SPOTLIGHT The classical music general discussion thread

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humprof said:
Stile Antico, who have done quite a few immersive (and beautifully recorded) albums on Harmonia Mundi--including a couple of Christmas-themed albums--are set to record two albums in Atmos over the next few years:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classi...-antico-to-release-trilogy-of-albums-on-decca
Interesting that they're moving to Decca--and that Decca are going Atmos!
Click to expand...

Have several of their recordings, humprof, and this new direction and label sounds fantastic.

BTW, do you have this 2 SACD Mch set:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009K9PCA?tag=hraudio-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
81ESBin6LpL._SL1400_.jpg
 
humprof said:
Gramophone's take on the "50 Best Mahler Recordings":

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-50-greatest-mahler-recordings
This kind of thing is always fraught, but I can never resist. (And besides, I'm too much of a dilettante to argue.) Not a lot of surround recordings on the list, but some, including a couple each by Rattle, MTT, Fischer, and select LSOs, plus de Vriend's 1st (1893 ver.) and Thomas Dausgaard's 10th. I'm sure I'm missing a few...
Click to expand...
A fair number of these are in surround:
https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=1968https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=6336https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=6205https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=4785https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=1967HRAudio.net - Mahler: Symphony No. 3 - Nott (also in a box)
https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=5765https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphony-Rattle-Berlin-Philharmonic/dp/B00008NJG6 (DVD set includes unadvertised DVD-A)
HRAudio.net - Mahler: Symphony No. 6 - Gergiev (also in a box)
https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=2888https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=5416https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=4789https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=13639HRAudio.net - Mahler: Symphonies 8 & 10 (Adagio) - Tilson Thomas (also in a box)
https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphony-Extended-Audio-Disc/dp/B000CS4JAC/https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=6088https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphony-No-10-DVD-Audio/dp/B00005B8AC/https://www.seattlesymphony.org/watch-listen/recordings/mahler10https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=4743
Also Bernstein and Abbado's filmed cycles (Abbado missing 8) both have surround tracks.

And...although none of Barbirolli's stuff is in surround, it's nonetheless wonderful and well worth checking out on streaming.
 
mkt said:
Not new but I found this roundtable with some leading classical surround folks interesting. Lots of neat mic pics.
http://classicalmusicrecording.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-state-of-art-are-we-recording-score.html
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing this blog post. It's interesting to see the different approaches and reflects my experience with classical surround music. My favorite mixes take the approach of the first engineer with the microphone array in the center of the orchestra. My least favorite mixes are similar to the later engineers who seem obsessed (overly in my opinion) with capturing the concert hall as an instrument.

Personally I like hearing instruments without echo and find any attempt to re-create the concert hall space sound in one's living room to be a futile activity. I think some of my bias also comes from playing in orchestras / marching bands throughout high school / university, so I prefer to have a sense of being in the middle of the sounds rather than a distant listener.
 
harync said:
Thanks for sharing this blog post. It's interesting to see the different approaches and reflects my experience with classical surround music. My favorite mixes take the approach of the first engineer with the microphone array in the center of the orchestra. My least favorite mixes are similar to the later engineers who seem obsessed (overly in my opinion) with capturing the concert hall as an instrument.

Personally I like hearing instruments without echo and find any attempt to re-create the concert hall space sound in one's living room to be a futile activity. I think some of my bias also comes from playing in orchestras / marching bands throughout high school / university, so I prefer to have a sense of being in the middle of the sounds rather than a distant listener.
Click to expand...

I missed that post by @mkt. I agree: that's a really interesting conversation (in spite of the awkward translation!)--with interesting participants. Lots of great technical info and diagrams. I'm always interested in hearing anything released on Lindberg's and Shore's labels, and I know they share the same general philosophical approach to immersive recording. In the years since that roundtable, meanwhile, Jim and Ulrike Anderson have begun ramping up their Atmos mixing (or at least they had begun, pre-pandemic)--though possibly more for small and large jazz ensembles than for orchestras..

Good to hear Lindberg speak about the care he takes with each individual mix, from stereo through 5.1, 7.1, and Atmos. Also nice to hear how SL works closely with composers as they set up recording sessions.
 
humprof said:
Gramophone's take on the "50 Best Mahler Recordings":

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-50-greatest-mahler-recordings
This kind of thing is always fraught, but I can never resist. (And besides, I'm too much of a dilettante to argue.) Not a lot of surround recordings on the list, but some, including a couple each by Rattle, MTT, Fischer, and select LSOs, plus de Vriend's 1st (1893 ver.) and Thomas Dausgaard's 10th. I'm sure I'm missing a few...
Click to expand...
Any thoughts on this collection? The review at hraudio seems positive.
1606936172317.png

https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=11470#
 
humprof said:
Just so you know: that happens to be this week's discounted recording at eClassical (discount expires soon, I think).
https://www.eclassical.com/kellermann-jacob/bis2485.html
Click to expand...

Well, humprof, since I don't download [at this time] at that price in 5.0, seemingly a NO BRAINER!

I ONLY wish in A.D. 2021, BISSIE would be a little more adventuresome with his surround mixes.....perhaps he'd sell MORE SACDS!
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone - I feel like this was probably asked and answered at some point, but I can't find it so please excuse me if this is redundant. I have been getting into surround sound only recently and naturally, it is changing my WORLD. This from a lifelong music geek across all genres.

Anyway - my wife said to me, "wow, this really does sound incredible... I'd love to hear some classical music this way." Now, I know that's a major rabbit hole - and when I went to Princeton Record Exchange recently and saw a whole bin of like $1-$5 surround discs... I had no idea where to start and felt like it was probably going to be a mixed bag overall. So I needed to reach out to the big guns (you) for some advice on what might be a good way to wade into the pool.

I fully realize that this is an extremely vague question... but if I were to ask you what you would say are like, the top 10 absolutely essential, showcase/demo classical releases in surround, would that be something you could even answer? Have you done that already somewhere that I can't find? Hopefully you see this as a fun challenge and not an annoyance.

I am interested chiefly in what would be mind-blowing experiences in surround, so, really great recordings and mixes...and then the content, although I realize that's where there's a wide variety. In general I certainly like the well-known stalwarts but have played in orchestras in my school days so I'm OK with some adventure too. Not picky about format other than it being digital.

What say ye? (and thanks in advance!)
 
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RustyStatic said:
Hi everyone - I feel like this was probably asked and answered at some point, but I can't find it so please excuse me if this is redundant. I have been getting into surround sound only recently and naturally, it is changing my WORLD. This from a lifelong music geek across all genres.

Anyway - my wife said to me, "wow, this really does sound incredible... I'd love to hear some classical music this way." Now, I know that's a major rabbit hole - and when I went to Princeton Record Exchange recently and saw a whole bin of like $1-$5 surround discs... I had no idea where to start and felt like it was probably going to be a mixed bag overall. So I needed to reach out to the big guns (you) for some advice on what might be a good way to wade into the pool.

I fully realize that this is an extremely vague question... but if I were to ask you what you would say are like, the top 10 absolutely essential, showcase/demo classical releases in surround, would that be something you could even answer? Have you done that already somewhere that I can't find? Hopefully you see this as a fun challenge and not an annoyance.

I am interested chiefly in what would be mind-blowing experiences in surround, so, really great recordings and mixes...and then the content, although I realize that's where there's a wide variety. In general I certainly like the well-known stalwarts but have played in orchestras in my school days so I'm OK with some adventure too. Not picky about format other than it being digital.

What say ye? (and thanks in advance!)
Click to expand...
I was just at PREX today! First time since March. They scaled back the classical SACD section back but still have an excellent assortment at great prices. Are you looking for active surround or just all-around first class recording/presentation, even if the surround mix is more ambient?
 
Nice on the trip to PREX!

I would probably lean toward more active, I guess I would say - but if some ambient titles would be in your list of essentials, fire away!
 
RustyStatic said:
Nice on the trip to PREX!

I would probably lean toward more active, I guess I would say - but if some ambient titles would be in your list of essentials, fire away!
Click to expand...
So, if you want active TACET's releases are probably where to look. For a more traditional mix Channel, BIS, and Pentatone all do excellent work, among others. I'd point to Julia Fischer's recordings for Pentatone, Ivan Fischer's recordings for Channel (no relation), and Osmo Vanska's recordings for BIS, among many others.
 
For a dynamic surround sound experience, look no further than this Shostakovich 5 by Ormandy/The Philadelphia Orchestra. It's an old quad mix brought forth to us by Dutton-Vocalion and boy, is it brought forth to life!

81gJly6VmFL._SX425_.jpg


If you want to try something more offbeat, there's always The Planets: Ultimate Edition by the late Isao Tomita. It's bonkers but brilliant in equal measure - link. I don't have time to post more but you're in good hands here with the recommendations that follow - happy shopping and happy listening :)
 
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