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In Reply to: Opera on SACD posted by mr. woodford on December 14, 2006 at 10:34:40:
. . . conducted by Bychkov on the Profil label (also praised by Kal in Stereophile).Haven't heard the Aussie Ring yet, but I thought I read they used 50 or 60 microphones for this effort. That would make me suspicious right there, but I guess the proof is in the listening!
Follow Ups:
The Elektra looks interesting- i read your review- if i understand your coments re the culshaw ring, you don't like the recording? while it's certainly "produced", i find it effective (and of course the performance is wonderful). did you mean the adelaide ring is similarly "produced?"how'd you like the aussie ring performances?
Bychkov has always been one of my favorite conductors, altho i haven't heard him in some of the more traditional germanic rep- the brahms cycle looks interesting. i had the good fortune to sing with him while he was music director in buffalo- he had that orchestra playing like a world class band.
The Elektra looks interesting- i read your review- if i understand your coments re the culshaw ring, you don't like the recording? while it's certainly "produced", i find it effective (and of course the performance is wonderful). did you mean the adelaide ring is similarly "produced?"The Solti/Culshaw Ring is certainly “produced”, but not to the extent that the Solti/Culshaw Elektra is. (See my link below.) I actually do like certain aspects of the Solti Ring, not the least of which is the casting Birgit Nilsson! I even like some of Culshaw’s effects in the Solti Ring, such as Hagen’s call to the vassals. I can’t comment on the Adelaide Ring, since I still have not heard it. I tend to be suspicious, a priori, of any recording made with 65 microphones! (All other things being equal, I’m a minimum microphone kind of guy myself – but there are so many other variables!)
Bychkov has always been one of my favorite conductors, altho i haven't heard him in some of the more traditional germanic rep- the brahms cycle looks interesting.
I bought Bychkov’s Brahms Symphony set on the basis of his outstanding Elektra. Although released on a different label (Avie), the engineering is similarly expert, and I liked Bychkov’s readings. The Cologne orchestra is really on the same wavelength with him, and there’s a wonderful unanimity in how the phrases are inflected. (Just by chance, I’d been listening to the Kertesz/VPO readings shortly before I got the Bychkov, and for me, Bychkov makes Kertesz sound relatively cavalier and uninteresting in these works.) The only thing I didn’t like about the Bychkov set was the gearshift he makes at the end of the Second Symphony, although of course he’s not the only conductor who tries to whip up excitement in this way.
Haven't heard the Aussie Ring either, but Ms C. Tham sure makes it sound like we now have a Wotan, a Brunnhilde, and a Siegfried all at once, after lacking same for over 30 years.
. . . Ms. C. Tham sure makes it sound like we now have a Wotan, a Brunnhilde, and a Siegfried all at once, after lacking same for over 30 years.Christine and I have certainly had our run-ins on the SACD (Hi-Rez Highway) board over the past year and a half. I think what is frustrating to me is that she often makes grandiose, absurd-sounding claims (“There are no bad recordings” or “Eight-track tapes had frequency response out to 30KHz”) which are true only in a very narrow, not commonly understood sense. (For instance, she conveniently didn’t mention how many decibels down the eight-track tape response would actually be at 30 KHz!)
Anyway, I found her reviews of the Aussie Rheingold and Walküre on SA-CD Net to be quite informative in terms of objective information. (On re-reading her Walküre review, I now see that the production team used 65 microphones – even more than I had remembered!)
But I remain dubious about Christine’s musical taste and experience. For instance, her frame of reference seems to be the Solti/Culshaw Ring, although she also refers to the ENO Ring and a Walküre from Sydney. If these productions are the only basis of comparison with the new Aussie Ring, then readers and listeners have every right to be skeptical of the review.
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