Ed Pong-you continue to up your game

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
It's almost becoming commonplace to proclaim each of Ed Pong's newest tapes as being better than the one it preceded but that's a fact. I keep saying I know very little about classical music but I do love listening to well recorded music regardless of the genre.

How Ed continues to find these young virtuosos who play so well is beyond me Recently we were introduced to his newest violinist Alena Baeva and what I heard was remarkable and totally different than Tatsuki Narita. I look forward to her upcoming recordings. Hopefully Tatsuki will return for more recordings and to play that amazing violin

Well Ed has had another live concert recently at his home and having listened to the two tapes with Ed's new cellist and pianist brought goose bumps and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up

Some of the music I have heard in the past but could never name the pieces but most of the music was new to me. I love the cello although I must admit I like the violin better but these two tapes were so real and with such a feeling of presence that if you are a subscriber to Ed's tapes these 2 are must adds to your collection.

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Narek Hakhnazaryan-cello

Benjamin Smith-Piano

The timbre and tone of his cello was as if I were there


Owning most of Ed's tapes I can say that they all stay out for weeks as I listen to them many times

The resonance of this cello is a must hear. In one of the tapes there is even a small amount of singing by Narek as he is playing much to the delight of the crowd. The applause was deafening

Some questions for Ed

1. Where do you find these talented young musicians

2. Do they come as a duo or do you put the two together

3.How decides on the music selections

4.How do they practice before the event at your house or do they only practice a few days before the event

Ed I remain hopeful that you'll bring some of your fine music to vinyl so more music lovers can appreciate how great it is
 

MadFloyd

Member Sponsor
May 30, 2010
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I wish there were samples of these on his site.

Plea to Ed: samples on each of the product pages would be wonderful.
 

Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
Yes - I know I've been kinda slow with all these new recordings....

Or - try a tape... you won't be disappointed... I just got this yesterday... on the Shostakovich tape Steve is talking about here....

"I received your package this afternoon and couldn't wait to listen to it. Just
fantastic! Everything about it begs for superlatives! The recording quality is
perfect and the performance is superb. An excellent example of technology in service
of art.
I couldn't be happier, thanks for all your efforts!"
 
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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Yes - I know I've been kinda slow with all these new recordings....

Or - try a tape... you won't be disappointed...

Ed

I second that Ian. You won't be disappointed. I suggest you try Ed's last recording with Tatsuki Narita. This young kid can play a violin that will leave you speechless
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Ed

can you answer a few of my questions above as to where you discover these talents as well as do they come as a team or do you put the two together. Who chooses the musical selections and where do they practice before the recording session
 

tapepath

Well-Known Member
Feb 19, 2014
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I received my copy of the Shostakovich/Elgar tape yesterday and can't stop thinking about how amazing it sounds. This is great music composed by a youthful Shostakovich full of all the unresolved tension and constantly moving energy that would hallmark his entire career played expertly by two extremely talented musicians for your enjoyment in your listening room. There is just so much to enjoy; the brilliant recording technique that wonderfully captures a spontaneous music event with such clarity and definition. The beautiful organic tones of the cello so perfectly rendered, the percussive impact of the piano with all the fantastic transients preserved expertly balanced without distortion. Even the audience applause is the most realistic I've ever heard.
My favorite part is the sonata's third movement, all of this section's somewhat bleak and introspective mood with it's vast expansive feeling of frozen Russian iciness comes through perfectly in this recording. If I wore a hat I would certainly take it off and tip it to Mr. Pong and his band of merry musicians who have provided us with such lovingly made musical wonderment. I can't wait to try another selection. Highly recommended!
 

Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
Steve,

This is the power of the internet... I look on Youtube for performances that move me & reach out to those artists.... I "found' cellist Narek almost 4 years ago, but it's taken this long to get him here for some music... but well worth the effort...

For me, to have these artists playing in my house is like a dream..... It's all about the music & an emotional performance of it.... if I can capture it on tape... it's special...

So I pick the repertoire we record... because if I never sell a tape... I have great stuff to listen to....

They come to my house for about 4-7 days, we rehearse, play ping-pong, go out to eat.... have fun... for these artists it's a fun week & that's the key to these recordings... when the artist is happy, we'll hear a great performance...

So they do not come as a duo, but I put them together... artists I like...
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Steve,

This is the power of the internet... I look on Youtube for performances that move me & reach out to those artists.... I "found' cellist Narek almost 4 years ago, but it's taken this long to get him here for some music... but well worth the effort...

For me, to have these artists playing in my house is like a dream..... It's all about the music & an emotional performance of it.... if I can capture it on tape... it's special...

So I pick the repertoire we record... because if I never sell a tape... I have great stuff to listen to....

They come to my house for about 4-7 days, we rehearse, play ping-pong, go out to eat.... have fun... for these artists it's a fun week & that's the key to these recordings... when the artist is happy, we'll hear a great performance...

So they do not come as a duo, but I put them together... artists I like...

you are a star in your abilities to put these young people together.
 

Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
Thanks Steve - it's all fun!

I'm hoping to put Alena, Narek & Yun-Yang together for some Beethoven Piano Trios.....! it'll be hard to schedule with their international careers... but I'll work on it...

Ed
 

Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
Steve,

I had an audiophile come from southern California, for 3 days, to Narek's concert & listen to the real master tape of "Tatsuki Narita"

He's on another Tape Forum... but if it's OK to put a link here, his posts maybe interesting for all here...

http://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1530081009

If not OK, let me know & I will remove...

I'd like to invite you to Alena's concert on March 2, 2019 with Yun-Yang at my house.... a chance to visit some friends in Toronto, & hear the live concert & the tapes....

Ed
 
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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Thanks Steve - it's all fun!

I'm hoping to put Alena, Narek & Yun-Yang together for some Beethoven Piano Trios.....! it'll be hard to schedule with their international careers... but I'll work on it...

Ed

when Tatsuki returns to your house for another session please send me an invite as I want to hear him play
 

Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
I got him a concert playing the Paganini Concerto No.1 in Koerner Hall, in January 2019... https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/telus-centre-performance-and-learning/koerner-hall

It's not the Toronto Symphony, but Koerner Hall is beautiful & has wonderful acoustics... Since I'm sponsoring this concert, I asked if I could record it... unfortunately the answer is NO...

If you're interested, i can find the exact date & details... he will spend sometime in my place, we have not talked about a concert, but it could happen..
 

MadFloyd

Member Sponsor
May 30, 2010
3,076
774
1,700
Mass
I second that Ian. You won't be disappointed. I suggest you try Ed's last recording with Tatsuki Narita. This young kid can play a violin that will leave you speechless

Hmm, I thought I did get that one, but it seems I got something different. I saw the buzz about the latest tape, noticed it was Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 3, but the one I got has Xiang Yu on violin (same pianist though). I see now that there are more than one recording...

Confusing. I really dislike the one page that has the audio samples as it's hard to know which tape it belongs to - or if you're trying to find samples of a title that is being recommended. If Ed put samples on each products page there would be no confusion. I'm very picky about chamber music. If there's too much reverb (even though it's natural in this case) I don't enjoy them (I like them more dry as if they were in my room) and some of the audio samples have a lot of room sound so I won't buy more without verifying that.

So, Ed, help me out. :D

I'll shut up now about this topic. :)
 

Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
For sure, everyone has their preferences... personally, a very dry sound I find tiring... I don't believe there is very much reverb in my tapes... but it maybe too much for you..
I've had people tell me it's too dry & want more reverb...

That's the fun of audio..
 

Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
Some interesting comments on the "Tatsuki Narita" tape from 1 week ago...

"Hi Ed,
Yes I got a chance to listen to the tape. It sounded great. I sat in the sweet spot of my system for about 10 minutes and then asked my wife if she would like to have a listen. She never got back up to relinquish the seat. She was mesmerized by the tape and loved it. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to listen to the tape again. I was able to set the level with the tone. "

Then a few days later, from him:

"Hi Ed,
I just got done listening to the tape for the second time and it is spectacular. It is like your in the room sitting in front of them. How many microphones were used and how were they placed? How do you raise the bar from here?"

I told him, to please the Mrs. is the ultimate compliment I could get.... & to raise the bar from here, you'll have to come to the live concert....

Ed
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator

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