In music circles, there has been a lot of debate of late about the current vinyl revival. Are people drawn to LPs because they want a “warmer sounding” recording? Is it the artwork? Or is consumerism gone amok to blame?

If you can get past the heated rhetoric and have it in your budget to buy a hefty CD boxed set, the newly reissued Decca Sound -the Mono Years provides a sense of perspective on the advent of the LP.  Originally touted as “ffrr” – full frequency range recordings – the set includes releases from 1944-’56, as well as essays that help to put them into historical context.

There’s something here for nearly everyone. But I’m particularly drawn to the vintage Stravinsky recordings, including a performance of Petrouchka that appeared on the very first LP recording!