Classical in surround [your favorites?]

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stoopid

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I'm a long time surround enthusiast (been collecting since DVD-a hit the market in the early 2000s). As a result I have quite an extensive collection of rock music in all the formats, but very little classical. In recent months I've gotten the bug to buy some classical in surround. I've found a few dolby surround discs in existing pile of discs as well, but they don't sound quite as good as the SACD discs I have. When looking for, say, Mozart in surround online there's some options but disc prices vary widely for reasons I'm not familiar since it's a genre I'm not knowledgeable.

Turning to the community for recommendations. I'm willing to spend up to $50 on a single quality release. Mostly interested, for now at least, in the iconic artists Bach, Mozart, Beethoven (I have his 5 piano concertos on SACD thanks to Dutton Vocalion), Chopin, etc. I came across a few boxed sets and would be open to obtaining a couple of those if the value was there, in particular there was a many disc Bluray set on Amazon for $80 shipped that had a trove of various composers and pieces. Hoping to mostly buy DVDa, SACD, DTS-CD, and Bluray (or bluray audio) surround formats.
 

stoopid

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There is a boatload of Dutton Vocalion quads that are simply outstanding. I see that you mentioned some of them that you liked.
There's a limited surround selection though of the most famous composers. I also have a Bach/Wagner dutton surround sacd. Overall there's not a ton of selection, which I understand as they have to buy the rights and print, etc. I'm thinking expanding my scope to any and all releases available on the planet would help.
 

humprof

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This question, or one like it, comes up once or twice a year. If you have the patience to wade through 95 pages of the "General Classical" thread, you'll find lots of recommendations. Perennial favorites include a majority of the Dutton Epoch reissues of old Columbia and RCA titles (the contemporary discs focusing on British composers, not so much)--especially the "Boulez Conducts" series. Also: many releases on the TACET label, selected titles from the Sono Luminus and 2L catalogs, and Pentatone's reissues of 70s quads from the Philips and Deutsche Grammophon archives.
 

ubertrout

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This comes up a lot. Here's a thread with more recommendations. I do think vintage quad reissues get more attention here than modern recordings, which is a bit of a shame, but then aside from Tacet most modern classical recordings use a concert hall mixing philosophy that doesn't put a ton of discrete information into the surround channels. That said, some quick picks off the cuff:

Beethoven Symphonies: Vanska (SACD) or Barenboim (DVD-A)
Mahler Symphonies: Ivan Fischer or Michael Tilson Thomas
Anything with Julia Fischer on Pentatone (for instance her Mozart Violin Concertos set)
Most anything with Rachel Podger on violin (including a Mozart Violin Sonatas cycle, note that the box set is CD only)
Most anything with Yevgeny Sudbin on piano.

The set of Mozart piano concertos on SACD by Brautigam for BIS is very good, but he plays on an old-fashioned fortepiano, which not everyone likes. Kind of the same for the cycle of Mozart Symphonies led by Adam Fischer on Da Capo on SACD, also using some period style.

 

stoopid

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The set of Mozart piano concertos on SACD by Brautigam for BIS is very good, but he plays on an old-fashioned fortepiano, which not everyone likes. Kind of the same for the cycle of Mozart Symphonies led by Adam Fischer on Da Capo on SACD, also using some period style.

I think the piano he's using sounds fine. And his reasons for using it make perfect sense, since Mozart would be composing the orchestral parts around the tonality of that particular piano.



I'm going to bite on this boxed set, found it for $90 shipped on eBay.

Thanks for the replies. You've sent me in the right direction and I'll start accumulating as budget allows. :)
 

humprof

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Got an extra 10% off both, so also purchased this Beethoven Sonatas boxed set. That ought to keep us busy for a while. I'll give my wallet some time to relax until the next run. lol

Thanks for the BIS lead, they have a bunch of good releases in surround.
For Beethoven string quartets, I'd put in a big plug for the Cremona Quartet box on the German Audite label. (They also sell downloads.)
 

barfle

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Certainly not the composers you listed (not that I have any issues with any of them), but the company 2L has an extensive list on mostly living scandanavian composers, many of which are excellent..
 

halbroome

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This question, or one like it, comes up once or twice a year. If you have the patience to wade through 95 pages of the "General Classical" thread, you'll find lots of recommendations. Perennial favorites include a majority of the Dutton Epoch reissues of old Columbia and RCA titles (the contemporary discs focusing on British composers, not so much)--especially the "Boulez Conducts" series. Also: many releases on the TACET label, selected titles from the Sono Luminus and 2L catalogs, and Pentatone's reissues of 70s quads from the Philips and Deutsche Grammophon archives.
Exactly the reason TACET is my favorite label for surround classical music (no audience rear, just the instruments in a circle around you), and I might also add the selection is very good.

Too bad it is in Germany, and therefore costs a bit more for us Americans to obtain (but I find it worth it). Occasionally you'll see reasonable prices on eBay (!!!) for a copy in the US.
 

humprof

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Exactly the reason TACET is my favorite label for surround classical music (no audience rear, just the instruments in a circle around you), and I might also add the selection is very good.

Too bad it is in Germany, and therefore costs a bit more for us Americans to obtain (but I find it worth it). Occasionally you'll see reasonable prices on eBay (!!!) for a copy in the US.
They also now sell 5.1 downloads from their website--much more affordable.
 

TheGreatRamseythe2nd

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Are there any immersive classical releases in Auro or Atmos worth buying? I like some classical, not mellow stuff but more the equivalent of heavy metal.
 

sunra

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If anyone is interested in acquiring a whole bunch of classical MC SACDs at once, see my ad:)
 

ubertrout

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Are there any immersive classical releases in Auro or Atmos worth buying? I like some classical, not mellow stuff but more the equivalent of heavy metal.
Not a lot of heavy stuff in Atmos/Auro on disc, there may be more streaming. Karajan's 1970s Beethoven cycle is available as an Atmos release on Blu-Ray, although it's really mostly quad. There's also a few releases on 2L from the chamber orchestra TrondheimSolistene in Auro 9.1, including Reflections and Souvenir, which are both a bit heavier (although Reflections is sort of heavy-mellow).
 
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