Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #56)

Now playing this on CD:



The first word that comes to mind is sublime.

 

I passed on this set when it was first released as I suspected given the age of the recordings, the SACD's could not possibly sound too good ...

 

Both are excellent choices as I have them in my collection as well ...

 

Me too. I have those Schnabel Beethoven Piano Sonatas on Naxos Historical ...

 

Now playing CD8 of the Bruckner Symphonies series from the following box (CD's are numbered within each composer series) for a first listen ...

 

Once you've been through the complete set, could you comment on the sound, please?

 

As I recall The 1980's work by Keith Hardwick used the original stampers and vinyl copies were made for the transfers.

 

I have listened through Beethoven, Brahms and am now about to wrap up Bruckner. The SQ so far has been superb for all these formerly ALL analog recordings. A new box is quite pricey these days since I bought it at Amazon UK when it was first released in 08 or 09 ...

 

Now listening to: Sibelius: Symphonies 2, Op.43; 7, Op.105 - Colin Davis/Boston Symphony Orchestra - Sibelius: Complete Symphonies, Tone Poems, 5CDs, Decca, disc 2 (Philips recordings)

 

I'm glad to hear that. I bought this box last year, and couldn't wait to get rid of it. To my ears, it sounded as it was NR'ed to death.

 

I wish I could get rid of the hundreds of classical CDs that are in my "for sale" pile. Dutch international shipping rates are very high, that's why I tried to sell them in one package (= cheaper per disc), but no one is interested... People don't even want to buy individual classical CDs anymore. It's easy enough for me to sell non-classical stuff, but it turned out to be impossible to get rid of these discs [sigh].

 

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. I also have a couple of hundred CD's I don't know what to do with. I took me quite a while to realize what a scam this whole remastering business is.

 

Excellent Symphony No. 7 from Bruckner, who was known to have a weakness for young boys according to some composer introduction I read a while back. I never liked Brukner until the last few years, just about the same time when I finally warmed up to Mahler ...

 

There is a whole thread on the collapse of CD prices. This is a buyer's market, not a seller's market. Ironically, vinyl prices are rising.

As for the Gieseking SACD mentioned by trumpetplayer and coopmv, EMI is particiularly bad in its use of NR. It afflicts both classical and popular albums. The sad thing is, some careful re-equalization and mastering without NR might have rescued these rather poor recordings. There were a few 80s digital LP remasterings that sounded far better than very poorly mastered/recorded albums from the 50s so it can be done right. But I have no confidence in EMI UK or Decca for that matter in remastering. The Japanese are the only ones doing a decent job these days with the old classical catalog. I picked up a couple of Japanese remasterings of poor CBS Mahler recordings and they were significantly better than the LPs.

 

Now playing CD11 from the following box for a first listen ...

 

I am not quite ready to go for the downloads yet and may never be for an old-timer like me. Luckily a 4 bed-room house with only my wife, myself and two dachshunds has more than enough room to accommodate my music collection.

 

But the Gieseking SACDs do not suffer from excessive de-noising. I also have the Bruckner 8th and 9th with Carl Schuricht/VPO on SACDs from the same series. The 9th sounds great, the 8th sounds like it was recorded with the mikes too close to the stage. But there's nothing about the remaster that says "Too Much Noise reduction."

 

The EMI SACDs of Bruckner sounded improvement to me. However I prefer the EQ treatment of the old 1980s JPN or WG CDs of Klemperer and Du Pre to the SACD equivalents. YMMV.

 

Now enjoying a new arrival:



Lovely stuff, exquisitely played and recorded. I don't find this to an 'acquired taste' as one of the Third Ear Guide contributors asserts:

“Couperin’s music, as with much music of the French Baroque, is an acquired taste for many listeners. It’s based neither on strong themes, as in Telemann or Bach, nor coloristic or virtuosic effects, as in Vivaldi or Tartini. Rather, in each isolated movement or section, Couperin seeks to delineate a particular effect, a feeling or mood expressed in music.”

It is true that neither Bach's great contrapuntal invention nor Vivaldi's intricate filigree aren't heard here, but there's no denying Couperin's craft and this music's appeal centuries later.

 

I added this SACD to my collection a few years ago, around the time when I bought my first universal player ...

 

I believe you are referring to the following set, which I purchased when it was first released. How do you like the SQ overall?

 

I have the original CD release of the symphonies and several tone poems (on Philips). Mine is only four discs, so yours must have some music mine does not.

 

Mine are two Philips DUO's ...

 

I've owned/played that set on the original LP issues, have owned various components on CD later. But now I've got Colin Davis' remakes with the London Symphony Orchestra for RCA and like them in all particulars including the first-rate engineering from Tony Faulkner.

 

My set has these works:
Symphonies 1, Op.39; 2, Op.43; 3, Op.52; 4, Op.63; 5, Op.82; 6, Op.104; 7, Op.105; Finlandia, Op.26; Pohjola's Daughter, Op.49; Tapiola, Op.112; The Swan of Tuonela, Op.22/2; Valse triste, Op.44/1; En Saga, Op.9; Karelia Suite, Op.11; Violin Concerto, Op.47 with Salvatore Accardo.