• 11-12-2008, 01:37 PM
    emaidel
    More SACD's arrived today, with only one more to go.
    Actually, of the three discs that arrived today, one is not an SACD, but an "ordinary" CD of the Brahms "Ein Deutches Requiem" which is Gramophone's top choice. I thought I was ordering an SACD, but this recording (conducted by John Eliot Gardiner on Phillips) isn't available in that format, having been recorded in 1991.

    The two others that arrived are Valery Giergev's recording on Phillips of "Scheherezade," and Telarc's newest, Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinatti Orchestra with yet another recording of Mussorsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," orchestrated by Maurice Ravel.

    I had actually purchased a CD of Giergev's "Scheherezade" a few years back, and gave it away. The sound was so horribly overmodulated that I couldn't stand listening to it. I thought that the SACD wouldn't have those sonice shortcomings, and I was right. Still, this is far and away the loudest disc I've ever heard, and there's no reason for that. I had to crank the volume control back considerably to avoid shattering my eardrums, as well as my speakers!

    The best term I can think of for Giergev's performance is "furious." One can almost see him sweating like a pig while conducting this piece with unmitigated fury, and that makes for a most unusual and interesting interpretation of this famous work. Still, the sound seems to be a bit processed, so the definitive recording of this wonderful work still eludes me. I'd give the disc a solid "B," but nothing more.

    Then I put on the Mussorsky SACD. THIS is what an SACD should sound like!
    Jarvi plays this piece with such style that it seems as if much of it is brand new, but it is the phenomenal sonics on this Telarc SACD that now place this disc at the very top of my entire collection of any recorded material, regardless of the medium.

    I'm old enough to remember the phenomenon created in 1959 with the Command LP, "Persuasive Percussion." The sound of that record was far and away the best ever at the time, and the record was a huge success (and even pirated!). This Telarc SACD deserves the same accolades "Persuasive Percussion" received almost 50 years ago.

    It seems that on almost any recording of "Pictures...," "Night on Bald Mountain" is added. So it is here too, and what a thrilling piece of music it is on this disc.

    Anyone who doesn't believe in the superiority of the SACD medium need only listen to this disc on a high quality system. You won't be disappointed!
  • 11-12-2008, 04:09 PM
    kexodusc
    Nice finds...I am living vicariously through you..
  • 11-12-2008, 04:40 PM
    Feanor
    Awright
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by emaidel
    Actually, of the three discs that arrived today, one is not an SACD, but an "ordinary" CD of the Brahms "Ein Deutches Requiem" which is Gramophone's top choice. I thought I was ordering an SACD, but this recording (conducted by John Eliot Gardiner on Phillips) isn't available in that format, having been recorded in 1991.

    The two others that arrived are Valery Giergev's recording on Phillips of "Scheherezade," and Telarc's newest, Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinatti Orchestra with yet another recording of Mussorsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," orchestrated by Maurice Ravel.

    I had actually purchased a CD of Giergev's "Scheherezade" a few years back, and gave it away. The sound was so horribly overmodulated that I couldn't stand listening to it. I thought that the SACD wouldn't have those sonice shortcomings, and I was right. Still, this is far and away the loudest disc I've ever heard, and there's no reason for that. I had to crank the volume control back considerably to avoid shattering my eardrums, as well as my speakers!

    The best term I can think of for Giergev's performance is "furious." One can almost see him sweating like a pig while conducting this piece with unmitigated fury, and that makes for a most unusual and interesting interpretation of this famous work. Still, the sound seems to be a bit processed, so the definitive recording of this wonderful work still eludes me. I'd give the disc a solid "B," but nothing more.

    Then I put on the Mussorsky SACD. THIS is what an SACD should sound like!
    Jarvi plays this piece with such style that it seems as if much of it is brand new, but it is the phenomenal sonics on this Telarc SACD that now place this disc at the very top of my entire collection of any recorded material, regardless of the medium.

    I'm old enough to remember the phenomenon created in 1959 with the Command LP, "Persuasive Percussion." The sound of that record was far and away the best ever at the time, and the record was a huge success (and even pirated!). This Telarc SACD deserves the same accolades "Persuasive Percussion" received almost 50 years ago.

    It seems that on almost any recording of "Pictures...," "Night on Bald Mountain" is added. So it is here too, and what a thrilling piece of music it is on this disc.

    Anyone who doesn't believe in the superiority of the SACD medium need only listen to this disc on a high quality system. You won't be disappointed!

    Some good listening there: enjoy. :thumbsup:

    I have versions of all these standard works but none the same except for Ein Deutches Requiem by Gardner. Since you brought the work to mind, I'm listening to right now. :22:

    I have two versions of Scheherazade: Fritz Reiner / Chicago which is another RCA Living Stereo SACD, and Jose Serebrier / London Philharmonic, a Reference Recording HDCD. For sound I prefer the latter, though not necessarily because of the medium. I've been slightly underwhelmed by my Living Stereo SACDs both for sound & performance, but again it's not the medium.

    My Pictures and Bald Mountain are Lorin Maazel / Cleveland on Telarc but not SACD, I having bought it years before anybody had thought of SACD. Nevertheless it's an excellent recording.
  • 11-13-2008, 05:14 AM
    emaidel
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Feanor

    I have versions of all these standard works but none the same except for Ein Deutches Requiem by Gardner. Since you brought the work to mind, I'm listening to right now. :22:



    My Pictures and Bald Mountain are Lorin Maazel / Cleveland on Telarc but not SACD, I having bought it years before anybody had thought of SACD. Nevertheless it's an excellent recording.

    I listened to sections of the Gardiner version of the Brahms Requiem, and found it interesting, given the fact that period instruments are used, and the chorus is a good deal smaller than most on other recordings. Still, the recorded sound on Phillips is quite brittle (a common characteristic of many a Phillips CD I've noticed). The Robert Spano/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus SACD (another Telarc gem) just walks all over it. It's also the best recording of the piece to illustrate the low organ pedal notes that most other recordings just don't have. Naturally, it always reminds me of those notes during the live performance in which I was a participant, especially when our conductor (Saran Ionnides) often had to tell the organist to "back off" as he tended to be a bit showy at times.

    The Maazel/Telarc CD of "Pictures at an Exhibition" was remastered into an SACD that is something well worth purchasing, but since this new recording by Paavo Jarvi is so outstanding in so many ways, I'd suggest just getting it instead. I've never heard anything on my system sound so good!
  • 11-13-2008, 05:22 AM
    emaidel
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kexodusc
    Nice finds...I am living vicariously through you..

    Glad to be of service! The next disc to arrive is an ArkivMusic-recommended recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I've already got five recordings of that marvelous work, and am looking forward to this new one. I'll be delighted if it proves to be the definitive version.