State-of-the-Art Recordings of Classical Works (SACDs)

[Yuen A.]

Catalogue No: PTC5186059 SACD

Another great recording! Here, Fischer's violin sounded so vividly present, tender, pure, sweet, and precise. Tone-color, inflexions and dynamics are perfect! There is plenty of space and air around the violin. The orchestra also sounded alive, reverberant and real.

 

[Yuen A.]

Vadim Gluzman (violin), Angela Yoffe (piano)

Bloch, E: Nigun (Baal Shem No. 2) Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Figaro Variations from Rossini's `The Barber of Seville' Francescatti: Polka, Op. 22 Gardner, Stephen: Prelude Halffter, E: Habanera Kreisler: La Gitana Medtner: Fairy Tale Ravel: Tzigane Ries: La Capricciosa Rota: Improvviso in re minore Schumann: Traümerei (from Kinderszenen, Op. 15) Wieniawski: Fantaisie brillante on themes from Gounod's Faust, Op. 20 Catalogue No: BIS SACD 1652

Astonishing virtuosity and energy! Here, you get the sense of actual musicians playing actual instruments in an actual room.

 

[Yuen A.]

Linn CKD 211 SACD

I love the flowing rhythms, the clarity of texture, the choir of soaring heavenly voices, the dramatic brass and the emotive strings. This recording captures the string attacks and the burr on the edge of brass notes that make the sound very vivid. The sense of hall space and reverberant was marvelous.

 

[Yuen A.]

EndBeginning Antoine BRUMEL Missa pro defunctis Libera me, Domine (plainsong) Thomas CRECQUILLON Lamentationes Jeremiæ Jacobus CLEMENS NON PAPA Tristitia obsedit me - Infelix ego Josquin DESPREZ Absalon fili mi In paradisum (plainsong) Jackson HILL Ma fin est mon commencement New York Polyphony (Geoffrey Williams (counter-tenor), Geoffrey Silver (tenor), Christopher Dylan Herbert (baritone), Craig Phillips (bass)) BIS SACD 1949

Immerse yourself in the sound world of mostly 16th-century Franco-Flemish composers. Here, the New York Polyphony, the all-male vocal quartet, sounded sublime, vibrant, rich, enthralling and like the real thing. There is plenty of space and air around the voices in a reverberant space. Play loud.

 

[Yuen A.]

TCHAIKOVSKY: Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher, Op. 42. Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35. Vadim Gluzman, violin; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton. BIS -1432 SACD

Listen to this astonishing virtuoso performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto! This recording captured the string buzz, ferule click, etc. which serve to amplify the energy with which Gluzman performs. Gluzman's Stradivarius violin sounded real in a concert hall setting via my sound system.

 

[Yuen A.]

Mahler Symphony No. 2, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fisher. Channel Classics SA 23506

Hi guys, Use the SACD 2 (there are 2 SACDs here) as a demonstration disc. What a fantastic ride! The fortissimos are awesome and scary and effortless. The baselines are clear, deep and earthshaking! The timpani sounded real and has great impact. The soaring voices are divine. Every instruments here sounded alive, pure, and true to life. The woodwinds are airy. The brass blare. The strings are sweet, tender and emotive. The soundstage is huge and totally transparent. The recording venue is nicely reverberant.

 

[astrotoy]

I have quite a few of the Channel Classics albums as mch and stereo downloads and rips of SACDs from my modified Playstation 3. The Julia Fischer albums (before she moved to Decca) and the Ivan Fischer albums with his Budapest Festival Orchestra are very fine. Julia and Ivan are not related AFAIK. Jared Sacks, founder of Channel Classics, does the recordings. His son Jonas runs Native DSD where I bought the downloads. Larry

 

[jeffreybehr]

View attachment 104509

SACD - 60597

If there ever such a thing as a perfect performance/recording, this is one such! The sound is very close to that of a live, resonant experience. The sound is immersive, on occasions, heartbreaking, totally transparent and pure. The resonance, timbre, texture and tone of all the instruments are spot-on. However, to me, this new level of sound performance is only possible with the inclusion of the Ansuz Acoustic D-TC Supreme and D--TC2 signal cables, D-TC PowerBox (grounding), D-TC resonance control footers, Shunyata Sigma power cables, EMM Labs SACD transport and DV2 DAC, Magico M2, Magico Q-Sub 15, and Critical Mass Systems Maxxum rack and amp. stand.

I agree heartily, having just received my used copy of this based on your observations.. TELARC's microfone distancing is a lit more distant than it is when they recorded the Cincinatti Pops/Kunsel, and it's about perfect! It sounds quite natural on my system which includes none of your equipment.

 

[Yuen A.]

PROKOFIEV Symphony No.6 in E Flat minor Op.111 Lieutenant Kijé - Suite Symphonique Op.60 The Love of Three Oranges - Symphonic Suite Op.33b Andrei Bondarenko (baritone) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton
BIS-SACD-1994

Listen especially to the Lieutenant Kijé Suite and the Love of Three Oranges for sound quality. Here, the soundstage is very transparent. Dynamics are off-the-charts. The bass drum sounded tangible, full, thunderous, pounding and resonant. In fact all instruments here sounded true to life and vivid, with a great sense of presence and dimensions. Play loud.

 

[Yuen A.]

Sergei RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (1901) Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 (1934) Lang Lang (piano) Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre/Valery Gergiev. DG SACD 28947 75499

If you want to know what a Steinway Concert Grand Piano - Model D sounds like, this is the disc to listen to. This recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 takes you to the piano bench! You can hear its bell-like treble, warm, rich, spine-tingling timbre, powerful, thunderous bass, highly dynamic, and naturally long sustaining tone. Lang Lang virtuosity is astonishing. Every piano note 'sing'!

 

[Tuckers]

You can't go wring with TRPTK, an amazing label and state of the art sound. Most of their titles are available as SACD, but I listen to the 32bit DXD versions (32bit 384K DXD). Here is one of my favorites. Classical Bass!

Canto Interno

 

[Tuckers]

Another TRPTK, Beautifully rendered piano.

The Schumann Collection Vol 1

 

[Tuckers]

Classical/jazz improvisational. Just beautiful piano, resonant, vibrant, warm.

Qope - Reverie

 

[Tuckers]

One of my favorite artists, Rachel Poger, records on Channel Classics and they have excellent sound quality. Her interpretations of baroque music are some of my favorites. This is a stunning album. I have it in DSD512. Perhaps the best DSD recording I've heard of violin. She plays a particularly fine Guarneri violin from the period as well. A master!

Rachel Poger - Tutta Sola

DSD512 HERE

 

[jeffreybehr]

View attachment 104509

SACD - 60597

If there ever such a thing as a perfect performance/recording, this is one such! The sound is very close to that of a live, resonant experience. The sound is immersive, on occasions, heartbreaking, totally transparent and pure. The resonance, timbre, texture and tone of all the instruments are spot-on. However, to me, this new level of sound performance is only possible with the inclusion of the Ansuz Acoustic D-TC Supreme and D--TC2 signal cables, D-TC PowerBox (grounding), D-TC resonance control footers, Shunyata Sigma power cables, EMM Labs SACD transport and DV2 DAC, Magico M2, Magico Q-Sub 15, and Critical Mass Systems Maxxum rack and amp. stand.

You are so correct; I haven't heard all of TELARC's multichannel recordings, but htis is a masterpiece of spaciousness, natural instrumental sounds, etc.. TY so much for recommending it.

 

[Yuen A.]

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Nielsen: Symphony No. 5 Op. 50
Paavo Järvi, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Telarc SACD-60615

Another great, totally transparent recording. The dynamics are startling and close to the real thing. The soundstage has the realistic sense of space, breadth and depth. The woodwinds sounded airy and like the real thing. The brass has the right overtone structure. The timbre of the string instruments sounded 'right'. The bass line is deep, clear and resonant. The bass drum is awesome and lifelike.

 

[Yuen A.]

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Live - Works by Gabrieli, Bach, Revueltas, Prokofiev, Grainger, and Walton. Dale Clevenger, Jay Friedman, Michael Mulcahy, Mark Ridenour (conductors) CSO Resound 9011103

Wow, the world renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra brass is on display in all its glory! The sound is spectacular, stunning, and thrilling. Transients with sharp leading edges were reproduced accurately.

 

[Yuen A.]

Mahler Symphony No. 6 in A Minor "Tragic". Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink. CSO Resound 901804 SACD

In my opinion, this is a very heartfelt and intense Mahler 6. The richness and the delicacy of Mahler's orchestral palette are fully on display here. The soundstage was truly transparent, atmospheric and deep, with every instrument occupying a clearly defined three-dimensional space. The bassline was deep, resonant, effortless and clear. Every instrument sounded lifelike and pure. Fortissimos were awesome and thunderous.

 

[Yuen A.]

Sivan Magen (Harp) Fantasien - Bach, C P E: Fantasie in E-Flat Major, H. 277, Wq. 58 / 6 Brahms: Fantasies (7 piano pieces), Op. 116 Brahms: Intermezzi (3), Op. 117 Brahms: Fantasie on Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin Walter-Kühne: Fantasie in D Minor, K. 397 Bach, J S: Chromatische Fantasie in D Minor, BWV 903 Renié: Ballade fantastique (D'après "Le coeur révélateur" d'Edgar Poe) Linn Records CKD441SACD

This recording produces a realistic image of the harpist performing in a real space and the capturing of some mechanical noise from the instrument adds to its physicality. Via my sound system, there was a sense of vivid presence derived from loudness, dynamics and the reverberation of sound from all around. Instrumental texture and color were accurately reproduced.

 

[Yuen A.]

Katherine Bryan: Silver Bow​

Katherine Bryan (flute) Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Jac van Steen

Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending (Arr. for Flute and Orchestra) Saint-Saens Camille: Introduction et Rondo capriccioso, Op. 28 (Arr. for Flute and Orchestra) Shostakovich: The Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a: Romance (Arr. for Flute and Orchestra) Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 24 in A minor Massenet: Thais: Méditation (Arr. for Flute and Orchestra) Kreisler: Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen: Liebesleid (Arr. for Flute and Orchestra) Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 (Arr. for Flute and Orchestra) Linn Records CKD520

These are virtuoso showpieces that will make your heart flutter! Katherine Bryan performances are stunning and the Scottish National Orchestra provide marvelous support. Listen especially to the heart wrenching but also beautiful The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams! Via my sound system, the orchestra bassline sounded full, weighty, resonant and like the real thing! Bryan's flute sounded airy, light, ethereal, graceful, slivery and real. The orchestra strings sounded rich, luscious, emotive and lifelike.