Against my expectations, his Manfred turned out to be an enthralling, (and extremely well-recorded) ride. The second and third mov'ts are lovely; and the RNO's playing an absolute joy, woodwinds in the 2nd mov't especially.

Things go a bit off the rails at the beginning of the 4th mov't. Pletnev contrasts two themes so dramatically that it's impossible not to get distracted. If you can imagine a stiff, old Russian grandpa competing with a young kid in a dance off, you'll survive the moment. Otherwise, the mov't holds together unusually well.

The pipe organ in the end, (love it or hate it), is DEEP. When I was a teenager, I couldn't imagine another composer writing a finale as transcendent as Tchaikovsky's; the organ combined with shimmering, Wagnerian strings gave me the vapors back then. Funny.

The first mov't IMHO contains Tchaikovsky's most compelling writing, especially the frenzied climax: I was really worried Pletnev would find Tchaikovsky's hysterics too embarrassing and play them down, (or speed through) but no: the final pages really pack a wallop. Complaints? Well, the Gong takes a little time to ring, and there are just a few spots of pedantic articulation, but overall the performance gave me chills, as it should. The whole mov't is wonderfully gloomy and dark.

This Pentatone was my first large-scale orchestral download in DSD. Either the recording team had an unusually good day, or DSD really does take the listening experience to a new level.

I only have two PCM 96/24 BIS orchestral recordings to compare, (Schreker in Sweden and Vansky in Minnesota), and as warm and inviting as BIS' sound is, it seems to lack framing and perspective. With the Pentatone, I found myself thinking, "Ah. Rafters. Walls. Stage.... There they are." Obviously far, far too early to generalize though.

In any case, having a blast.

 Speaking of Pentatone and Tchaikovsky. . . - Chris from Lafayette 15:29:33 09/18/16 (13)
 RE: Speaking of Tchaikovsky Fakery... - frankwm 03:22:51 09/19/16 (11)
 I had never heard that about the Philips recordings on Pentatone, and. . . - Chris from Lafayette 08:31:43 09/19/16 (10)

...

Show full thread outline!

 Speaking of Pentatone and Tchaikovsky. . . - Chris from Lafayette 15:29:33 09/18/16 (13)
 RE: Speaking of Tchaikovsky Fakery... - frankwm 03:22:51 09/19/16 (11)
 I had never heard that about the Philips recordings on Pentatone, and. . . - Chris from Lafayette 08:31:43 09/19/16 (10)
 Regarding Naxos, please tell me their original 96/24's aren't re-recorded that way. - jdaniel@jps.net 09:51:21 09/19/16 (7)
 RE: Regarding Naxos, please tell me their original 96/24's aren't re-recorded that way. - frankwm 10:13:36 09/19/16 (6)
 Thanks for the info - Chris from Lafayette 14:05:39 09/19/16 (5)
 RE: Thanks for the info - frankwm 18:54:00 09/19/16 (4)
 This is getting tiresome - it's still just an allegation on your part - Chris from Lafayette 20:10:01 09/19/16 (3)
 The Authorities could rename this place Paranoia Pass... - frankwm 01:29:18 09/20/16 (2)
 As I think about this further. . . - Chris from Lafayette 10:28:37 09/20/16 (0)
 Wow - Sorry! - My bad then - So perhaps that explains. . . - Chris from Lafayette 09:37:26 09/20/16 (0)
 RE: I had never heard that about the Philips recordings on Pentatone, and. . . - frankwm 09:15:53 09/19/16 (1)
 I'm still unclear as to what you mean - Chris from Lafayette 09:39:47 09/19/16 (0)
 I know the Stokowski - jdaniel@jps.net 22:16:27 09/18/16 (0)
 This is with the HAP Z1? - oldmkvi 08:05:55 09/18/16 (1)
 RE: This is with the HAP Z1? - jdaniel@jps.net 09:28:59 09/18/16 (0)
 Amphissa will set you straight about Pletnev [nt] ;-) - Chris from Lafayette 21:07:09 09/17/16 (2)
 RE: Amphissa will set you straight about Pletnev [nt] ;-) - Amphissa 10:04:30 09/18/16 (0)
 Oh God, yes; I've read that Pletnev has been placed on the "No Guy List," er... No Fly List, - jdaniel@jps.net 09:51:46 09/18/16 (0)
 Streaming it in 96/24 via ClassicsOnlineHD... - Ivan303 18:05:07 09/17/16 (0)

In any case, Pentatone reissued a couple of his Philips quad performances from the 70's which I really get a kick out of:

I used to have both of these on vinyl, and found them a bit diffusely recorded on that medium (perhaps because they tried to mix some of the rear channels with the fronts for two-channel playback?). These Pentatone remasterings seem to be real improvements IMHO, and one of the posters at Amazon made the same observation. (And, like you, he's a two-channel listener.)

I was just listening to the LPO album yesterday, and, as they say in the movie reviews, what a ride! If you haven't heard it, you'd never believe how fast Stokowski takes the March from the Nutcracker Suite! The LPO players are doing everything they can just to keep up with his insane tempo, especially in the middle section (the repeated notes are killing the wind players!) and in the decorative ascending scales heard in the reprise of the main theme. And in "Waltz of the Flowers", he adds this cheesey tympani part to the secondary section (as well as at the end) which will have you smiling long aftere the track is over!

Just remember what Celibidache said: "The three greatest conductors of the 20th century are Furtwangler, Stokowski, and me!"

There WAS a rumor I'd read about - spread at the height of the SACD vs. DVD-Audio wars that the EMI quad DVD-Audio releases (Strauss Alpine Symphony with Kempe, Holst Planets with Previn, etc.) were produced via re-recording of loudspeaker playback. There was never anything to this as far as I could determine - and I had almost all of these EMI titles. I chalk this rumor up to the zealotry of some SACD partisans - wanting to make sure that their platform won in the market. (In fact, it reminds me of the Playstation vs. Xbox episode of "South Park" - LOL!)

However, there's a label now which apparently does produce their releases via re-recording of loudspeaker playback, and that's 2XHD, which re-releases some of the Naxos titles in 24/192. I don't have any of these. Despite the way in which these 2XHD albums are produced, some listeners swear that they sound better than even Naxos' own 24/96 releases. Go figure.

So. . . what's the story with Colin Davis' Berlioz Te Deum? I'd never heard that one. Care to elaborate?

• http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/p/phi42735a.php

"The present performances were not served well by the long-playing record, as they were taped quadraphonically but issued only in cloudy two-channel sound. Pentatone's remastering of the Philips tapes has resulted in conventional stereo reproduction of great sweetness as well as clarity, and those with SACD players can finally hear the vivid four-channel versions for the first time. Stokowski often was ahead of everyone else in sound reproduction-and here again is exciting proof, discovered 30 years later."
-Alan G. Artner, Chicago Tribune

"I suspect all you are bothered about is that you may be listening to Loudspeakers via your Loudspeakers...but "can't tell the difference" !!"