High-Resolution Downloads to die for…

[Bob Stern]

Previn Rach 2

I much prefer Previn's early 1980's Rach 2 with the Royal Phil on Telarc. The phrasing and rubato have a "sighing" effect that I love. Unfortunately it is early digital, so it cannot be improved by remastering.

[Bob Stern]

Hyperion 67923 is a 24/96 recording of Schumann duos for different instruments with piano: oboe & piano; horn & piano; clarinet & piano; viola & piano.

 

Often these pieces are transcribed for other instruments, but these are the instruments for which Schumann originally wrote them.

 

My favorite is the Romances op 94 for oboe & piano, followed closely by the Fantasiestücke op 73 for clarinet & piano.

 

The performers are current members of the Nash Ensemble.

[Bob Stern]

Berg piano sonata, op 1

On 2L label in various formats.

This recording enabled me to finally appreciate this piece!

Pianist is Tor Espen Aspaas, whom I'd never heard of before.

 

On the same album, available for FREE, is the first movement of Beethoven's last piano sonata, op 111, also in superb performance and sound. The second (final) movement did not impress me as much. For me it lacks the transcendence one hopes for in this piece.

[Bob Stern]

Other favorites in high-res:

 

Bach violin concertos: Hahn, Kahane, Los Angeles Chamber Orch (DG)

 

Bartok violin sonatas: Ehnes, Armstrong (Chandos 24/96)

 

Bolcom, Serenata Notturna (Boston Symphony's own label)

 

Brahms horn trio: Neunecker (h), Weithaas (v), Avenhaus (p) (BIS)

 

Liszt “Years of Pilgrimmage”, complete: Lortie (Chandos)

 

Lutoslawski symphony 4: Gardner, BBC Sym (Chandos)

 

Mozart, String Trio, K 563: Frank Peter Zimmermann (v), Poltera © (BIS)

 

Nielsen string quartets 1 & 4 by Danish String Quartet (DaCapo)

 

Nielsen “Pan & Syrinx” by Dausgaard, Danish National Sym (DaCapo)

 

Prokofiev piano concerto 2: Bronfman, Gilbert, New York Phil (NYP’s private label on HDTracks)

 

Rachmaninoff cello sonata by Chaushian & Sudbin (BIS)

 

Ravel “Daphnis & Chloe”, Levine, Boston Sym (Boston Symphony's own label)

 

Sibelius symphony 4: Vanska, Minnesota (BIS)

[Bob Stern]

18. Elgar / Jacqueline du Pré; Barbirolli, LSO: Cello Concerto / Janet Baker: Sea Pictures (1965) – EMI

 

+1 re both the cello concerto and Sea Pictures. I love both enormously even though I don't care for the symphonies or much else by Elgar.

 

Can we have confidence that the files sold by HDtracks are the 24/96 remasters actually produced by EMI rather than conversions from DSD to PCM by Bruce Brown? In general, does HDtracks distinguish the two conversion methods?

 

Is there another 24/96 download vendor besides HDtracks? Qobuz only seems to offer it in Redbook format.

Elgar: Cello Concerto, Sea Pictures | Edward Elgar par Jacqueline Du Pré - Télécharger et écouter l'album

[Bob Stern]

Curious - I was not aware that there are ANY direct DSD transfer of the EMI classical material, let alone any transferring back to PCM from DSD.

 

The ones on HD Tracks are the Abbey Road PCM 24/96 transfer for the most part done for the Japanese market SACD series. They are good.

 

 

As you know, only a few small audiophile labels (e.g., 2L and Channel Classics) record in DSD format. SACDs from the major labels such as EMI were made by converting 24/96 recordings to DSD. In its early years, the labels usually did not send their 24/96 masters to HDtracks, so HDtracks hired Bruce Brown (Puget Sound) to convert SACDs to PCM.

 

So my question is whether we have confidence that the EMI recordings on HDtracks are not 24/96 to SACD to 24/96 conversions.

[Bob Stern]

I believe acousticsguru was describing the Byron Janis download, not the Richter performance, of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition".

 

I haven’t heard the Janis, but I hold a dissenting opinion regarding the Richter. I find it too ferocious and lacking in subtlety.

 

My favorite "Pictures" is a 2102 CD by Georgy Tchaidze, produced by the Honens Piano Competition in Canada in honor of his winning the 2009 competition. It is an exceptionally nuanced and absorbing interpretation, but not barn-storming. I bought the Tchaidze CD from Amazon based on a rave review by Fanfare magazine reviewer (and composer) David Deboor Canfield, who is obsessed with, and has reviewed hundreds of recordings of, "Pictures at an Exhibition".

 

Based on other recordings I've heard by Janis, I expect his would be a superb example of the barn-storming style, so Tchaidze and Janis would be worth acquiring for their complementary interpretations.

[Bob Stern]

Hi, Roch! Yes, that's it. Does Qobuz have it in hi-res?

 

Regarding the sound of the CD: The bass isn’t as clear and deep as I'd wish, but the midrange and treble are clear without glare. The absence of thundering bass does detract from the power of the last two movements of Pictures.