Special discount on some great DG highres albums at Qobuz

[Musicophile]

Qobuz just started a great special offer on 80 DG albums, and there are some true must haves in there. If you are a Sublime subscriber, some of the high-res are now really amazingly cheap, e.g. €6.99 for Argerich's Debut remastered in 24/96, but even without the Sublime subscription the prices remain attractive.

 

I just went on a shopping spree to get the high-res remasters of several DG classics I admire:

 

Argerich's legendary debut recital (24/96 remastered)

 

Martha Argerich - Debut Recital | Compositeurs Divers par Martha Argerich – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

 

Brahms Piano concertos with Emil Gilels and Jochum (24/96 remastered), an absolute must have

 

Brahms: The Piano Concertos, Fantasien Op. 116 | Johannes Brahms par Emil Gilels – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Rach 2 and Tchaikovsky 1 piano concertos with Sviatoslav Richter (24/96 remaster)

 

Rachmaninov & Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos Nos.2 & 1 | Compositeurs Divers par Sviatoslav Richter – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Pollini's Chopin Etudes, that remain the reference to this day. The original is not that well recorded, I'm curious if the 24/96 remaster is any better. But at less than €7 it was worth the risk.

 

Chopin: Etudes | Frédéric Chopin par Maurizio Pollini – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Overall, I'm usually pleased with the 24/96 remasters by DG; I have the CD versions of all of the above, so I'm looking forward to see how much of an improvement the remasters give me.

 

And finally, I bought two new releases that I had on my list for a while but was waiting for a discount:

 

Netrebko's version of Tchaikovsky's Ioalanta (24/48), I red some great reviews when it came out, so I'm just curious to expand more into Russian opera, a major gap in my library:

 

Tchaikovsky : Iolanta | Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky par Anna Netrebko – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

And the recent re-recording of Lutoslawski's piano concerto with Zimerman and Rattle. I read several reviews claiming this recording is potentially better than the original, again with Zimerman and the composer conducting himself. Well, I'll find out:

 

Lutoslawski : Piano Concerto, Symphony No.2 | Witold Lutoslawski par Krystian Zimerman – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

And as a sublime subscriber, I got all of the above for €56. Not bad.

 

And for the record, I'm not affiliated with Qobuz in any way (although I start thinking I should be, I keep promoting them quite a bit...)

[Musicophile]

Here are some more albums I already own and highly recommend from the same special offer:

 

Ludwig van Beethoven : Symphonies n°5 & n°7 | Ludwig van Beethoven par Carlos Kleiber – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

A legend.

 

Johannes Brahms / Clara Schumann | Compositeurs Divers par Lisa Batiashvili – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

A really good version of Brahm's violin concerto.

 

Georg Friedrich Händel : Orlando | Georg Friedrich Händel par René Jacobs – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Excellent Händel opera with René Jacobs

 

Anton Bruckner : Symphony No. 9 In D Minor | Anton Bruckner par Claudio Abbado – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Gramophone's album of the year, see also my comment here: https://musicophilesblog.com/2015/08/27/the-gramophone-awards-winners-2015/

 

Time Present and Time Past | Compositeurs Divers par Mahan Esfahani – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

I really like this recent release with a mix of Baroque and contemporary.

 

Rachmaninov Variations | Compositeurs Divers par Daniil Trifonov – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

This one got excellent reviews by many, I'm on the fence of buying it. Well 18 days left to decide

 

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 8 Unfinished | Franz Schubert par Carlos Kleiber – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Kleiber's unfinished, also a legend.

[Musicophile]

And finally, some bigger boxes where I'm on the fence:

 

Thielemann's complete Ring (24/96)

 

Wagner: Ring | Richard Wagner par Wiener Staatsoper – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

As a sublime subscriber, I could get it for the ridiculous amount of €34, but I read conflicting reviews of the cycle and am not a big Wagner fan in general.

 

Karajan's 1960 Beethoven cycle in 24/96:

 

Beethoven: 9 Symphonies | Ludwig van Beethoven par Herbert von Karajan – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

I already have too many Beethoven cycles, and I have this in redbook. On the other hand, this is my preferred Karajan one, and at €14 (with sublime discount), I may eventually get it anyhow.

 

Beethoven: 9 Symphonies | Ludwig van Beethoven par Herbert von Karajan – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

And finally: Kubelik's complete Mahler with the Bavarians. An excellent cycle. Does anybody already have the 24/96 remaster and can comment? I have most of the cycle on redbook, and am hesitating.

 

Mahler: Complete Symphonies | Gustav Mahler par Rafael Kubelik – Télécharger et écouter l'album

[nicholasg]

How do you find these special offers? I can see on my favorites list most of the price of a lot of the DG downloads are in red type (which means special offer) but so are a lot of Chandos downloads. Is there a list somewhere are what is currently on special offer?

[Snowmonkey]

How do you find these special offers? I can see on my favorites list most of the price of a lot of the DG downloads are in red type (which means special offer) but so are a lot of Chandos downloads. Is there a list somewhere are what is currently on special offer?

 

If you have an account with Qobuz, you should get regular email notifications of their specials.

[CatManDo]

You can also check their promo page for updates: Promotions

 

I wasn't aware that the Mahler/Kubelik set was available in hi-rez. But even if it is good, this will not make me get yet another Mahler set. A dozen is enough It's his 1st and 5th that usually get recommended.

[Musicophile]

You can also check their promo page for updates: Promotions

 

I wasn't aware that the Mahler/Kubelik set was available in hi-rez. But even if it is good, this will not make me get yet another Mahler set. A dozen is enough It's his 1st and 5th that usually get recommended.

 

That's why I'm on the fence as well, even if I "only" have 7 or 8 complete sets (including this one in redbook) plus a multitude of individual recordings.

[Guidof]

OK, I gave in and bought the Brahms Piano Concertos (Gilels/Jochum) even though I already have the Redbook version. The playing is of course superb, but SQ wise I have to say the Redbook is still quite good, maybe even as good as the remaster.

 

Anyway, thank you for alerting us to this Promo offer, musicophile.

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.

[Musicophile]

OK, I gave in and bought the Brahms Piano Concertos (Gilels/Jochum) even though I already have the Redbook version. The playing is of course superb, but SQ wise I have to say the Redbook is still quite good, maybe even as good as the remaster.

 

Anyway, thank you for alerting us to this Promo offer, musicophile.

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.

While I agree the difference isn't night and day, I still prefer the remaster over the DG originals redbook version I have. More space especially around the piano, when listening via HD800.

[Jay-dub]

I've got the earlier Galleria RBCD of No. 2, and it sounds fine to me. Which RBCD are you comparing the download to, Guido? In my experience, the Originals remaster usually has a slightly better sounding antialiasing filter than the first CD release, but sometimes the de-hissing causes a slightly unnatural sound with a loss of space.

[Guidof]

While I agree the difference isn't night and day, I still prefer the remaster over the DG originals redbook version I have. More space especially around the piano, when listening via HD800.

 

Yes, the remaster has a bit more air, I agree.

[Guidof]

I've got the earlier Galleria RBCD of No. 2, and it sounds fine to me. Which RBCD are you comparing the download to, Guido? In my experience, the Originals remaster usually has a slightly better sounding antialiasing filter than the first CD release, but sometimes the de-hissing causes a slightly unnatural sound with a loss of space.

 

 

Not the Galleria, but I really don't know which release.

[Guidof]

And on second listening . . .

 

The remaster also has better orchestral balances.

[astrotoy]

And on second listening . . .

 

The remaster also has better orchestral balances.

 

How do you get Qobuz? I am also in NorCal, but get a message about being in the US and not being able to buy from them. Thanks, Larry

[woodford]

How do you get Qobuz? I am also in NorCal, but get a message about being in the US and not being able to buy from them. Thanks, Larry

 

send them an email, request an account. even better if you do it in bad french.

 

worked for me.

[Guidof]

send them an email, request an account. even better if you do it in bad french.

 

worked for me.

 

Yes, that's the ticket!