Also, as an incentive there are some pretty powerful live gunshots at the end of the symphony. 
Classical Music Favorites in Surround Sound
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Has anyone heard/viewed the newer Mahler 8 bluray with Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra ?
Great point - as the name suggests it was designed for surround from the ground up. And Naxos will send you a copy for under $4: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Corigliano...for-band-Blu-Ray-Audio-New-Music/231076264734. The 5.1 track is ultra-discrete.
Leopold Stokowski Conducts Bach And Wagner (Dutton Vocalion SACD)- As a casual classical and serious surround fan, all I can say is this disc rocks! In terms of surround, you get a discrete mix with the surrounds used as much, if not more, than the fronts, but in a way that's well balanced and better than most classical surround releases. In terms of content, the Bach portion of this disc (which is 8/9 pieces) is stellar. The Wagner suite is interesting and might be a grower but didn't grab me after multiple listens. This is really like Bach's Greatest Hits, Volume 1 (there's probably about 50 volumes in the set). "Chaconne" starts things off, and while I'd never heard it, it's a beautiful, emotional instant classic epic at 17 minutes and now one of my top 10 Bach tunes. You also get an orchestral version of "'Little' Fugue in G minor" which is a 3 1/2 minute powerhouse in the vein of "In The Hall of the Mountain King" (it starts off with a single quiet instrument, then gradually adds one instrument at a time in a swirling, intertwining way that builds to a house-shaking climax... killer!) There are several excellent pieces that remind me of Williams' soundtrack to "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade" (and that's a good thing!). And of course you get Bach's number one hit of all time, his Freebird, "Air on the G String" (I can just hear the crowds chanting "G String" as Bach saunters out for one last encore). This is one disc that any surround fan who's thinking of dabbling in classical should get. I've been slowly building a classical surround playlist, and usually I only find 1 or 2 songs on a disc that make the list... well, 7 out of the 9 tracks here are making the playlist... it's that good!
The Stokowski Disc should have been a best-seller, but I suspect it was poorly marketed to focus on the Wagner, which is really just a bonus track. Stokowski was famous for his orchestrations (and recording them), most notably his version of the Bach Toccata and Fugue from Fantasia. This was I believe his last such recording, pushing 90, and it's simply a treat, the sort of music-making that went out of fashion but shouldn't have. The Wagner was not mixed to quad in the 70s, it's Michael Dutton's mix from the original multitracks - I feel the fidelity is better but it's much less discrete than the Bach, which was purposely adventrous. One of the discs everyone should have.
Stokowski's former assistant Jose Serebrier recorded many of Stokowski's orchestrations in modern digital sound, but sadly only one of those discs made it to high-res/surround.
timothyemerson
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
skherbeck, thanks for the recommendation. Ordered!
This forum rules.
This forum rules.
Levine Conducts Mahler And Brahms (Dutton Vocalion SACD) - As a casual classical fan, I always listen to albums that are new to me hoping to hear something familiar... you know, music that you've heard all your life but you never knew what it was called or who the artist was... maybe it was used in a movie or something... well, on this 2 disc set I didn't hear anything like that. HOWEVER, Mahler's Symphony No.1 immediately grabbed my attention because it reminded me of the intro to the original Star Trek series, lol, but after that I fell in love with the entire piece. The other symphonies in the set never really took hold for me, but the fidelity is excellent and the surround mixes are FULLY discrete (none of that classical ambience BS). I wish all classical surround releases were mixed like these. If you're a fan of the music on these discs, then you need this in your surround collection. If you're unfamiliar with the music, as I was, I think the set is still worth purchasing for Mahler's Symphony No. 1 alone (although it's a little pricier than other DV albums because it's a 2 disc set).
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No need to laugh about the Star Trek reference - the second movement was quoted in the theme. It was later used extensively in another episode: http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gustav_Mahler.
Also, not sure if you noticed, but the 3rd movement of the 1st Symphony is Frere Jacques turned into a funeral march, with klezmer outbursts that make the whole thing seem even stranger. I suspect he had the idea for this movement years earlier and had saved it for his first symphony the way bands will save songs for their first album.
The fourth symphony is remembered for two things - opening with sleigh bells, and the lovely last movement, which was originally going to be an excessive 7th movement of the 3rd Symphony. Bernstein does a great discussion of the piece, if interested:
Also, not sure if you noticed, but the 3rd movement of the 1st Symphony is Frere Jacques turned into a funeral march, with klezmer outbursts that make the whole thing seem even stranger. I suspect he had the idea for this movement years earlier and had saved it for his first symphony the way bands will save songs for their first album.
The fourth symphony is remembered for two things - opening with sleigh bells, and the lovely last movement, which was originally going to be an excessive 7th movement of the 3rd Symphony. Bernstein does a great discussion of the piece, if interested:
Thanks! I appreciate it, and I'm enjoying yours as well as you discover this music.
My personal favorite of Mahler's Symphonies is the gigantic 2nd - the "Resurrection" Symphony. There's a great RCA Quad recording of this piece done by Stokowski, then well into his 90s. When he was much younger Stokowski had actually witnessed Mahler conduct, something almost no-one else to still be recording in the 70s could say (Mahler died in 1911). It's been issued as a Dolby Surround CD, but I'd love a proper discrete issue.
The Mahler 2nd is one of those pieces where no recording matches the experience of hearing it live, but surround sound can bring you much closer. One of my favorite performances of it at the New York Philharmonic put the offstage instruments in the last movement into the rear rafters of the hall, and the effect was strikingly powerful - I've been looking for a recording that does that, but every recording of this piece I'm aware of on SACD is ambience-only.
Thanks! I appreciate it, and I'm enjoying yours as well as you discover this music.
My personal favorite of Mahler's Symphonies is the gigantic 2nd - the "Resurrection" Symphony. There's a great RCA Quad recording of this piece done by Stokowski, then well into his 90s. When he was much younger Stokowski had actually witnessed Mahler conduct, something almost no-one else to still be recording in the 70s could say (Mahler died in 1911). It's been issued as a Dolby Surround CD, but I'd love a proper discrete issue.
The Mahler 2nd is one of those pieces where no recording matches the experience of hearing it live, but surround sound can bring you much closer. One of my favorite performances of it at the New York Philharmonic put the offstage instruments in the last movement into the rear rafters of the hall, and the effect was strikingly powerful - I've been looking for a recording that does that, but every recording of this piece I'm aware of on SACD is ambience-only.
If I remember correctly, the Ricardo Chailly Mahler 2nd Bluray has the offstage brass coming from the rear speakers. I know I have at least one or two recordings with it that way, just can't recollect which.
Thanks to you'll I am going to end up getting at least the Scott/Vaughan Williams and Stokowski Dutton discs. They will be my first venture into anything Dutton Vocalion. Thus far I only keep seeing praises for DV, without actually being able to connect with any of their material. As for the Mahler 1st, I am not sure I am going to get it. I have too much Mahler already and am currently on a Mahler cool off phase
And...ordered. Apparently I needed two different recordings of Chailly leading the Mahler 2nd in surround sound.If I remember correctly, the Ricardo Chailly Mahler 2nd Bluray has the offstage brass coming from the rear speakers. I know I have at least one or two recordings with it that way, just can't recollect which.
Thanks to you'll I am going to end up getting at least the Scott/Vaughan Williams and Stokowski Dutton discs. They will be my first venture into anything Dutton Vocalion. Thus far I only keep seeing praises for DV, without actually being able to connect with any of their material. As for the Mahler 1st, I am not sure I am going to get it. I have too much Mahler already and am currently on a Mahler cool off phase
Which two in surround ?. I know of only the BD in surround. As for the offstage, I sure hope my memory serves me correct. I am going to check when I get home, just to make sure.
Is this the one?
http://a.co/d/7aWj7DO
http://a.co/d/7aWj7DO
Yes. This is the one I have. If you are buying for offstage brass in surround, let me check to make sure.
They may be 3-channel, but I love the classical Living Stereo SACDs
the Living Stereo SACDs are what got me into SACDs in the first placeThey may be 3-channel, but I love the classical Living Stereo SACDs
Managed to get a copy cheap a few years ago. Pretty rare.
Edit to add: don't worry too much - I got it for a good price and it's not something I wouldn't want anyway.
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I figured you were talking about this later. You are right, this was around for a short period along with the 8th on Dvda, 3rd and 9th on SACD.
I checked the 2nd on BD. The offstage while not ultra discrete does have more energy out of the surround speakers. A fair word of caution, this has to be cranked more than the usual classical releases, akin to many of the BIS SACDs with huge dynamic ranges.
I checked the 2nd on BD. The offstage while not ultra discrete does have more energy out of the surround speakers. A fair word of caution, this has to be cranked more than the usual classical releases, akin to many of the BIS SACDs with huge dynamic ranges.
Thanks to both of you--and Kal, I think?--for this recommendation. A nutty piece! Great fun, and, as you say, quite literally designed for surround.
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