Mike, you may already know of this one, but just in case, it seems to have the least surface noise of all the ones I found. Beautiful performance I hadn't heard before. Albert Hall, 1948:
I too have many historic recordings and listen with pleasure, sound notwithstanding!
The only one that has defeated me is Furtwangler's Beethoven 2 (Albert Hall, I think). Surely, somewhere, there is a better one?
Mike, my sole aim in doing surveys is to suggest which recordings offer the most enjoyable experience.
Does anyone here just want to enjoy the music?
Agree 100%, especially when attempting to create artificial stereo from mono recordings.
IMHO, the Brahms first example above, like most of Paul Howard's (RA's) work, is more an example of removing patina than artificial enhancement.
Along those lines, I also personally favor the Pristine Mark Obert Thorne restorations, because similar to the RA restorations, they attempt to preserve the unique sonic characteristics of the original recording venues.
Just my two cents! :)
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