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Hello classical music lovers.What are some of the best sounding live classical recordings you've heard? No discrimination to genre but concerto's are appreciated, piano, violin, cello, all wind and brass is welcomed.
Many thanks,
Tom
Edits: 01/31/16Follow Ups:
All of the Honeck/Pittsburgh Mahler symphonies (1, 3, 4, 5) on Exton were recorded live in Pittsburgh. These are wonderful, insightful performances in stereo, issued on hybrid CD/2-channel SACD discs.
All of the Honeck/Pittsburgh recordings on Reference recordings were also recorded live. These are issued on hybrid CD that includes both 2-channel and surround SACD tracks. I've heard all of them except the Bruckner 4th, and the performances and sound quality are outstanding. They are also available as hi-rez downloads, though I haven't heard any of the downloads.
I may not be meeting the criteria but for me the best live-with-audience recordings are those that convey a sense of a fleeting and special event - like Bernstein's Beethoven 9th upon the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kleiber's Beethoven 7 on Orfeo, and Barbirolli's last performance of the Mahler 2nd. None of which are top drawer in sonic terms, I confess.
Just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your input. I'll look into the suggestions you've made
best,
Tom
You guys are great! I will be checking out your suggestions.
Best,
Tom
The recent cycle of Beethoven quartets on Zig-Zag Territoires ( 2 boxes) by The Belcea Qt. has some of the best sound I have encountered for an "in concert" recording.
Firstly the cycle was recorded in one of the world's best acoustics (Snape, Aldeburgh) and secondly if the booklet photos are anything to go on, the microphone set-up used was a classic Decca tree (with augmentation). This is unusual for a live recording as the tree is visually very dominant, especially with a small group. The result is IMO what used to be termed a "demonstration" quality recording.
As for the performances this is certainly one of the best cycles of recent years ( 2012) and has received favourable comparison with the classic Busch cycle. Highly recommended.
Five omni-directional microphones (one for each channel). . . single shot live concerts. . . 24/48 PCM recorded around 2000-2001. . . third-rate German and Czech orchestras - who cares? They play great, and these are still some of the best-engineered recordings I know of:
Formerly available on DVD-Audio, they are now available only on the e-Onkyo download site (both stereo and multi-channel), although the downloads right now are limited to Japan. (If you ever go to Japan, you should take advantage of e-Onkyo.) The two albums pictured above (Mendelssohn Symphony No. 2 with Marcus Bosch conducting, and a concert of Mozart, Boccherini and Mendelsson with the Leipzig Chamber Orchestra) are the best of the lot IMHO. Tatsuo Nishimura is a genius, even though there are a couple in the series where he didn't get it quite right.
From the LSO Live website:"By seamlessly editing together several live performances, LSO Live recordings retain the vitality of the live experience combined with a level of refinement that was previously only possible to attain by recording in a studio."
I'm not sure about what the editing process entails, but this may be as close to "LIVE" as you are going to find in a classical label featuring well-knowns.
Edits: 01/31/16
The problem with LSO Live is the sound of Barbican one of the driest sounding concert halls, I stopped buying LSO live for that reason.
Exact opposite of LSO Live is RCO, live recordings of Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the acoustics of their concert hall are simply superb.
Vahe
Wow, thanks for the heads-up!
Edits: 01/31/16
Hi-
Sorry, I think your subject line muddies the waters.
I would like to be able to assume that when you use the word "live," you mean:
1) There was a live performance in front of an audience;
2) Somebody recorded it; and
3) That recording is what you get when you buy the CD or download, with minimal interventions and substitutions.
However, by putting "Live" in Scare-Quote marks, you might mean, "Not Really Live" or "Almost Live." Or perhaps, "Live-Sounding," whatever that means.
So, please define your terms, because I am unaware of any RefRec recording that comports with the above, and if there are any Bruggen recordings that are live, that is news to me.
If the criterion is "live" as I attempted to clarify above, then Esa-Pekka Salonen's Schoenberg "Gurrelieder" SACD is one of the best I know.
ATB,
John
John,
I have Franz Bruggen's Beethoven set on Philips with his Orch. of the 18th Century: CD's 1-3 are live performances which include Symph. 1, Egmont and Coriolan overtures, Symph. 5 (well worth hearing!), #2, #7, #3 and #8. Bought the set in Amsterdam. May be OOP by now.
Hello John.
Sorry for the confusion. Yes, by live I meant in front of a live audience. I too am not aware of any live Reference Recordings.
Thanks,
Tom
The Tanhoy is from his inaugural concert, and the Sibby a week later.
Buy the CD or download from the BSO, to help them most directly.
ATB,
John
Just listened to it on Tidal. Big fan of the Sibelius 2nd. This live recording is well recorded but did not make an emotional response I usually get from great performances of the work. I still prefer the Barbirolli.
Alan
.
:-)
Warmest
Tim Bailey
Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger
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