Beethoven SACD??????

[kexodusc]

Bethoven's 5th and 7th, Kleiber, Deutsche Grammaphone on SACD is one of the very best SACD's I've heard.

It was recorded originally for the quadraphonic format - so you're listening to a legendary recording the way it was meant to be heard - in multi-channel. This disc should come standard with every SACD player, IMO.

[bobsticks]

I'm not familiar with the Kleiber but I trust Kexo, and he seems emphatic enough. I own the Walter SACD, and while I agree that there is a fair amount of hiss, the quality of the performance makes it a wash for me.
Check out the "Living Stereos" Violin Concerto in D and the 5th Symphony/6th Symphony 'Pastoral'" as both have comendable performances and good sq.
If DVD-A is an option Silverline Clasic's Symphony No.5 and No.3 might be a good bet, especially if median recording levels are that big of an issue.

Have fun...

[Feanor]

Bethoven's 5th and 7th, Kleiber, Deutsche Grammaphone on SACD is one of the very best SACD's I've heard.

It was recorded originally for the quadraphonic format - so you're listening to a legendary recording the way it was meant to be heard - in multi-channel. This disc should come standard with every SACD player, IMO.

While Kleiber's performances are super, the same isn't true of the multi-channel on this SACD; the multichannel effect is relatively unconvincing and the over all sound quality is mediocre (in the DGG mold). Unfortunately I don't have another Beethoven I can recommend but I do have a few much better SACD multi-channel recordings.

[kexodusc]

While Kleiber's performances are super, the same isn't true of the multi-channel on this SACD; the multichannel effect is relatively unconvincing and the over all sound quality is mediocre (in the DGG mold). Unfortunately I don't have another Beethoven I can recommend but I do have a few much better SACD multi-channel recordings.

Well I'll respect your opinion and chalk it up to personal preference - though it often suggested as the best Beethoven mc mix on most SACD forums I frequent. Maybe it is the performance carrying the disc, but I feel it captures the ambience almost perfectly.
But let's say it does suck - the 2.0 mix in hi-rez is still worth the price of this disc!!!!

Here's one of the better reviews I've read on it.
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/re...umber=18786010

I also have the Karajan version of the 5th (which I bought just to get the 6th). It's nowhere near as good, but it is still a very good mc disc. Some people like the 6th more than the 7th (most probably), I always thought the 7th was underrated. I can't remember which lable did the Karajan SACD.

Personally, I didnt' think much of my vinyl and CD version of the Kleiber DGG performance. SACD sold me that it is one of, if not the best, recording of the 5th.

[Woochifer]

Well I'll respect your opinion and chalk it up to personal preference - though it often suggested as the best Beethoven mc mix on most SACD forums I frequent. Maybe it is the performance carrying the disc, but I feel it captures the ambience almost perfectly.
But let's say it does suck - the 2.0 mix in hi-rez is still worth the price of this disc!!!!

Here's one of the better reviews I've read on it.
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/re...umber=18786010

On your recommendation, I did buy that Kleiber SACD (Best Buy was selling it for $12) and while the recording quality is good, I was even more impressed with the performance -- definitely one of the better interpretations of the 5th and 7th that I've heard. It seems that a lot of these ported quad recordings do a decent job of conveying the hall ambience, and put more of the hall reverberations into the surrounds. I would put the Kleiber disc into the same category. Some of the newer multichannel recordings, seem to feature less of the hall reverb and emphasize more precise placement of the front soundstage and the side imaging. It only falls a little short IMO with the dynamics where other multichannel SACDs I've heard seem to do a better job. But, the instruments are well differentiated and the tonality is pretty good.

And it's a lot better than Telarc's recording of the 9th with Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony. The multichannel track sounds flat, but the performance is even less inspiring.

I also have the Karajan version of the 5th (which I bought just to get the 6th). It's nowhere near as good, but it is still a very good mc disc. Some people like the 6th more than the 7th (most probably), I always thought the 7th was underrated. I can't remember which lable did the Karajan SACD.

Karajan was DG all the way. He's recorded at least three full Beethoven cycles with the Berlin Philharmonic (I have no idea which ones have been remixed for multichannel). The last one he did in the late-80s was Karajan's only digitally recorded Beethoven cycle. I got those on CD and compared to other performances I've heard subsequently, Karajan's interpretations come across as overly clinical. I also found the recording quality to be decent, but nothing special. The version of Beethoven's 9th from Karajan's late-70s cycle was better, but the recording there seemed to suffer from excessive multitracking. I don't know anything about how it was actually recorded, but it seemed to have some of the same issues as other mid-70s classical recordings.