emaidel
05-11-2008, 05:20 PM
I gratly admire Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" ("A German Requiem"). I wasn't familiar with the piece aside from the fourth movement, which, when sung in English, goes by the title, "How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place." After joining the Spartanburg Festival Chours, and performing the 7 movement piece along with the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra on April 19th, I can definitely say that I am very, very familiar with it now, and absolutely love this sprawling, truly majestic musical work.
I initially purchased two Telarc discs of the piece - one by Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and the other (in English) by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony. The Shaw disc gave me loads of trouble and usually refused to play without annoying ticking. The second replacement disc worked fairly well, but still with occasional ticking. Still, I preferred this rendition over that by the MTC, as that chorus is simply much too big for this work.
I also purchased an EMI disc with Simon Rattle conducting the piece. Rattle has some interesting interpretationss that are a bit startling, and most welcome, but the sound of the EMI recording, even though it's a relatively new one, is a bit thin and harsh, which, regretfully, is a common characteristic of many of Rattle's otherwise fine recordings.
The Shaw recording, played now on my Marantz SA-8001 plays flawlessly, and sounds nothing less than wonderful. Still, it's an older Telarc recording, done via the SoundStream recording system. Telarc has released a number of older recordings done on this recorder that have been remastered via the DSD process, and are available as 2-channel SACD's. The sonic improvements on such discs are astounding.
I sent Telarc an email asking if "Ein Deutsches Requiem" may be next on their list, but, not surprisingly, never got an answer. I've often stated how much a fan I am of Telarc recordings, but I have to say that their customer service often leaves much to be desired. Ultimately, past problems have been resolved to my satisfaction, but only after repeated emails, and nasty responses implying that messages were sent to me that in truth, never were.
Still, after checking for new SACD releases from Telarc, I was stunned to see that an all new SACD recording of this magnificent work (by Robert Spano and the Atlanta orchestra and chorus) will be released May 20th. Naturally, I placed an advance order and am all but salivating in anticipation of receiving it.
I've been both thorougly delighted, and somewhat disappointed in some of the newer Telarc SACD's, and sincerely hope that the former holds true for this recording. I'm looking forward to listening to it, and reporting my observations here on AR for others to read, and hopefully benefit from. My fervent desire is that it will be both a superb recording, and the definitive interpretation of the piece. That would truly be something!
More after May 20th.
I initially purchased two Telarc discs of the piece - one by Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and the other (in English) by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony. The Shaw disc gave me loads of trouble and usually refused to play without annoying ticking. The second replacement disc worked fairly well, but still with occasional ticking. Still, I preferred this rendition over that by the MTC, as that chorus is simply much too big for this work.
I also purchased an EMI disc with Simon Rattle conducting the piece. Rattle has some interesting interpretationss that are a bit startling, and most welcome, but the sound of the EMI recording, even though it's a relatively new one, is a bit thin and harsh, which, regretfully, is a common characteristic of many of Rattle's otherwise fine recordings.
The Shaw recording, played now on my Marantz SA-8001 plays flawlessly, and sounds nothing less than wonderful. Still, it's an older Telarc recording, done via the SoundStream recording system. Telarc has released a number of older recordings done on this recorder that have been remastered via the DSD process, and are available as 2-channel SACD's. The sonic improvements on such discs are astounding.
I sent Telarc an email asking if "Ein Deutsches Requiem" may be next on their list, but, not surprisingly, never got an answer. I've often stated how much a fan I am of Telarc recordings, but I have to say that their customer service often leaves much to be desired. Ultimately, past problems have been resolved to my satisfaction, but only after repeated emails, and nasty responses implying that messages were sent to me that in truth, never were.
Still, after checking for new SACD releases from Telarc, I was stunned to see that an all new SACD recording of this magnificent work (by Robert Spano and the Atlanta orchestra and chorus) will be released May 20th. Naturally, I placed an advance order and am all but salivating in anticipation of receiving it.
I've been both thorougly delighted, and somewhat disappointed in some of the newer Telarc SACD's, and sincerely hope that the former holds true for this recording. I'm looking forward to listening to it, and reporting my observations here on AR for others to read, and hopefully benefit from. My fervent desire is that it will be both a superb recording, and the definitive interpretation of the piece. That would truly be something!
More after May 20th.