New Classical Sound Liaison recording

[oso]

Lovely new album from the little label and with a fine introduction offer; all formats same price; 10$/€

 

Here is a quote from the Newsletter which has a bit more info than what one can find on the website; Sound Liaison Music Shop

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain artist once he grows up – Picasso

 

The recording was made in Studio 5 of the Dutch Broadcasting building.

The hall is very big and has unique acoustic qualities. The wooden walls and wooden ceiling are acoustically optimized by thousands of acoustic ports, eliminating flutter echo and uneven frequencies.[/color]

In order to capture the gorgeous lush reverb of the hall, we spend a great amount of time placing the ambient stereo pair in the ideal position.

We never cease to be amazed of the importance of microphone placement. Just a few inches of moving a microphone forth or back, up or down, can have such a great influence on the sound that is being captured.

And interestingly the same goes for the placement of the musicians in the hall.

 

Here is a bit of the info from the website;

Each piece in this album has its own character and demands a different approach.

The carrousel is chosen as symbol for this diversity.

 

Levan Tskhadadze (clarinet) and Izhar Elias (guitar) play their instruments with an incredible transparency, refined articulation and subtle musical colours. It is their own story they create. Their music speaks as if they are talking with each other through their instruments.This album, with it's wide stylistic span, yet cohesive musical end result, is proof of this musicians mastery. And thanks to the sublime sound quality, every single inflection is audible.

Clarinet and guitar is an instrumental combination one seldom hears. A puzzling fact considering that the clarinet's timbre can be light and intimate, therefore very well suited to the sound of the guitar.

 

The Georgian background of Levan and Izhar’s Jewish ancestry made celebrated Georgian born, Israeli composer, and close friend of the duo, Joseph Bardanashvili a natural choice. Joseph Bardanashvili worked closely together with Levan and Izhar arranging two of his compositions. In Lezikhro the use of multiphonics, which is quite difficult to do on a clarinet, were explored in order to best express the sad and mournful atmosphere of the piece. Lezikhro is the toast Jewish people bring when commemorating the loss of their beloved one. In his masterpiece Sola Bardanashvili combines very old Spanish/Jewish (Ladino) melodies with traditional sounds from his homeland Georgia.

[Milan]

I love the sound of that hall, very well captured, and I do not recall hearing a classical guitar recorded so well before. It is somehow closer and more intimate than my other guitar recordings, yet one can still feel the hall.

I guess these are the ports one can see behind the musicians?

 

[oso]

Yes indeed. The guitar is very well recorded, and played:)

 

Comparing it now to an old favorite of mine;

[video=youtube;geT-nOLfh24]

but actually there is no comparing, the Sound Liaison recording is on a whole different level.

[PAP]

RRecordings has a well recorded guitar album out as well;

 

Reference Recordings - FR-710 Detail

 

Grammy® nominated classical guitarist Marc Regnier has won the attention and respect of critics, producers, and musicians for over three decades as a performer, recording artist and educator. This unique artist has been described as that of "a master of his instrument" and "a musician of intelligence, lyricism and subtlety." Since his concert debut at the age of fifteen, Regnier has performed and given master classes in major series and festivals in Canada, South America and throughout America from San Francisco to several solo performances at New York's Carnegie Recital Hall. Mr. Regnier has had the privilege of working with Grammy winning and nominated engineers and producers in his numerous recordings. This is his first release with Reference Recordings