I agree but, unfortunately, only available on Redbook CD or high resolution download.
State-of-the-Art Recordings of Classical Works (SACDs)
- Thread starter Yuen A.
- Start date
Pietro Locatelli Three Violin Concertos Finnish Baroque Orchestra/ILYA GRINGOLTS (BIS SACD 2445)
Gramophone says it all: "First, there’s the sheer energy and joy radiating out from what is a deliciously luminously stringy sound from the orchestra (a nimble ensemble of six violins, two violas, and one each of cello, double bass, harpsichord and lute). Then in comes Gringolts, equally full of stylish, multicoloured élan on his gut-stringed 1770 Gagliano – especially in the outer movements’ solo capriccios; and while you get a generous amount of bloom from the church, the musicians themselves have been captured with just the right degree of not-too-close immediacy for the end result to still sound thoroughly comfortable on the ear. Indeed, beautifully natural." Yes, the performances and sound quality are state-of-the-art! The soundscape is three-dimensional, tangible and resonant.
Seong-Jin Cho Ravel Complete Solo Piano Works (Deutsche Grammophon UCCG 45110 UHQ CD + MQA-CD)
BBC Music says: "Beauty of sound is one of the real strengths of Cho’s Ravel, whether it’s the seductive ripples of Jeux d'eau, the crystalline brilliance of the Sonatine or the glinting cascades of Une barque sur l’océan. The way he sculpts the music, using silence to potent effect, is superb too." Yes, beside beauty of sound, there is virtuosity, perfection and clarity. The sound quality is excellent.
The Prince Consort other love songs songs by Brahms and Stephen Hough The Prince Consort: Alisdair Hogarth (piano), Anna Leese (soprano), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor), Tim Mead (countertenor), Jacques Imbrailo (baritone) & Guest artists: Stephen Hough (piano), Philip Fowke (piano) (Linn Records CKD 382 SACD)
These are extremely lifelike recordings! Dynamics can be startling. The piano sparklers and sings (e.g., Hough: Other Love Songs VII. The Colour of His Hair). Articulations are excellent. The piano playing is excellent.
Alexander Scriabin Vers La Flamme Yevgeny Sudbin (piano) (BIS 2538 SACD)
The Guardian says: "Sudbin’s mastery of every technical challenge that Scriabin’s piano writing throws up is hugely impressive, the colours he finds in the music always beguiling … Sudbin humanises this music where Horowitz makes it forbidding and alien." Indeed, the entire color spectrum in the music is beautifully captured in the recording.
Yuen, I continue to enjoy your postings. Unlike the assault of countless others who simply post album covers that tell me nothing, your postings typically include excerpts or mini-reviews that give me a reason to want to listen! Thank you. Keep up the good work!
I would however comment that The Guardian walks perilously close to the edge when they critique Horowitz' Scriabin! "Don't fk with Horowitz when it comes to Scriabin" would be my reply to them! All in good humor of course. But the truth is that Horowitz had an understanding and affinity for Scriabin that remains unique among pianists.
It's really odd how certain pianists have a synergy, or not, with certain composers. Yuja Wang for example has a passion and a gift for Ligetti. Even more remarkable, some pianists avoid certain composers or individual works. Martha Argerich, for example, wouldn't record Beethoven's 4th or 5th Piano Concertos. Why? Who knows? Richter, whose repertoire was gigantic, only recorded Rach 2 and hardly performed the others. Nor did he record the Mozart Piano sonatas. Here's one that I never understood. While Richter recorded the incredibly difficult and demanding Liszt Sonata in B minor, he never recorded Liszt's Trancendental Etudes. Yunchan Lim however received even higher praise for his recording of that piece performed in the Cliburn semi-finals in 2022, than he did for his now widely acclaimed Rach 3 recently released on Decca. Go figure! (to be fair, the Lim's Rach 3 was criticized for technical and orchestral recording issues and not the piano playing which was unanimously reviewed as "other worldly".)
Hi Marty,
Yes, Yunchan Lim truly deserved high praise for his performance of Liszt's Transcendatal Etudes! Unfortunately, the Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto recording is marred by technical issues.
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64; Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32; Fantasy for orchestra after Dante Russian National Orchestra/ Mikhail Pletnev (Pentatone 5186 385 SACD)
Despite the negative comments from ClassicsToday, I find this performance competitive with the best there is. The BBC Music says: "it’s clear that this is an inspired performance, both purposeful – resulting in a slightly swifter tempo than the previous recording – and fully alive to the music’s emotional thrust: witness how Pletnev reveals the music’s underlying despair by his use of rubato in the molto espressivo episode which ends the first thematic subject." It's true that prior to upgrading my DAC to the V3 version, I found the strings too rough, but not now, it is just right to convey the music's emotional thrust. The brass especially has that distinctive brawny blast and what's more, the orchestra sounded alive in my listening room. I was won over by the sheer excitement of the performance.
Thank you for the heads up on the Sudbin Liszt, @Yuen A.. His is the only recording of the Tchaikovsky PC1 I can listen to, so I must give this a listen as well.
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Interesting!
Have you tried Argerich / Abbado, Berlin Phil, or her live recording with Kondrashyn - Bavarian?
Both are very dynamic, but not at the expense of expression. As usual, the live one is exciting, even thought he orch sounds a bit staid at times
I have tried! There aren’t many Tchaikovsky pieces that I like, and when I like one it’s often because of a left field recording or that the piece is over the top, like Capriccio Italien.
Virtually all BIS recordings are engineered extremely well, and will sound marvelously present and natural. It is one of my go-to audiophile labels.
Yes, BIS has always had very good sounding recordings.
This thread is rather long and I just recently got my first SACD player so I’m late too the party but learning.
The HDTT release of the sensational Jerry Bruck recording of the Horenstein and LSO studio Mahler 3 may have been covered here even if it’s download only, but if not I started a thread about it that turned out quite nice:
www.whatsbestforum.com
This thread is rather long and I just recently got my first SACD player so I’m late too the party but learning.
The HDTT release of the sensational Jerry Bruck recording of the Horenstein and LSO studio Mahler 3 may have been covered here even if it’s download only, but if not I started a thread about it that turned out quite nice:
Oooh, that Horenstein Mahler 3 HDTT release!
I bought and downloaded the PCM 24/192 2.0 and 4.0 bundle: https://www.highdeftapetransfers.ca/products/mahler-symphony-no-3-jascha-horenstein-lso This particular recording has maybe the best sound of a large orchestra (plus two choirs and a vocal soloist) that I have ever heard. And in 2.0 you...
www.whatsbestforum.com
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