HifiZine
The enthusiast's audio webzine

Some Scandinavian Labels and Recordings

As a long-time collector, I’m fortunate to have several recordings from labels such as Proprius, BIS, and Opus 3. Years ago, albums from these companies would often show up in magazines like The Absolute Sound and for good reason. Jazz at the Pawnshop (Proprius) is perhaps the most famous. Musically, however, it is the least interesting of the ones I own. Sometimes a disclaimer about the content would accompany a review if that tells you anything. It is very traditional in a time when jazz was bursting at the seams with new ideas. What makes these recordings so special is the quality and naturalness of the sound. The pressings are still very quiet which speaks volumes (no pun intended) for these companies’ dedication and effort.

Last night I listened to KOR from Proprius. It is spectacular in its naturalness. The compositions are both modern and classic – from composers like Hovland, Verdi, Purcell, Holmboe, and three others – and the singing is sublime. There are 27 young singers pictured in position on the back cover. The conductor is a fellow named Anders Eby. His touch accounts for the wonderful dynamics of the group. Not dynamics in the spectacular sense, the proceedings are usually very soft, spookily so, dynamics in the service of the music. The microphones are not pictured but the sound suggests a Blumlein configuration. Simply two microphones on a tree out from and above the group. The venue is very spacious and the voices very pure. I love this album.

Cantate Domino is another and more well known choral recording from Proprius featuring quite a lot of Christmas music with organ and the occasional big bell that seems to be coming from outside of the walls of my room. Yours, too, I’d venture. The solo female voices on this are as liguid and lifelike in their setting as anything ever pressed onto vinyl. This can be recommended also, indeed.

I have several recordings from Opus 3 but what I would like to focus you on is Black Is The Color from Cyndee Peters. On some songs it is just her. On others she is a cappella with four ladies. And on others there is instrumental accompaniment. Very real-sounding with no embellishments save for the instrumentalists being individually miked. House of The Rising Sun has great instrumental sound. The vocals are excellent on everything. No reverb, no studio enhancements. Just real time and space.

From BIS, I offer the title Mi-Fi-Li, a Symphonic Poem from Ketil Saeverud. It’s actually the whole second side, Double Concerto for Flute, Guitar, and Strings, that is so extraordinary. From the liner notes it is a love story between flute and guitar. This one IS Blumlein miked and the placement and sound of the supporting strings is strikingly good. In the liner notes it says this may be ordered from Grammofon AB-BIS.

Acoustical music like this is best recorded on location rather than in a studio, I believe, and these are state-of-the-art examples. I have not Googled to see if and in what form they may be available. One or all have likely been released on compact disc.

These should make you appreciate your system investment all the more and your collection of music. You know the old saying, “They don’t make ‘em like this anymore”? I wish one or more of the new pressing entities would get a hold of these tapes for prosperity and for your sake. Maybe they have!

Good listening.