SPOTLIGHT The classical music general discussion thread

[gene_stl]

I just don't see it. Music streaming is a loss lieder leader for Apple. They just want to sell more devices and the synergy is an inducement, even though it will eventually be on Android too, and raising barriers to accessing their classical app seems like it would be the opposite.

I saw what you did there.

 

[humprof]

Wow--a ton of Royal Concertgebouw/Mariss Jansons titles added to Apple Music. Haven't listened to any of them yet; I'm just browsing Ben Dodson's Twitter feed. Probably upmixes from the 5.1 SACDs?

 

[humprof]

The discounts aren't quite as steep as they used to be, but twelve dollars and change is still a good price for this week's featured new release on BIS, Vänskä's Mahler 9th. (I guess that just leaves the 8th and the 3d, both of which were recorded last year?)
https://www.eclassical.com/conductors/vanska-osmo/mahler-symphony-no9.html

 

[humprof]

What tha'...?!? The New York Phil has its own imprint now? Under Jaap van Zweden?

 

[mkt]

The discounts aren't quite as steep as they used to be, but twelve dollars and change is still a good price for this week's featured new release on BIS, Vänskä's Mahler 9th. (I guess that just leaves the 8th and the 3d, both of which were recorded last year?)
https://www.eclassical.com/conductors/vanska-osmo/mahler-symphony-no9.html

I think the price might reflect their per minute pricing and 80+ minutes.

 

[ubertrout]

What tha'...?!? The New York Phil has its own imprint now? Under Jaap van Zweden?

They've been doing this for a while! They did a Mahler Cycle with Maazel of exclusively digital releases.

 

[humprof]

The discounts aren't quite as steep as they used to be, but twelve dollars and change is still a good price for this week's featured new release on BIS, Vänskä's Mahler 9th. (I guess that just leaves the 8th and the 3d, both of which were recorded last year?)
https://www.eclassical.com/conductors/vanska-osmo/mahler-symphony-no9.html

Speaking of the 8th: here's a twelve-minute video about its production and recording. Not hugely informative, but there are some shots of the staging and the mic setup, and snippets of an interview with producer Rob Suff. (Thore Brinkmann of Take5 can also be seen in footage from the "patch" sessions, although he's not interviewed in the film.)
https://mnorch.vhx.tv/videos/the-making-of-mahler-8http://classicalmusicrecording.blogspot.com/2018/10/bis-records-and-take-5-music-production.html

 

[ubertrout]

Also, I don't know if this is a majority opinion, but I really like Jaap van Zweden. He's definitely not what the critics were looking for, but he's really good in the classical and romantic repertoire, and that in the end of the day is the most important thing to me. His Beethoven cycle (I think the first on SACD) is one of the better ones for both performance and sonics, and largely forgotten about. I think it was partly meant as a demonstration of the format.

 

[humprof]

Also, I don't know if this is a majority opinion, but I really like Jaap van Zweden. He's definitely not what the critics were looking for, but he's really good in the classical and romantic repertoire, and that in the end of the day is the most important thing to me. His Beethoven cycle (I think the first on SACD) is one of the better ones for both performance and sonics, and largely forgotten about. I think it was partly meant as a demonstration of the format.

Interesting--I didn't even know about that one. Yeah...he hasn't been a great fit for New York, and the critics there haven't been very kind to him, for sure. Kinder now that he's on his way out, paradoxically!

 

[Blackwood]

A pretty positive to review on Variety:

https://variety.com/2023/music/reviews/apple-music-classical-platform-app-review-1235573985/
"I don’t know how often I’ll open the Classical app over Music; there’s a lot of redundancy, and I only seek out classical music when I’m in a particular mood or looking for some education. But I’ll give the app a solid B+ for organizing a lot of the mess and for providing an intuitive guide through the maze."

 

[humprof]

Profile of JLA in today's Times, focusing on the overt political/environmental message of his latest work, Vespers of the Blessed Earth:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/arts/music/john-luther-adams-vespers-of-the-blessed-earth.html

Jazz pianist & music writer Ethan Iverson attended the premiere in Philadelphia last week (he liked the work a lot), and describes the performance in the latest entry of his Substack Transitional Technology:

Strings and percussion were spread out on the main stage; the choir in back of them; brass and winds were placed around the upper tier in the audience.​

Can't wait to hear a recording of this, hopefully one engineered and mixed in Atmos by Nathaniel Reichman.

 

[mkt]

Good timing

 

[4-earredwonder]

Coming April 21st from Colin Currie Records in Multi~CH SACD and recorded at Abbey Road Studios: Steve Reich: Music For 18 Musicians.

Watch a brief video and sample the various tracks from PRESTO MUSIC

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9456689--steve-reich-music-for-18-musicians
https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=15987

 

[ubertrout]

Coming April 21st from Colin Currie Records in Multi~CH SACD and recorded at Abbey Road Studios: Steve Reich: Music For 18 Musicians.

Watch a brief video and sample the various tracks from PRESTO MUSIC

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9456689--steve-reich-music-for-18-musicians
https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=15987

Will be interesting to compare - the only existing (very good) MCH recording is OOP.

 

[humprof]

Will be interesting to compare - the only existing (very good) MCH recording is OOP.

I wonder if @sjcorne has ever reached out to Innova to see if they'd be interested in selling a download?

As for the Colin Currie version, the group's website says this: "Mastered in Dolby Atmos, it will be available on SACD and via all major streaming and download services." The preview track streaming on Apple Music is spacious but not especially discrete. (It would be hard to get much isolation, I'd think, since the players really need to be able see and cue each other--although in the teaser video below, it looks like the two mallet players are playing along to previously recorded tracks?) Glimpses of the recording setup on Twitter and here:

 

[4-earredwonder]

Another amazing composition by Steve Reich entitled THE MALLET QUARTET performed by Sandbox Percussion

 

[Blackwood]

Putting aside a discussion of putting a solo guitar album in Atmos, the music itself is enjoyable.

 

[mkt]

I have so many of their recordings and thought that I shouldn’t pass up the chance to see them in person.
EDIT https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/...IvjD546s&giftCopy=4_Disclaimer&smid=url-share

 

[4-earredwonder]

NEW Multi~CH SACD release from Reference Recordings. Release date May 12th [3 SACDs]

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[Kal Rubinson]

NEW Multi~CH SACD release from Reference Recordings. Release date May 12th [3 SACDs]

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Already ordered. Hope it is more exciting than the recent Zhang/Stutzmann/Philadelphia set.