New Releases

[Todd]

Manacorda's Schubert cycle is a corker, but his Mendelssohn is uneven.  Here's to hoping he and his crew deliver something on par with the Ades cycle.



Guaranteed to be unlike any other version.  I must hear it.



I must hear this, too.



I don't not need another set.







Slow, steady progress for 2027.







Hopefully, this is the start of a decade long project to record the whole cycle.

[Brian]

What do you consider to be the misses in Manacorda's Mendelssohn? I think I remember him using the earlier, more awkward, "wrong" version of No. 5.

Spyres in Berlioz is a really intriguing release. As is Savall in Schubert.

[Todd]

What do you consider to be the misses in Manacorda's Mendelssohn? I think I remember him using the earlier, more awkward, "wrong" version of No. 5.

The Italian and the Scottish.  They are not bad, they just don't really bring anything new or compelling like in his Schubert cycle.  The rest of the Mendelssohn cycle is pretty much on par with Dohnanyi, and not quite up to Abbado.  I mean, he's playing in the big leagues.

[Que]

I don't not need another set.

Same here, it's getting ridiculous... 
I recently went through the abundance of available options and got a 2nd set (Hélène Schmitt), as an update on what I consider key repertoire. But that doesn't apply to every classical enthusiast, I'm pretty sure.
How on earth do they think to sell all this? 

[staxomega]

The label is good.

The sound of all the Richter Webern variations I've heard has been disappointing, maybe this will be good sound.

I mean what did you think of Richter's interpretation. Whenever I hear it I am not sure how to describe it other than I listen pretty intently to what he is doing.

It comes out September 30, so presumably there will be site information and streaming listings before then.

Thanks.

[Mandryka]

I mean what did you think of Richter's interpretation. Whenever I hear it I am not sure how to describe it other than I listen pretty intently to what he is doing.

Thanks.

Not a performance I'm in a good relationship with. The long applause beforehand is a problem and the crap sound means I can't really hear much nuance. Some of the variations sound so spacious, so much air between the phrases, that they could be incoherent, disjointed and rambling. I need to hear it in good sound, but I generally feel less positively than you by the look of it.

[staxomega]

Not a performance I'm in a good relationship with. The long applause beforehand is a problem and the crap sound means I can't really hear much nuance. Some of the variations sound so spacious, so much air between the phrases, that they could be incoherent, disjointed and rambling. I need to hear it in good sound, but I generally feel less positively than you by the look of it.

I have no strong opinions of it, because it is... a bit too unfamiliar to me what he is doing. There are others I listen to more often like the transparency of Uchida's interpretation.

[Todd]

Mutter & Honeck back together.

[vandermolen]

[Bachtoven]

October 10th.

[Wanderer]

October 10th.

I'm eagerly waiting for this one. 😎

[Mandryka]

https://audite.de/en/product/2CD/95745-rafael_kubelik_conducts_haydn_schoenberg_tchaikovsky.html

I'm listing to the concerto now, it's streaming. The sound is not the best. It sounds to me as though Ogdon was in a pretty wild mood that day - sympathetic vibes from Kubelik.

[Roasted Swan]

A Press release from Universal;

"To commemorate 25 years since the death of Sir Georg Solti, a remastered version of his Ring Cycle is set for release in four instalments.

The Hungarian-British composer, who died on September 5 1997 at the age of 84, won 31 Grammy awards during his career, making him the artist to have won the most Grammy awards in any genre.

Music label Decca Classics have announced a new remastered version of the Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen), composed by Richard Wagner, which has been made possible by an intricate restoration project to preserve the master tapes of the recording.

Sir Georg's Ring Cycle was recorded between 1958 and 1965, includes four operas and lasts 15 hours.

The record has sold millions of copies and famously sound tracked the tense helicopter scene in 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

The four operas of the remastered version will be released in instalments between November 2022 and May 2023, with The Golden Ring, a selection of the greatest scenes from the cycle, released on September 30 2022.

The master tape recordings, which have been stored in the vaults of Universal Music since the recording sessions took place in Vienna in the 1950s and 60s, have been expertly processed to high-definition digital audio using cutting-edge audio technology.

Where sections of tape had deteriorated, they were been baked in a specialised oven for 10 hours at 55C to restore their integrity.

These new high-definition transfers of the 38 original master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution which allows greater detail and dynamic range than ever heard previously.

Sharing their excitement at the remastered version, co-presidents of Decca Label Group, Tom Lewis and Laura Monks, said: "This is the Citizen Kane of classical recording and this new version is mind-blowing, especially when you listen in surround sound.

"What makes it even more tantalising is the thought that the engineers were able to return to the original tapes just before they disintegrated beyond use.

"A final opportunity to return to an original masterpiece before losing it forever."

The release is also the first and only complete Wagner Ring Cycle available in Dolby Atmos, cutting-edge surround sound audio technology, thereby creating a more immersive listening experience, as was the intention of the late classic record producer for Decca Records, John Culshaw.

Decca Classics label director and the audio producer of the Ring Cycle reissue Dominic Fyfe said: "Back in 1966 producer John Culshaw expressed the hope that this Ring would set a benchmark for years to come.

"Half a century later it is still the artistic and technical gold standard.

"Culshaw was above all an iconoclast and a visionary who rejoiced in new technology.

"I have no doubt he would approve of our efforts to utilise Dolby Atmos and the latest suite of remastering tools to make this new HD transfer the most immersive and vivid yet."

[Que]

I have little faith in the "return to the original tapes" hocus-pocus.

The truth of the matter is that magnetic tapes start degrading from the very moment they are used. And at some point a sound carrier to which the recording was transferred to early on, will provide better sound than the original deteriorated tapes themselves.

[Todd]

Whoever wrote the ad copy confused media; "high-definition" applies to video, not audio.  The ad copy also states that "[t]hese new high-definition transfers of the 38 original master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution which allows greater detail and dynamic range than ever heard previously" which is nonsense.  Oh, and it's all Atmos-y.  Maybe the new remasters will sound better to some listeners, but that has nothing to do with bit depth and sampling rate since the source is analog.  Can't wait to see how much Decca charges for this reissue.  I'll stick with the remastering I have since Solti's Ring is not even a top three choice anyway.

[Roasted Swan]

Whoever wrote the ad copy confused media; "high-definition" applies to video, not audio.  The ad copy also states that "[t]hese new high-definition transfers of the 38 original master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution which allows greater detail and dynamic range than ever heard previously" which is nonsense.  Oh, and it's all Atmos-y.  Maybe the new remasters will sound better to some listeners, but that has nothing to do with bit depth and sampling rate since the source is analog.  Can't wait to see how much Decca charges for this reissue.  I'll stick with the remastering I have since Solti's Ring is not even a top three choice anyway.

Ha!  I thought this would annoy you(!).  I loved the phrase about being "the Citizen Kane of classical recording" which is another means-something-but-nothing comment......

[Brian]

I would expect "the Citizen Kane of classical recording" to include as many technical innovations and achievements as that film, techniques which forever altered how music was recorded, in addition to obvious, lasting artistic merit.

Not sure if there is any recording that fits that analogy.

[Spotted Horses]

Where sections of tape had deteriorated, they were been baked in a specialised oven for 10 hours at 55C to restore their integrity.

...

"What makes it even more tantalising is the thought that the engineers were able to return to the original tapes just before they disintegrated beyond use.

I am to believe that the master magnetic tape is at its absolute optimum fidelity the moment before it disintegrates beyond use?

I have this version:



I think it is based on the 96/24 transfer that they did many years before, but omitting the "cedar" noise reduction system that everyone seems to hate. Probably it's the best compromise, the tapes were still in decent shape and the digital technology had matured.

[aukhawk]

I've always found it a completely uninteresting film.

This however, I agree with 100% -

I have little faith in the "return to the original tapes" hocus-pocus.

The truth of the matter is that magnetic tapes start degrading from the very moment they are used. And at some point a sound carrier to which the recording was transferred to early on, will provide better sound than the original deteriorated tapes themselves.

[MusicTurner]

I've always found it a completely uninteresting film.

This however, I agree with 100% -

So which films would you find interesting then, for example?