Mercury Living Presence

Hear Hear RC !!!!
Cheers,
Detlof

Nice to hear from you again, Detlof. I know I'm preaching to the choir with you and Rush!

Russ, it's been good to see you weighing in with comments on the recordings!

Another series of recordings that are well worth seeking out for a very direct and natural reproduction of an orchestra (provided you care for the music) are the Harmonia Mundi USA recordings engineered by Peter McGrath. These are beautifully recorded with a pair of spaced omni microphones. Examples:

..Mozart Horn Concertos, McGegan/PhilBarO, Greer -hn, HMU 7012
..Vivaldi Flute Concertos, McGegan/PhilBarO, See -fl, HMC 5193
..Handel Water Music, McGegan/PhilBarO, HMU 7010

And don't forget Robert von Bahr's work with his BIS label over more than 30 years (very natural sounding, simply miked recordings), and the early work Brian and Ralph Couzens were doing with Chandos.
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On the Harmonia Mundi recordings, Linn did a ReKut record of the Corelli Concerti Grossi 1-6, a superb recording from that series by McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque.

I find the Mercs a bit more dynamic due probably to mike proximity and arrangement. Most RCAs seem kind of "mid hall" while the mercs are more "front row". Both display good hall ambience. The best of the RCAs are great, whereas the best of the mercs send shivers up my spine.