Album of the Evening

[Musicophile]

Thanks for the tip: I don't know Järvi's recording of the 5th and am now tempted to discover it, all the more so given that BIS is generally a guarantee of at least good and often excellent sound quality.

 

SQ is quite nice, and you can get the download for really not a lot of money at eclassical:

 

eClassical - Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5

 

if you don't need or want the fillers, you can get the symphony per se for less than 8 bucks.

[Musicophile]

SQ is quite nice, and you can get the download for really not a lot of money at eclassical:

 

eClassical - Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5

 

if you don't need or want the fillers, you can get the symphony per se for less than 8 bucks.

 

Just noted that this recording is even available on SACD, so if you have a player or a playstation, may be worth checking out. I only have the redbook.

 

Presto Classical - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 - BIS: BIS-SACD-1408

[Musicophile]

Just noted that this recording is even available on SACD, so if you have a player or a playstation, may be worth checking out. I only have the redbook.

 

Presto Classical - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 - BIS: BIS-SACD-1408

 

Sorry for spamming here, but relistening to the album now, and the SQ is really quite impressive. So the SACD could be worth it.

[Musicophile]

Hmmm, I don't know if the SACD could be better since BIS doesn't record on DSD... They have (maybe) the SACD format for the 5 channels.

 

Roch

 

Not an expert, but the booklet quotes a Meitner DSD interface.

 

Recording equipment: Neumann microphones; Crookwood and Millenia microhone amplifiers; Meitner DSD interface; PyramixAudio Workstation HD system; Adam loudspeakers

[Musicophile]

Will have to check out Kitajenko as well (OMG, this forum is REALLY getting expensive).

 

After enjoying the Järvi again, I felt let's get seasonal:

 

Cantate Domino, Oscar's Motet Choir (24/88).

 

 

And now back to an old friend:

 

Dire Straits - Making Movies (SHM redbook)

 

[Musicophile]

And a final one, which is currently in the process of turning into one of my all time favorite albums:

 

Ola Gjeilo: Piano Improvisations (24/192) - amazingly beautiful

 

[Musicophile]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2662[/ATTACH]

 

Holly Cole "Temptation"

 

Wonderful Analogue Productions transfer: "Mastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray"

 

PS3 rip to DSD

 

Roch

 

Great album. Holly is one of my favorite singers. And all so well recorded. "So And So" from "Don't Smoke in Bed" is on my 10 track playlists for evaluating new equipment.

[Musicophile]

Of course is getting expensive, I just DL your recommendation!

 

Thanks, it's absolutely an excellent DXD recording to 24/192 DL from HDTracks.

 

Roch

 

It really reminds me of the better Jarrett Solo album. Let's just hope Ola doesn't start grunting as well....

[Musicophile]

The three great B's tonight: Beethoven, Berg, and ... Björk.

 

A nice double Abbado at the end:

 

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Abbado - Berliner (24/96)

 

 

Followed by:

 

Berg and Beethoven: Violin Concertos - Faust - Abbado (24/44)

 

 

But actually, the evening started quite differently:

 

Björk: Post (redbook)

 

[Musicophile]

This recording has received rave reviews in the press. Do you share their enthousiasm?

 

Absolutely, and I even "nominated" it here:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f13-audiophile-downloads/most-superlative-performance-and-recording-orchestra-hd-13218/

 

The only other modern Beethoven VC I really like is Janine Jansen with Parvo Järvi, and I occasionally listen to Klemperer/Oistrakh, but the latter really has rather poor SQ.

[Musicophile]

Coming back to the subject of the thread, I have been coming back to Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin by Amandine Beyer. Superb playing, high sound quality in my view.

 

Interesting. I've been looking for modern alternatives to my favorites, Milstein and Szeryng (both on very old DGs, but with decent SQ). In recent recordings I only have Hahn and Podger, both I'm not fully convinced by.

 

I've been rather disappointed by Beyer's Four Seasons. The interpretation is nice, but the SQ is really just to shrill for my ears in the Linn 24/96 (one of my first high res recordings). Obviously, for solo violin the sound is even more important. Glad to hear you llike the sound here.

[Musicophile]

BTT:

 

Starting with Mozart:

 

Rachel Podger / Gary Cooper: Violin Sonatas vol. 1 (24/88)

 

 

Followed by Vienna again, more than 200 years later (thanks to Blake for the recommendation):

 

The K&D sessions (redbook)

 

 

Finally moving 40 years back:

 

Bill Evans: Everybody digs Bill Evans (redbook XRCD)

 

[Musicophile]

 

@musicophile: I hope I didn't steer you wrong on the K&D Sessions. This music can be an acquired taste. I am going to check out Everybody Digs Bill Evans.

 

No worries. I had the occasional K&D track already on some lounge albums like Hotel Costes. Usually, the Costes/Buddha Bar stuff would just be background music for dinner, and nothing I'd sit down for active listening, but this album really is way better than the average ambient stuff.

[Musicophile]

I do love Bill Evans, but I never finish getting all his discs, when I believe I have all, there is 'new' one...!

 

Roch

 

Same here, I just checked I have more than 5 days from Bill Evans in my Itunes library, but I think I'm far from complete. Although I'm a bit of a heretic. Unlike many that say after LaFaro you can forget all the rest I often enjoy some of the later stuff with Gomez even more.

[Musicophile]

Starting quietly tonight with Melody Gardot:

 

 

But then to remind me how well my system can sound:

 

Eiji Oues famous Rachmaninov in 24/96.

 

 

Impresses me every time how amazingly well this thing is recorded. If only DG and the other big labels would send their engineers to train at Reference Recordings.

[Musicophile]

@Musicophile What do you think of the Rachel Podger / Gary Cooper Mozart Violin Sonatas? I've been eyeing them off at Qobuz. Do you have any of the other albums in the cycle?

 

I only have this one so far, but thinking about getting more from the cycle.

 

If you like HIP interpretations, it is the one to go for in my opinion. And really good sound, this is Channel Classics after all.

 

I'd quite agree with the AllMusic review here:

Mozart: Complete Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin, Vol. 1 - Rachel Podger : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic

 

The only thing that stops me from getting more of this is the music itself, I wouldn't say that the violin sonatas were Mozart's best chamber music works. But then again, you have to keep in mind that stuff like KV6 was written by a 6 year old (or probably his father).

[Musicophile]

Starting with Yevgeny Sudbin's amazing Beethoven concertos (24/44):

 

 

Moving on to my latest purchase from Presto Classical, the FLAC redbook download of Anna Vinnitskaya's Solo Ravel Album.

 

 

I still had relatively little solo piano Ravel in my collection, so when I saw this as Editor's Choice in Gramophone some month's ago it made it on my "to buy" list.

 

Unfortunately unavailable as high-res, Naïve doesn't seem to do them yet.

 

However, to my Ravel newbie ears, amazing delicate playing, and nice, if a bit dark sound quality. Maybe I'll finally get around to the French impressionism on the piano.

[Musicophile]

24/192 download from Qobuz

 

I'm not really familiar with Mozart's childhood violin sonatas, but I'm partial to his late ones (32-35 in particular). I purchased volume 3. and of course that became my album of the evening. The rendition of the B-flat sonata (K454) is sublime and as you say, the sound quality is superb. I love the contrast between the relative dullness of the forte piano and the rich timbre of Rachel Podger's violin. Unfortunately, the late sonatas are spread across the discs, so now I'm going to have to spring for volumes 2. and 4.

 

Glad that you liked it. I clearly have it on my to purchase list, but the increase for the high res vs. redbook at Qobuz is pretty steep. So I'll probably wait for some special offer.

[Musicophile]

Hmmm,

 

The nice price!

 

Thanks,

 

Roch

 

Agree, 35% off at Presto was the reason why I finally got it. To clarify on the sound quality: I read afterwards it was recorded in a church in Berlin, hence the dark acoustics with a lot of reverb. Again, I'm not a Ravel expert, so cannot judge much more beyond "I really like it", but it also go the Diapason d'or in France.

[Musicophile]

Bartok's Wooden Prince by Boulez and the CSO, redbook CD rip.

 

 

 

Beethoven's 7th by Kleiber and the VPO, SACD layer

While I agree with Musicophile's comment above that DG recordings are sometimes limited sonically, these two ones are exceptions as they have truly outstanding soundquality to my ears. In particular, I marvelled at the spatial precision of the VPO in Beethoven's 7th (even though spatialisation is not usually an aspect of the musical experience that fascinates me).

 

Don't have the Bartok, but fully agree on the Kleiber, I have the 24/88 download and it is very good. Plus being one of the best interpretations I've heard, especially for the 7th.

[Musicophile]

Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique by H. von Karajan and the BPO in the 1970s. I found this an earth-shattering version in glorious sound. I don't understand why so many reviewers rate Colin Davis and the Concertgebouw (a SACD to which I listened very recently) as the reference recording of this symphony when I personally find their interpretation quite bland, well below Munch-BSO and this Karajan-BPO (which is my favourite).

 

Are you sure this is a 70's recording? I only have one Karajan fantastique which I'm just revisiting now on which the cover claims a recording in 1965 (i.e. still during the best Karajan period).

 

If we are talking about the same, it's very interesting and exciting to listen to, although it reminds me even of Bruckner.

 

My personal reference is still quite a different style, and maybe it is just because it was my first ever Symphonie fantastique: a 1990's recording of Roger Norrington with the London Classical Players.

 

[Musicophile]

Russian piano concertos tonight:

 

Medtner: Concerto No. 2 - Demidenko

 

 

Rachmaninov: Concerto No. 3 - Andsnes

 

 

Both redbook rips. Sound quality of the Medtner is only so-so, the Andsnes is quite good.

[Musicophile]

Hi Musicophile,

It is a different recording (released in 1975), but I can't compare the two as I don't have the 1965 one. I bought it very recently after reading favourable reviews especially of its sound quality. I can confirm that it is superbly recorded, but the interpretation is also, well, fantastic. I am curious about this Norrington recording: at the time had Norrington already embarked on his no-vibrato quest?

Boris.

 

Interesting, need to check that '75 recording out. It's a real problem with HvK, he's recorded every major work usually at least 3 times (I have 4 beethoven cycles from him).

 

On Norrington: yes, the London Classical players was when Norrington started to get serious about HIP. Wikipedia tells me there was even some of the players overlapping between the LCP and some of the other historically informed orchestras of the time. (Not everything from this orchestra is good, I have another recording i really like though, Schubert's 5&8).

 

Here's some listening snippets:

 

Amazon.com: Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique - Roger Norrington, London Classical: Music

[Musicophile]

Stile Antico: Music for Compline (24/88).

 

Amazing early music very well recorded. Thanks again to Boris for the recommendation.

 

[Musicophile]

Mozart: Idomeneo - Jacobs

 

 

One of the last CD's I've purchased, before moving to downloads only.