SPOTLIGHT The classical music general discussion thread

[4-earredwonder]

That's the Blu-ray I have, and I was not impressed

JP, as with a LOT of the Naxos BD~As [except for a VERY scant few], I find that by playing the BD~As in 2.0 versus 5.1 they sound MUCH BETTER. I felt the Naxos engineers had no idea how to mix into 5.1 and by just playing the hi res files in 96/24 stereo and applying DSP mode on your pre pro ... the sound is eminently BETTER!

 

[Lute]

After what seems like an intense, prolonged period of hibernation, I've just finished watching Götterdämmerung and in doing so, as you guys will know, I've also come to the end of the opera cycle. The magnitude of the closing scene, as well as that of the entire cycle, is still sinking in so my thoughts aren't altogether coherent when it comes to summing things up. What I can say though is that I appreciated the silence that accompanied the end credits - not because I was glad it was all over, in case you were wondering, but it seemed to seemed to amplify the strength of the finale. I enjoyed watching Siegfried the most as Siegfried and Brünnhilde were great, and oh, if only I could wake up with the appreciation of daylight as did Brünnhilde as I don't think I've ever woke up as happy as that before. I thought the performances were pretty good all round with everyone giving a committed performance. There were lots of times I was hooked but sometimes my mind began to wander so I think I know what I need to do next - watch it again!

Awesome, Derek! I love silence, too. Feeling the space and time of the moment after such an experience can be very moving, indeed. It's one of the reasons I love the spacial effect of the natural resonance of cathedrals with organ and choral music. Discussing the The Thieving Magpie above, reminds me of A Clockwork Orange and another amazing piece of music that I'd love to hear in a proper Hirez surround recording... Purcell's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

JP, as with a LOT of the Naxos BD~As [except for a VERY scant few], I find that by playing the BD~As in 2.0 versus 5.1 they sound MUCH BETTER. I felt the Naxos engineers had no idea how to mix into 5.1 and by just playing the hi res files in 96/24 stereo and applying DSP mode on your pre pro ... the sound is eminently BETTER!

Perhaps, but why have fake surround when I can have the real thing???

You know I'm feeling a little salty, or mustardy, or just plain starchy today - tooo many honey dues from the

 

[4-earredwonder]

Perhaps, but why have fake surround when I can have the real thing???

You know I'm feeling a little salty, or mustardy, or just plain starchy today - tooo many honey dues from the

It was not so much FAKE surround as the cliched ambience so many classical engineers PREFER. It was just encoded at way too low a level to be at all effective. 2.0 is preferable! Try it, JP.....you'll like it.

And if you're feeling starchy, mustardy or plain salty .... try those TUM's Orange Chews, honeydew!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

JP, as with a LOT of the Naxos BD~As [except for a VERY scant few], I find that by playing the BD~As in 2.0 versus 5.1 they sound MUCH BETTER. I felt the Naxos engineers had no idea how to mix into 5.1 and by just playing the hi res files in 96/24 stereo and applying DSP mode on your pre pro ... the sound is eminently BETTER!

Hey, you threw the fake surround in there, not me ('cause I'm a freakin' Angel )

 

[4-earredwonder]

Hey, you threw the fake surround in there, not me ('cause I'm a freakin' Angel )

Yo, JP, am watching the 2019 multi~zillion dollar Grammy Awards LIVE [actually quite good] and guess what ...... AMBIENCE in the REARS ONLY! Shucks!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I have heard so many performances of these overtures that you'd think I'd be completely burned out. But, there's something about Rossini (and good music in general) that keeps me coming back for more. Must be a 50 shades of gray-thing. LOL!! So, I think I'm gonna have to get that one sooner rather than later. Anyway, I'd still love to hear your impressions of it.

Received this one today and had a listen. I only have a dozen or so classical / opera recordings; so I don't have an ear for this music like many of you here. Like beerking, I also have the: LSO Beethoven Symphonies Nos 1-9, which is very immersive, sounds like I'm sitting inside the orchestra! I understand why most classical recordings aren't captured in this manner; and this PentaTone issue is the typical front three channels with some ambience in the rears.

First off the fidelity seems top notch to me with sections of silent air around various breaks. Actually I was quite irritated by my central heater coming on at one point disrupting a quieter passage, that had to be corrected! La gazza ladra was not as impressive to me, as to the reviewer on HRAudio.net https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=13318#reviews. I was a little disappointed that at around the 3:30 mark, the woodwinds / horns come into the piece very understated, I'd preferred they came in mixed more upfront with more vigor to help drive the music forward. Of course I'm no student of classical music or Rossini, but compare it to that Gamba interpretation and you can here the difference.

I did enjoy the ol' Bill (Guillermo) Tell, as well as my wife, who associates some of this music with her youth and Loony Tunes. I'm a sucker for cello, so I'll be getting recommendations for more of that sort of music in the future. At least we both enjoyed it, albeit in our own way.

One thing I have seen somewhere else, is a diagram representing the microphone placement as to how the orchestra was captured. This would be most welcomed on music like this, for me at least.

As a first listen that's all I have right now, sure hope you go ahead and try this one, and give me your impressions as I'm sure they'll be more experienced and informed than mine.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Received this one today and had a listen. I only have a dozen or so classical / opera recordings; so I don't have an ear for this music like many of you here. Like beerking, I also have the: LSO Beethoven Symphonies Nos 1-9, which is very immersive, sounds like I'm sitting inside the orchestra! I understand why most classical recordings aren't captured in this manner; and this PentaTone issue is the typical front three channels with some ambience in the rears.

First off the fidelity seems top notch to me with sections of silent air around various breaks. Actually I was quite irritated by my central heater coming on at one point disrupting a quieter passage, that had to be corrected! La gazza ladra was not as impressive to me, as to the reviewer on HRAudio.net https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=13318#reviews. I was a little disappointed that at around the 3:30 mark, the woodwinds / horns come into the piece very understated, I'd preferred they came in mixed more upfront with more vigor to help drive the music forward. Of course I'm no student of classical music or Rossini, but compare it to that Gamba interpretation and you can here the difference.

I did enjoy the ol' Bill (Guillermo) Tell, as well as my wife, who associates some of this music with her youth and Loony Tunes. I'm a sucker for cello, so I'll be getting recommendations for more of that sort of music in the future. At least we both enjoyed it, albeit in our own way.

One thing I have seen somewhere else, is a diagram representing the microphone placement as to how the orchestra was captured. This would be most welcomed on music like this, for me at least.

As a first listen that's all I have right now, sure hope you go ahead and try this one, and give me your impressions as I'm sure they'll be more experienced and informed than mine.

My advice, JP, stick to ROCK OPERAS [LOL]. I too have Operas on hi res and seldom, if ever listen to them. If you're really going to experience them .... see them performed LIVE. Reminds me of a old school chum [actually nemesis] whose mother I ran into at the local Post Office. I asked her that since her son moved away if she would likewise do so. Her reply.....Oh, Never ..... I have to be close to the Opera.....meaning, Manhattan. I did get a good chuckle out of that one....as she was ALWAYS a pretentious sow.

And JP, you could always put those 'opera glasses' to good use by spying on the neighbors

 

[Lute]

Received this one today and had a listen. I only have a dozen or so classical / opera recordings; so I don't have an ear for this music like many of you here. Like beerking, I also have the: LSO Beethoven Symphonies Nos 1-9, which is very immersive, sounds like I'm sitting inside the orchestra! I understand why most classical recordings aren't captured in this manner; and this PentaTone issue is the typical front three channels with some ambience in the rears.

First off the fidelity seems top notch to me with sections of silent air around various breaks. Actually I was quite irritated by my central heater coming on at one point disrupting a quieter passage, that had to be corrected! La gazza ladra was not as impressive to me, as to the reviewer on HRAudio.net https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=13318#reviews. I was a little disappointed that at around the 3:30 mark, the woodwinds / horns come into the piece very understated, I'd preferred they came in mixed more upfront with more vigor to help drive the music forward. Of course I'm no student of classical music or Rossini, but compare it to that Gamba interpretation and you can here the difference.

I did enjoy the ol' Bill (Guillermo) Tell, as well as my wife, who associates some of this music with her youth and Loony Tunes. I'm a sucker for cello, so I'll be getting recommendations for more of that sort of music in the future. At least we both enjoyed it, albeit in our own way.

One thing I have seen somewhere else, is a diagram representing the microphone placement as to how the orchestra was captured. This would be most welcomed on music like this, for me at least.

As a first listen that's all I have right now, sure hope you go ahead and try this one, and give me your impressions as I'm sure they'll be more experienced and informed than mine.

Thanks for sharing your impressions, JP.
Music and performances are funny things, aren't they? Quite often different people like or want different things or different approaches. It reminds me of what the Cajun chef Justin Wilson used to say when people asked him about food and wine... "W'at kinna wine go wit w'at? Well, Ah say, da kinna wine you like!" LOL!! I look forward to hearing it.
Looney Tunes!? Well... if you ever get a hankering for some Wabbit served with Wagner, PentaTone's remastering of the vintage Quad recording of Wagner's overtures is definitely worth a shot (pun intended! LOL!).

Here's a link... https://www.sa-cd.net/showreviews/1294

 

[ubertrout]

Thanks for sharing your impressions, JP.
Music and performances are funny things, aren't they? Quite often different people like or want different things or different approaches. It reminds me of what the Cajun chef Justin Wilson used to say when people asked him about food and wine... "W'at kinna wine go wit w'at? Well, Ah say, da kinna wine you like!" LOL!! I look forward to hearing it.
Looney Tunes!? Well... if you ever get a hankering for some Wabbit served with Wagner, PentaTone's remastering of the vintage Quad recording of Wagner's overtures is definitely worth a shot (pun intended! LOL!).

Here's a link... https://www.sa-cd.net/showreviews/1294

Another good option:

 

[kap'n krunch]

OK, guyses.. Any good/discrete version of Ravel's "Daphins & Chloe" ???? (no, not the Tomita one )

 

[Kal Rubinson]

OK, guyses.. Any good/discrete version of Ravel's "Daphins & Chloe" ???? (no, not the Tomita one )

Suite(s) or complete? Stereo or multichannel?

 

[kap'n krunch]

Suite(s) or complete? Stereo or multichannel?

Complete and MCH.... but I am guessing it's too much to ask....

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Complete and MCH.... but I am guessing it's too much to ask....

Not too much. I have 5 complete in MCH.
Gergiev on LSO Live
Gimeno on Pentatone
Haitink on CSO Resound
Levine on BSO
Nezet-Seguin on BIS
Of these, prefer Levine/BSO overall. Not a bad one the pack, though.

 

[ubertrout]

For those interested, JPC (and Amazon.de, but only for domestic prime members) are selling the complete cycle of Beethoven's String Quartets played by the Quartetto di Cremona on 8 SACDs for EUR 30: https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/de...ethoven-streichquartette-nr-1-16/hnum/8201132

 

[ubertrout]

Not too much. I have 5 complete in MCH.
Gergiev on LSO Live
Gimeno on Pentatone
Haitink on CSO Resound
Levine on BSO
Nezet-Seguin on BIS
Of these, prefer Levine/BSO overall. Not a bad one the pack, though.

+1. Also, Munch's classic account in 2-channel Living Stereo is very much worth having, and can still be gotten cheap.

 

[bluelightning]

+1. Also, Munch's classic account in 2-channel Living Stereo is very much worth having, and can still be gotten cheap.

Most definitely !

 

[humprof]

For those interested, JPC (and Amazon.de, but only for domestic prime members) are selling the complete cycle of Beethoven's String Quartets played by the Quartetto di Cremona on 8 SACDs for EUR 30: https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/de...ethoven-streichquartette-nr-1-16/hnum/8201132

Ordered! I've heard three of the eight volumes, and I think they're excellent. Not discrete, exactly, but very immersive "chamber surround." €29.13 to the US, including shipping & minus VAT. (I don't know why JPC are still charging only €4 for shipping to the US whereas Amazon.de jacked its fee to around €15 after January 1st, when the German postal service raised its rates. But I won't ask questions.) This set was already a bargain at twice the price. Thanks, @ubertrout !

 

[Lute]

This is an older release from Ars Produktion. I only recently acquired it, though. What a delight it is to listen to these piano concertos by Haydn! While his works in this genre have been overshadowed by those of his younger contemporary Mozart, Papa Haydn's light & genial concertos are no less enjoyable...especially when given such beautiful renditions.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Help needed from my Fellow Travelers.
Looking for suggestions of good discrete surround titles that features cellists, in a string quartet setting or small orchestra.
I believe all I have now is some Yo-Yo Ma.
Thanks!