Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #51)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Nov 3, 2013.

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  1. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Munch, Monteux and Mitropoulos (now on CD again in Japan http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SICC-1600 coupled with La Mer) are obvious choices. However, Paray is amazing also (the craziest of all - and on SACD as well):

    [​IMG]
     
    Robin L likes this.
  2. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Have not heard, will take note.
     
  3. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    These Enigma Variations were engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson, who used to scold orchestra players who scooted their chairs even slightly off-mark between takes.
    I'm a big fan of the Weekend Classics series as the engineering is overall first rate, but the real surprise given the tacky covers is the mastering quality. I hear nice deep bass in this recording. Monteux deserves credit too as he split the strings l-r too in the classic seating arrangement.
     
  4. jukes

    jukes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Finland
    Have to say I'm a little suprised (but I've never had much interest in Berlioz so I'm necessarily ignorant about him). I'll put Sir Colin's "Fantastique" on my want list.
     
  5. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Good recommendations. I'd also recommend Bernstein's recording of the Fantastique with the ORTF on EMI as well as Stokowski on Decca. YMMV.
     
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  6. Fafner88

    Fafner88 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Haifa, Israel
    I also recommend Dutoit's version of the Fantastique, the sound of the recording will simply blow you away. Tilson Thomas isn't bad either, if we are talking about modern recordings.

    The only period instruments version that I like is Minkowski (well it's not completely period instruments).
     
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  7. alankin1

    alankin1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly
    Now playing:
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony No.25 K183, No.28 K200, No.29 K201, No.35 K385 "Haffner"
    — Columbia Symphony Orchestra / New York Philharmonic, 1953-54 — Bruno Walter (Sony Classical)


    [​IMG]
     
  8. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Gardiner does a period recording for Philips, recorded in the original dry Paris acoustic. The sound is controversial, done by one of Philips best, Onno Scholtze, but some of the instruments are different enough sounding to make it worth your while.
     
  9. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    For a few bucks I don't think you can go wrong with this. I have around ten SFs and this is one of the best IMO. 41Z1ZD09TSL._AA160_.jpg
    Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orch.
     
    rockerreds likes this.
  10. sgb

    sgb Senior Member

    Location:
    Baton Rouge

    Although I have the Munch recording with the BSO in a variety of formats including the SACD, I've never personally regarded it very positively; I am not all that enthused by the the Paray - Mercury recording either. In retrospect, I guess I really have no favorite Symphonie Fantastique, but if I did, I think it would be the new Scottish Chamber Orchestra recording on the Linn label. Interesting comment on the consistency of the sound of new orchestras.


    As for another old warhorse in spectacular sound, though, with a performance to match. It is this one:

    [​IMG]

    I have no idea how good that Australian CD might be, but Andrew Quint and I have both been a champion of this recording for more than three decades.
     
  11. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
  12. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Now Listening To

    Francesco Landini. Songs. Early Music Studio. German EMI gold label .

    With Machaut, Landini was the earliest great composer of the polyphonic art song.

    landini.JPG
     
  13. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    This looks suspiciously similar to an earlier 9 CD set put out on EMI Classics about a decade ago. Also I would want to know exactly what they did to them in the remastering process if it is any different than the earlier edition. There are some great remasters and also some very sorry NoNoised or dynamically brickwalled remasters.
     
  14. Fafner88

    Fafner88 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Haifa, Israel
    Listening now to Berglund's sibelius 7 with the LPO. Berglund's cycle in EMI is not my coup of tea, but I like his later efforts with the LPO (the other disc with symphonies 5 and 6 is also very recommended). As with other LPO releases, the sound quality is exceptional with especially warm and full string sound. The opening adagio is simply mesmerizing.

    One little quibble is the conductors noises, especially in one place where he shouts very loudly, it sounds like he's counting for the orchestra! Never heard anything like this on a recording.

    folder.jpg
     
  15. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Perhap they used the recent dsd transfers made for the japanese EMI sacds series.
     
  16. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    He does shout indeed! I also like this SACD, it 's a good one.

    PS. Toscanini shouts at the brass section in his live 1951 recording of Verdi's Requiem.
     
  17. scompton

    scompton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
  18. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    I do have the 1994 reissues in three 4-cd fatboxes.
     
  19. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Is there anyone who has this recording on LP?

    [​IMG]

    The violin on the cd from the Rubinstein Complete Album Collection has no warmth and sounds kind of scratchy and unnatural. Sorry that I can describe it any better but I was wondering how it sounds on the LP. Beautiful interpretations nonetheless.
     
  20. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    ...and so does Oskar Fried in the Symphonie Fantastique recording that I mentioned a bit earlier. You can hear him shout in the Witches' Sabbath mvt.
     
    5-String likes this.
  21. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Well these [Kempe Strauss] are CDs not SACDs. And there is great variability even in the Japanese SACDs. The audiophile Esoteric line was caught using PCM editing for their pricy line of SACDs that were supposedly pure DSD. I'm not trying to be a downer. It's just that the labels are playing all kinds of games reissuing the same material over and over again. Actually doing a quality job is painstaking work and most of these executives at the remaining music conglomerates are 30-40 somethings who don't listen to classical music or are engineers who are told to NoNoise or brickwall analog recordings. Unfortunately you have to listen to each before you know what they did unless someone is kind enough to review them and the sonics on Amazon et al.
     
  22. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    They are not SACDs. However, assuming that EMI has paid some extra money for the ultra expensive japanese SACDs in order to do new transfers from the analog master tapes and considering that in no way they spent one penny to do new transfers for this dirt cheap 9-cd box, we could conclude that the latter comes from downsampled files of the former. Now if these new transfers and their subsequent mastering actually improved the previous versions, it is another story...
     
  23. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Is that true? The super expensive Esoteric reissues were PCM?
     
  24. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Jukka-Pekka Saraste did a Sibelius cycle for RCA that I consider one of my favorites. The Finnish Radio Symphony is one reason, but it also has much to do with Brian Culverhouse's big sound picture that gives the orchestra that wall of sound I long to hear in this music.
     
  25. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2013
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