What are you currently listening to (Classical)?

[LL21]

i really like this one a lot...something incredibly well balanced between delivering mystical/adventurous sweep and an almost cerebral attention to detail, tempo, nuance.

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a nice review...
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/music/richter_sibelius_cd.htm

 

[Bachtoven]

 

[Bachtoven]

I bought this LP for $3.99 yesterday on "Record Store Day." Direct-to-disc recordings do not allow for any editing, so what we hear is exactly what he played! His playing is quite bold and muscular, as well as remarkably clean considering how difficult this music is. The sound is good but a little distant and hollow. The notes state that a single stereo mic was placed in the 10th row, and for best sound listeners should "reverse the polarity of both speakers." I don't think so...

 

[NorthStar]

That's a nice picture album cover, a nice price and a nice record label...Sheffield Lab. If LPs were all around that price, vinyl would take over digital. :b

 

[Bachtoven]

Fantastic music, playing, and sound.

 

[Bachtoven]

Fantasia and Sonata in C minor. This set has perhaps the most realistic piano sound I have yet heard. Wonderful playing, too.

 

[Bachtoven]

A powerful performance and wonderfully recorded in SACD audio.

 

[Bachtoven]

 

[Bachtoven]

Searing performances and very good sound. I bought the disc for $1.99, but I plan to get Leinsdorf's CD box set as there is a fair amount of surface noise and a few nasty clicks.

 

[ChrisH]

Searing performances and very good sound. I bought the disc for $1.99, but I plan to get Leinsdorf's CD box set as there is a fair amount of surface noise and a few nasty clicks.

The Fiery Angel is such and underrated symphony and opera.

 

[Bachtoven]

Excellent playing and sound. The SACD audio does show that DG can make good recordings on occasion!

 

[Kefas]

Lovely new Sound Liaison album, their first purely classical download, but as always impeccable SQ.

Levan Tskhadadze (clarinet) and Izhar Elias (guitar) play their instruments with an incredible transparency, refined articulation and subtle musical colours. It is their own story they create. Their music speaks as if they are talking with each other through their instruments.

On introduction sale at the moment ;http://www.soundliaison.com/

 

[hifidez]

I have booked to see the Royal Philharmonic at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn in late October. The main piece is Sibelius 2, which I'm not familiar with. So I am listening to it almost daily at the moment. And I like what I hear. LSO Live (at 24/96) is the download I went for.

 

[LL21]

 

[LL21]

 

[Jazzhead]

 

[Jazzhead]

 

[APP]

I have booked to see the Royal Philharmonic at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn in late October. The main piece is Sibelius 2, which I'm not familiar with. So I am listening to it almost daily at the moment. And I like what I hear. LSO Live (at 24/96) is the download I went for.

That is a fantastic piece of Music. On the Sibelius forum there is a discussion about the ''best'' version;http://sibelius.forumup.com/about519-sibelius.html

 

[APP]

Sound Liaison, Carrousel

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Lovely new Sound Liaison album, their first purely classical download, but as always impeccable SQ.

On introduction sale at the moment ;http://www.soundliaison.com/

Yes, I agree, a very impressive recording.
And interesting what they write about the hall;

The recording was made in studio 5 of the Dutch Broadcasting building.
The hall is very big and has unique acoustic qualities. The wooden walls and wooden ceiling are acoustically optimized by thousands of acoustic ports, eliminating flutter echo and uneven frequencies.

liner notes:http://www.soundliaison.com/studio-masters/224-levan-tskhadadze-izhar-elias-carrousel

 

[Fiddle Faddle]

I just got a PM from another member asking if I had bought any recent classical vinyl reissues that I like since I last posted. Their inbox is too full to receive any replies so I will put them here:

Two excellent Speakers Corner reissues of Isaac Stern on Columbia - Bartok and Stravinsky violin concertos. Fully analogue reissues as is always the case with this label:

http://www.speakerscornerrecords.com/products/details/60022/bartok-violin-concerto

http://www.speakerscornerrecords.com/products/details/6331/stravinsky-violin-concerto

And also two fantastic releases from Universal under the DGG label. These are from 24/95 masters made from the old analogue tapes but they still sound great and the performances are excellent in my opinion. These sound much better than when this material was released on CD (at least to me). I'm not even a Strauss-y type of person but even I got enthusiastic about this release.

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/au/cat/4795890

And then this one. An eclectic program of Mozart, Beethoven, Smetana and Liszt that you might think was a "programmed" concert but it is a late 50s "studio" recording. There is a strange left / right intermittent balance issue in the Egmont at the end of side 1 but it exists on the digital download and I suspect it was like that fresh from the recording session. Does not detract too much from a really wonderful hour of listening:

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/au/cat/4795889