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Fellow Inmates:I don't want to bore you with a vast, rambling, discursive diatribe about the SACDs I've acquired over the past several weeks, but perhaps you will allow me to treat them in summary fashion. (As always, listening was done via a two-channel setup.)
TELARC: Some extraordinary discs are coming out of Cleveland these days. (But really, should that surprise us? I understand that Telarc is considering adding a new wing to their corporate headquarters to accommodate all their Grammy awards.) The Britten/Elgar disc is just magnificent; the final peroration that concludes the Enigma Variations is utterly splendid. My only disappointment with this disc is that it lacks the Grimes Passacaglia, which I think would easily have fit. However, the Telarc disc that has paid the most visits to my player is the ASO Sibelius Kullervo. This may be the most lifelike Telarc disc I've ever heard--and that's saying something. I attended the concert performances of Kullervo which led up to the recording sessions (heard it twice, in fact--hey, I'm a Sibelius junkie, and how many chances will I have to hear this piece live?), and I am floored by the way that Telarc's sonics recapture the live concert experience. When I listen to this disc, in no sense do I feel let down after having heard this piece in concert; instead, my ear tells me, "Yes, this is very much like what the ASO orchestra and chorus sounded like in the hall." Can one pay any higher compliment to a recording? What a remarkable accomplishment!
PENTATONE: I haven't been buying many of their new recordings, but the RQR reissues are quite nice. The Caballe/Carreras Tosca is sonically stunning, even if Colin Davis's conducting makes one suspect that he was given a horse tranquilizer before the sessions. Gorgeous sound, nonetheless. Interestingly, the booklet states that this recording was mastered from the discreet quad tapes, not the quad mix-down, so in a very real sense this is a new version of the recording, not a mere reissue. Thus some of the sound effects have actually been omitted from the mix (e.g. the cannons at the end of Act I, which can clearly be heard on LP and CD but are missing on the SACD).
BIS: The ongoing Grieg series--gorgeous. The Suzuki Bach Suites--glorious. The Vanska Minnesota Beethoven cycle--sorry, can't buy into it. Sound seems cold and uninviting; Vox was capturing this orchestra in better sound on budget LPs 30 years ago. And could someone please tell Vanska that "pianissimo" does NOT mean "inaudible"?!?
PRAGA: Early-generation chamber music SACDs from this source struck me as sounding somewhat harsh, dry, and studio-bound, but now I'd say that the Praga engineers are really on top of their game: recent discs strike me as a canny mixture of warmth and detail. The ongoing Brahms cycle from the Prazak Quartet is a gift to all lovers of Brahms; the Bartok cycle from the Parkanyi Quartet (now 2/3rds complete) is extremely impressive both musically and sonically. Forget the exaggerated grotesqueries of Mahler; the intimacy of chamber music is really where the superiority of SACD technology can best be appreciated. Just my opinion, of course.
ABSOLUTELY BEST SACDs I'VE EVER HEARD: Well, maybe I shouldn't go that far, but the Ray Kimber Isomike recordings of the Frye Street Quartet have to be among the most stunningly realistic recordings every made of anything. The term "virtual reality" comes to mind. Please, Mr. Kimber, give us more quartets. Start with Dvorak, if you please.
A FINAL LAMENTATION: I don't want to drag in a discussion of redbook CDs to this forum, but I have to say that the recent spate of DSD remasterings from BMG and Sony of their back-catalog analog treasures sound consistently splendid. Try the Ormandy Shostakovich First Symphony, for example, or the Oistrakh/Ormandy Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, newly reissued in DSD garb. The sound is strikingly good, and it makes me lament the SACDs that we might have had (but most likely will never have) from these sources.
Predictions about its demise notwithstanding, SACD is enjoying a perennially healthy condition, at least in my listening room.(I promised not to bore you with a vast, rambling, discursive diatribe, but I'm afraid that's what I've done. My apologies.)
Follow Ups:
It doesn't look like Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, Music Direct, CD Universe or Towerrecords sell them and Amazon seems to only list two which are not in stock (4-6 weeks).Did you order directly from the Fry Street Quartet's website?
Thanks,
Mark
They are available atwww.isomike.com
Mark,I ordered mine from Audio Advisor; they had both albums (Haydn and the two-disc Beethoven/Rorem set) in stock and they offer free shipping on orders over $50. My order arrived on my doorstep in less than a week.
Thank you, Doktor, for your studied opinions.I, too, enjoy the recent Praga discs. You can also go back to the Debussy/Ravel Quartets, Haydn Quartets, the Schubert Quintet/Quartet, the Dvorak Quartet/Cypresses, the Rubinstein chamber works, and even the Haydn Cello Concertos for other excellent recordings and, as far as I can tell, excellent or at least very good performances.
A good example of how not to record chamber music is Audite's set of Brahms Cello Sonatas, an area where I expect your Doktorship would have some insight. I find the sound to be too diffuse, as though we were actually INSIDE the instruments. I like a lot of air and 3D in recordings, especially chamber music, but why must a cello be eight feet across and six feet high? I think they overdid it a little, which is a shame, because the performance is spirited and the playing is beautiful. The recording is beautifully smooth and airy, but the sound of one cello and one piano practically jumps out of the speakers and takes over the entire room. Have you heard the set on Praga?
I concur with your opinions of Tosca on Pentatone: gorgeous, but somewhat bizarre without cannons and gunshots. Have you heard their Brahms Piano Quartets? Don't just stick to the reissues--lots of new recordings, especially Julia Fischer's, are very nice. And the BIS Beethoven: I just don't understand why everyone is practically wetting themselves over these merely competent performances and cold, though clear, sonics.
Please, share more of your learned opinions with us. You're not the least bit boring.
I was very surprised about the lack of effects since the CD had some very interesting guns/noises at the end of Act One. I was hoping for a clearer depiction of them on the SACD. But they were just gone........
completely agree re the bis beethoven cycle- i own both the 9th and 4&5, and really wanted to like them. but the performances, and the sound, see cold. i've sung w/ the orchestra, under slatkin and marriner, including the beethoven 9th, and they can play w/ much more fire than this. (an aside, marriner had a pair of magneplanars in his office).and you forgot to mention one key point of the tosca, the absolutely stunning sining of jose carreras, who is in glorious, fresh, voice. the recording is from 1977, before the ravages of radames, and later, lukemia, took a heavy toll on what may have been the most beautiful tenor voice ever.
The choral movement of 9th is extremely difficult to do right. All I've heard so far was boring in one way or another, mostly because it was overdone, soloists not matching each other, tempos too fast, chorus shouting, not singing.Vanska is coherent, tasteful, and seamlessly executed. It is without a bang, yes, almost chamber style. But it is something new and fresh in the endless row of lookalike performances that repeat each other's mistakes.
Just for the record, I've only heard Vanska's recordings of Symphonies 3 and 8. I have not heard the others.
I found Vanska's 9th so intolerable that I never made it to the last movement.
NT
1. I commented several months ago that the Kullervo/Telarc disc was possibly the finest DSD classical recording from this source that I had ever heard.2. The new Pentatones are sonically among the finest SACDs being produced today. The small number of RQRs that I have purchased were all quite good.
3. I'm uncertain why the BIS discs receive such accolades. Since the company abandoned DSD recording (the initial Grieg discs were excellent), I would rate the sonics as good, but nothing special.
4. The Praga discs have certainly improved since the early days. While still a step or two from state-of-the-art, they are quite good and, unfortunately, the only consistent source for chamber music on SACD.
5. You are absolutely correct about Ray Kimber's Frye Street Quartet recordings. They are simply stunning.
****The new Pentatones are sonically among the finest SACDs being produced today. The small number of RQRs that I have purchased were all quite good.****I have found the Pentatones to be good except for one critcal area--the low end. For example, the SACD "TOCCATA" organ works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Reger, Rheinberger, DSD recording made in 2001, leaves a lot to be desired on the low end. The Bach Toccata and Fuge was clearly on the wimpy side with respect to low end when compared to any other label that I have. In this particular SACD a mighty organ was employed for sure, but it seemed to run out of air on this recording. This is true of some other Pentatone recordings of compositions that have "weight", such as recordings of full scale Romantic works.
You did specify "new" Pentatones. Are you referring to releases of the last year or two?
Robert C. Lang
My reference to "new" Pentatones was a generic one meant to distinguish this group from the RQRs; I wasn't singling out the more recent new releases from the label.I don't have the Toccata disc, so I can't comment on it. But I haven't noticed any significant attenuation of the bass in Pentatone recordings, although the bass may be more prominent on some other labels (such as Telarc). In part, this may be due to my system. I have owned Krell amps for many years (I recently purchased the new Evolution 402) and they are always powerhouses for bass reproduction; also, the dual woofers in my Martin-Logan Summits are, if anything, prone to overemphasize the bass without careful setup. Fortunately, ML provides adjustments (+/- 10dB) at 25Hz and 50Hz to tame any problems.
Off the top of my head, the only romantic disc that I vaguely recall as lacking in "weight" was the Mahler 5, although my recollection is that this lack of weight extended to all frequencies, not just the bass. I haven't heard the Mahler disc for quite awhile. When I have some time, I may pull out a few of the romantic works on Pentatone and listen with your comments in mind.
I just concluded listening to the "TOCCATA" disc and I must admit I did judge it too harshly the first time around. While not the proverbial "powerhouse" of some organ discs I have in the inventory, this one no slouch. I may have initially (mis)judged this disc's performance based on the first track, Bach's "Toccata and Fuge", which does not have all the low end force of some of my favorites. But this disc, on whole, is well done through out, performance and technically. And the content is quite enjoyable.I do think buyers should be aware that the older RQR Pentatone recordings may not have the sound quality, including "weight" as the new Pentatone releases.
Agree 100% on the sound of the Britten/Elgar and the Sibelius Kullervo Telarc discs. I cannot say it better than you: the conclusion of the Enigma Variations is "utterly splendid".I will definitely revisit the Sibelius Kullervo, especially based on your comments. While the sound is indeed supurb, by any measure, the music had me nodding until probably "Kullervo Goes to Battle". But that was on first listening. I will listen again.
It should be noted that both the Britten/Elgar and the Sibelius Kullervo are Michael Bishop engineering masterpieces. The man knows what he is doing. And you really know what the definition of "ratchet up" when you hear his work in multi-channel!
But beyond Mr. Bishop's contributions with respect to *consistency*, Telarc has the most close to lifelike recordings in my collection.
You comments on the Frye Street Quartet almost precisely mirror mine in that you compare it to a live experience. See my comments below.
Robert C. Lang
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