Aldrich is specifically mentioned in the significant booklet in the set. He did not use two pianos, they stated.

The LP covers with a small "4" emblem in the corner are later releases and do not have the fancy and expensive gatefold covers of the earlier releases.

Battle Stereo is the bonus CD they include in the set. 

THIS 1812 Overture performance is not the one in the CD set. The LP on the right IS included. Our LP included an autographed photo of Sean Connery.

This record of Beethoven's titanic 9th Symphony IS part of the set and Stokowski shows well that age was NOT slowing him down!

This Berlioz and Dvorak albums are also in the set, but not the Bernstein.

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is another favorite of mine and it too is in the CD set.

There is an album titled Americana in the set, but it does not include any of Grofe's work. The other two albums ARE in the CD set, however.

As are the Scheherazade and the Respighi included  in the CD set.

This is what is inside of many of the earliest Phase 4 gatefold LPs. The left side is devoted to the music, the right, explains the Phase 4 recording process and meaning of the phrase. The very earliest LPs devoted both pages to the Phase 4 process.

I found these in with the Jazz/Big Band LP collections.

That makes thirty-eight total London Phase 4 LPs in the record collection. I don't think I've ever seen a CD under either Decca or London labels in my CD collections.

I have added below, these four pages FULL SIZED so that you can easily read the MANY titles therein. This is easier viewed on a PC or Mac verses a "device".

On this last page, I handwrote the label numbers of LPS which I have that were not out yet when this "complete" catalog was printed. And yes, I know that I have terrible handwriting.

SO, after all that, what do I THINK of the 41 CD Set? I LOVE it! As to be expected, the music is SUPERBLY performed. The CD versions sound just as excellent and the original LPs do. I am listening to CD36 right now.

Would I have paid the HUNDREDS of dollars it cost in 2014 when it came out? No, which is why, seven years later, I have finally been able to purchase the set used for a fraction of that from a seller in the UK. And, she sent it EXPRESS. It arrived two days after she posted it. US Customs did not even bother to open the Customs envelope to see what the package contained. 

The box, which is extremely sturdy and well made, measures 132mm cubed, or just over five inches per side. The almost FIFTY LP records would take up a space thirteen by thirteen inches by at LEAST thirteen inches front to back. Probably more as the gatefold covers are 6mm or almost one quarter inch thick. And the WEIGHT of all those LPs compared to the one kilogram or two pounds, four ounces this CD box set weighs, would be staggering.

I do want to thank DECCA RECORDS for going about the trouble and process of producing these limited edition CD box sets for the music lovers like me, out here in the world.

Thank YOU for taking the time to read this humble blog. It is a labor of love for me. I had no inkling that ANYONE would read it at all, yet, all these years later, I am still writing and you are still honoring me by reading it.

Scott

July 15, 2021

#430