Thread: Britten 100

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Post by Euell Neverno June 12, 2013 (21 of 56)
Jonalogic said:

OK, so I won't.

Clever !

Post by hiredfox June 21, 2013 (22 of 56)
Last evening we listened to one of the most astounding recordings we've heard in a very long while that will more than satisfy those who crave special treats for Britten's centennial celebration.

James Ehnes has recorded the Britten & Shostokovitch Violin Concerti with the BSO under Kirill Karabits with performances that in my view have no peers in the catalogue. With outstanding artistic interpretation coupled with deeply emotive expression and consummate technical skill, James Ehnes has produced interpretations of these difficult works that almost defy rational description and stand apart from anything else that we have heard. It is difficult not to fall into the trap of over praising these performance but surely this disc will figure in competitions for Instrumental Disc of the Year. Anybody who hears it will buy it.

The only downside I can see is that it is not a SACD and of course it has all the frustrating hallmarks of 44/16 recording but of it's genre it's as good as any for sound. The disc was recorded this year by Onyx so is likely they used high res and probable we'll get a high res download at some stage... but for now,take my word, just buy it even if you hate RBCD.

Onyx 4113

Post by Jonalogic June 21, 2013 (23 of 56)
hiredfox said:

Last evening we listened to one of the most astounding recordings we've heard in a very long while that will more than satisfy those who crave special treats for Britten's centennial celebration.

James Ehnes has recorded the Britten & Shostokovitch Violin Concerti with the BSO under Kirill Karabits with performances that in my view have no peers in the catalogue. With outstanding artistic interpretation coupled with deeply emotive expression and consummate technical skill,

...The only downside I can see is that it is not a SACD and of course it has all the frustrating hallmarks of 44/16 recording but of it's genre it's as good as any for sound.

Interesting, thank you. Nice coupling, the two finest violin concertos of the 20th century (IMHO) on one disc has to be a good idea.

However, what with this and the Chandos Britten Violin/Piano Concerto disc also in glowing RBCD, you can probably hear my teeth gnashing from miles away!

Thus far, Hindemith seems to be doing rather better than Britten in the Anniversary SACD release stakes.

Post by Chris June 21, 2013 (24 of 56)
Jonalogic said:

Interesting, thank you. Nice coupling, the two finest violin concertos of the 20th century (IMHO) on one disc has to be a good idea.

However, what with this and the Chandos Britten Violin/Piano Concerto disc also in glowing RBCD, you can probably hear my teeth gnashing from miles away!

Thus far, Hindemith seems to be doing rather better than Britten in the Anniversary SACD release stakes.

Why settle for lowly rbcd sound when the Chandos Britten release at least is already available as a 24/96 masterfile DL?
The same applies to The Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, the Gloriana Suite and the Cello Symphony,an excellent release in glorious sound.
Complex large scale symphonic music on rbcd is not enjoyable imo. But I have on loan from my local library the EMI Pappano Tristan rbcd set together with the full score in an attempt to be able to listen with the score, uninterrupted for longer than my two LP sets allow me to. But I gave up after less than an LP side's length.

Uninvolving and lifeless and constricted and closed in and dull and not even close to how wonderful this great music can sound in good sound.
Music for me is a very sensual enjoyment,and Tristan especially so.
I will either buy the Pentatone SACDs or wait for it to appear as DL.It is after all like the rest of that series a pcm recording and the master is pcm.
And even if both of you prefer DSD ,don't judge pcm by inferiour rbcd sound.
Don't be afraid to dip your toes into something new. Provided you listen via high quality equipment ,you will get one important step closer to the master instead of compromising your musical enjoyment,with outdated rbcd sound.
It is after all not the plastic you can hold in your hands that matters,but the music!
And the better it is performed and recorded the greater the enjoyment imo.

Post by pgmdir June 21, 2013 (25 of 56)
hiredfox said:

Last evening we listened to one of the most astounding recordings we've heard in a very long while that will more than satisfy those who crave special treats for Britten's centennial celebration.

James Ehnes has recorded the Britten & Shostokovitch Violin Concerti with the BSO under Kirill Karabits with performances that in my view have no peers in the catalogue. .............

Thanks for the tip, it's ordered!

Post by jazz1 June 21, 2013 (26 of 56)
Don't be afraid to dip your toes into something new. Provided you listen via high quality equipment ,you will get one important step closer to the master instead of compromising your musical enjoyment,with outdated rbcd sound.
It is after all not the plastic you can hold in your hands that matters,but the music!
And the better it is performed and recorded the greater the enjoyment imo.

Unfortunately I love music too much to restrict myself to SACD's or Hi-Rez downloads, so much great music is just not available in these formats.
You remind me of a friends that just bought a big hidef television and that will only watch Bluray movies (never mind the content)
And btw the recording in question did not get many good reviews, mostly mediocres.???

Post by Jonalogic June 21, 2013 (27 of 56)
Chris said:

Why settle for lowly rbcd sound when the Chandos Britten release at least is already available as a 24/96 masterfile DL?
The same applies to The Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, the Gloriana Suite and the Cello Symphony,an excellent release in glorious sound.
...

Chris Hi

Thanks for this. Yep, I will certainly try out some hires downloads when my balanced HD800 and driver get into stock and I take delivery. Then I can connect to my Oppo and let rip.

Out of interest, do you play direct from a memory stick or burn onto DVD? And I wonder if they sound different...

Cheers

Jon

Post by Euell Neverno June 21, 2013 (28 of 56)
jazz1 said:

Unfortunately I love music too much to restrict myself to SACD's or Hi-Rez downloads, so much great music is just not available in these formats.
You remind me of a friends that just bought a big hidef television and that will only watch Bluray movies (never mind the content)
And btw the recording in question did not get many good reviews, mostly mediocres.???

This points up a difference in priorities. Some are more interested in the music and others in the electronics. Can music on a lowly RBCD sound pretty good? Sure can, which partially explains the lack of an overwhelming move to SACD. SACD CAN, of course, although not necessarily, sound better. A preference for poor or mediocre performances on SACD, when there are significantly superior performances on decent sounding RBCD's, makes little sense, except, of course, to those more interested in giving the electronics a workout. The old Telarc management fully understood this distinction.

Post by Jonalogic June 21, 2013 (29 of 56)
Euell Neverno said:

This points up a difference in priorities. Some are more interested in the music and others in the electronics. Can music on a lowly RBCD sound pretty good? Sure can, which partially explains the lack of an overwhelming move to SACD. SACD CAN, of course, although not necessarily, sound better. A preference for poor or mediocre performances on SACD, when there are significantly superior performances on decent sounding RBCD's, makes little sense, except, of course, to those more interested in giving the electronics a workout. The old Telarc management fully understood this distinction.

Interesting perspective.

True, but your analogy should go back further, perhaps. Virtually all the great musical performances I possess are actually on vinyl... with some duplicated on SACD.

RBCD was ever a non-starter, because it never even got anywhere near decent vinyl in basic SQ. For me, its poor rendition of music always gave me problems, even when the playing and performance were good. The imperfect medium just gets in the way.

SACD is a different kettle of fish again, of course, and its good enough - when well implemented - to allow me to enjoy the music, unhindered, again.

Basically, I just demand music playback that is good enough to disappear and let me hear the music. Sounds simple, but systems like that really do take money, perspiration and persistence - whether based on vinyl, SACD or both.

And, frankly, you need to know the techno stuff to make it all work at the end of the day. So, essentially, the technology and the gadgets just a means to a musical end.

I really doubt whether there are still many techno anoraks that just play steam engines of two selected organ demo disks any more. Hopefully these died out long ago... and good riddance.

Post by Euell Neverno June 21, 2013 (30 of 56)
Jonalogic said:

Interesting perspective.

True, but your analogy should go back further, perhaps. Virtually all the great musical performances I possess are actually on vinyl... with some duplicated on SACD.

RBCD was ever a non-starter, because it never even got anywhere near decent vinyl in basic SQ. For me, its poor rendition of music always gave me problems, even when the playing and performance were good. The imperfect medium just gets in the way.

Basically, I just demand music playback that is good enough to disappear and let me hear the music. Sounds simple, but systems like that really do take money, perspiration and persistence - whether based on vinyl, SACD or both.

And, frankly, you need to know the techno stuff to make it all work at the end of the day. So, essentially, the technology and the gadgets just a means to a musical end.

I really doubt whether there are still many techno anoraks that just play steam engines of two selected organ demo disks any more. Hopefully these died out long ago... and good riddance.

For me vinyl was a pain in the neck and often sounded artificial because of the frequent tendency to over-equalize. I would agree that bad sound is not worthwhile, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree with respect to the merits of RBCD, part of the early problems with which was engineering that was keyed to vinyl. I think a majority, even of those on this forum, would not agree with your contention that all RBCD's are unlistenable.

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