Tidal MQA Classical Gems

[Norton]

 

The best Ma Vlast I've heard so far (Tidal 83066082 in UK).  Superb SQ and a conductor and orchestra who clearly own this piece.

 

 

I own very many recordings of Elgar 1 and 2, but these standout to me  both for  superb SQ and performances:

 

77610506:

 

 

77695915:

[Norton]

12 hours ago, austinpop said:

It'll be interesting to see if @Norton sees otherwise in the UK

 

I can't find  these catalogue  #s at all, what is it?

[Norton]

My Classical MQA of the Evening:

 

 

A high octane  performance  of possibly the most OTT of all romantic symphonies.  Love it.

[Norton]

5 hours ago, Daverz said:

 

Sorry, it's the Karajan Sibelius disc in the post above.

 

Thanks, I've found them now and yes, they seem identical other than catalogue # - both are 16/44.

 

Interesting to note though that the companion Karajan Columbia  recording of Sibelius 2 also has 2 Tidal catalogue #s, but in this case one (68733741) is MQA. 

[Norton]

Great performances of  some  old favourites on an interesting theme. Excellent SQ (77617360)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Norton]

 

OK, so it's only MQA 44KHz and a little known conductor and orchestra.....

 

 

but the Symphonic  Dances  is a great performance, running the gamut from real delicacy  to high drama,  with the SQ to match.

 

Haven't listed to the Bells yet (not a piece I'm familiar with) 

[Norton]

17 hours ago, RJeff said:

Every one of the great Everest Stereo albums listed below is on Tidal in MQA

 

I love these in MQA, all duly in my Tidal favourites, esp the various Copland works, Strauss, Manfred.

[Norton]

Not sure you’ve got them all there, I can’t see Shostakovich 6,  Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring or Tribute to Vaughan Williams.

 

You can also try searching under London Symphony  Orchestra (or see their entry in the MQA  master list  at Meridian Unplugged ).

 

The various DECCA analogue classics are really worthwhile in MQA too (e.g. Ashkenazy Rachmaninov, Kertesz Dvorak, Maazel Sibelius)

[Norton]

Fair enough.  I was adventurous (for me) and added Rattle/Schoenberg to my library, but haven’t listened  yet.

[Norton]

The Reformation is one of my favourite symphonies.  Really enjoying the pared-back performance and excellent SQ from this set:

 

 

[Norton]

1 hour ago, austinpop said:

the Everest tapes on MQA to be head and shoulders above the much vaunted, but supremely disappointing (to me) Mercury Living Presence reissues on SACD

 

Funnily enough, I find the few  MLP I’ve tried in MQA to be uniformly disappointing with a very obvious “squashed” character  to the sound.  I much prefer the CD box sets.

 

But I can only dream of owning most of the MLP SACDs.  Apart  from a couple of titles, it looks like the opportunity to get them at a normal price passed long ago.  Some really expensive  examples on Amazon, although I can’t  work out who would actually buy them.  Of course, if you don’t want yours, happy to take them off your hands for  the cost of shipping.....

[Norton]

On 5/25/2018 at 8:42 PM, austinpop said:

I spent a very pleasant few hours sampling the treasure trove of Everest albums on Tidal in MQA. Thanks again to @RJeff for bringing these to our attention.

 

I "grazed" about a dozen albums, and I completely agree that recording quality varies from album to album. I still stand by my assertions that these recordings, while outstanding, cannot escape the technical limits of the time. For me, this is most evident on crescendos. Perhaps it's because I favor orchestral music, but it's on the crescendos (or should I say crushendos) that these old recordings show their limitations.

 

To be fair, I find the best of the Everest tapes on MQA to be head and shoulders above the much vaunted, but supremely disappointing (to me) Mercury Living Presence reissues on SACD.

 

Of the dozen albums I tried yesterday, here are a few standouts for SQ.

 

Outstanding

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the heads up on the Mahler9. Outstanding indeed

[Norton]

 

 

I’ve been impressed by lots of MQA finds on Tidal since last posting here, but for me this is a recent standout for “being there” SQ.

 

https://tidal.com/album/68738615

 

[Norton]

@austinpop

 

I don’t know Mahler well outside # 2,5 and 6, but I was very taken with this as a Tidal MQA discovery:

 

 

https://tidal.com/album/94331802