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I picked up a Telarc demo a couple of weeks ago entitled Telarc Classical: Celebrating 25 years. Some of the pieces on the demo sound wonderful on our system (my wife and I) and am curious if anyone knows of others that might be equally good.Our system is a Cary 303 cd player, a Conrad Johnson 14 pre-amp, a Conrad Johnson MV60 amp, a PSAudio PP600 power plant, and Triangle Celius speakers.
The piece which struck my ears as the best was Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra playing Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The piece was recorded, apparently, fairly early in digital CD recording--1979 or 1980, yet sounds warmer and deeper than many CDs recorded recently.
A second piece, the obvious one, Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture, was also wonderfully recorded but not impressively played.
And there were others.
Does anyone have other Telarc classical favorites?
Also, this past weekend, I bought the companion Telarc Jazz collection CD. Haven't played it yet but am hoping it's as strikingly good.
John
Follow Ups:
is certainly great, especially on vinyl, a definitive performance. time warp is a novelty but worth having, ein straussfest has vg watltzes and a great gunshot.
the previn planets isnt bad either. yoel levi's pix is another to have.
then theres california project and big band hit parade. telarc is a FUN label.
......regards.....tr
thanks.
The pre-CD-era Soundstream digitally-mastered LPs are recordings to die for... In fact, in my humble opinion, the best commercially-sold recordings ever made.Most-notably the flip side of the Kunzel/Cincinnati "1812" LP, with "Capriccio Italien" and "Kossack Dance"...
Most of the LPs from Telarc during that time are excellent, including Maazel/Cleveland Tchaikovsky "Romeo and Juliet," and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition/Night on Bald Mountain."
Just be sure you have a system capable of capturing the dynamic range- Unfortunately not as easy as one might think. I honestly think this is the sole reason why these recordings didn't get unanimous acclaim.
Whenever I see a Soundstream album, I pick it up. These are fantastic sounding. Certainly they compare to the best of the best
of the most sought after labels.
Regards,
JRM.
> > > > Just be sure you have a system capable of capturing the dynamic range- Unfortunately not as easy as one might think. I honestly think this is the sole reason why these recordings didn't get unanimous acclaim. < < < <So what is a system "capable of capturing dynamic range"? Is mine?
Thanks for the Soundstream comments.
John
"So what is a system 'capable of capturing dynamic range'? Is mine?"Can't say. Even if I knew what you had. (Most cartridges compress Telarc Soundstream recordings. The Transfiguration Temper Supreme is one that captures the Soundstream dynamics in effortless fashion.)
The lack of bass linearity and the limited dynamic envelope of many audio systems cannot handle the un-compressed Soundstream recordings. The symptoms are often "bombastic" dynamics with the loss of microdynamic gradations, loss of soundstage when the music gets loud, and especially "bloated" bass during bass drum and organ passages. (The last two symptoms often occur together.)
With a system that *is* capable of capturing the wide dynamic envelope, Soundstream recordings may sound "unspectacular"- You just hear the individual instruments, each with its own dynamic and tonal character. Consistent to how one hears music in the concert hall. And when things do get spectacular, one could actually sense the individual pulsations of the bass drum and even the *low* fundamental frequency of cymbals.
sonically i tend to agree that they were spectactular, however that bass drum (think Holtz band suites, for example) was too prominent, musically speaking, for me to really enjoy listening to them on a regualr basis, but then i normally don't care for "audiophile discs" in general. I thought Telarc got a lot better after they lost the drum, up til their new stuff. I'm not sure that the new stuff is as good, sonically speaking, on ordinary CD.
Enjoyable from start to finish.
I also like some of the Mozart Symphonies done by Sir Charles Mackerras/Prague Chamber Orchestra (but I don't really like the recording)
AJ
Thanks for the Ray Brown recommendation. I'll look it up. As for the Mackerras Mozart, we have the full set. It's my impression some of the recordings are better than others and some of the symphonies are more enjoyable with a chamber orchestra. But I wouldn't take for our set.
David Zinman's set of the Beethoven symphonies on Telarc is a favorite of mine, and well worth adding to your collection even if, like me, you already own too many Beethoven cycles. A chief attraction here is that Zinman uses the New Barenreiter Edition of the scores (numerous minor but noticeable corrections), and generally sticks to Beethoven's metronome markings in the best historically informed performance manner, yet utilizes a modern orchestra--the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, which, though it clearly isn't the equal of, say, the BPO, plays with the verve that this sort of approach requires. Very well-engineered recording, and an absurdly low price (about $25 US).
Hmm, the Zinman Beethoven set. I have them; enjoy them a great deal though I still prefer Gardiner. However, my Zinman set is from something called Arte Nova. Is that a subsidiary of Telarc?
I think you're correct. To my knowledge, Zinman recorded only with the Baltimore SO on Telarc; the Beethoven performances with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra are on Arte Nova (which is owned by BMG by the way).
A thousand pardons! You're correct, of course. Why did I think it was Telarc?
...is a pretty fabulous (2-CD) set I think. Martin Pearlman and the Boston Baroque perform on period instruments, and the sense of a real atmosphere and all of the other important aspects of a good recording are there! I cannot really compare the actual performance to any others on CD or vinyl. However, I do love this performance. The notes say that this 20-bit recording is "compatible with all surround sound systems, and will play properly with total fidelity through a standard stereo system." All I can say is that it is quite amazing in stereo, and I think that this is one disc that might sound very nice in a surround format - but who knows? This is a very opulent work. I also have Handel's Messiah on Telarc CD but I am a little less impressed with Martin Pearlman conducting the Boston Baroque here. The recording quality is up to the usual Telarc standards in most ways, however. Any other thoughts from anyone on the Monteverdi discs?
I've got William Christie's version of it so I'll have to compare them. I live in Bergen County in NE New Jersey and am able to check CDs out of any library in the county via a website.
Here are a few that I really like:
> > >
Prokofiev & Britten - Prokofiev - Peter & the Wolft, Britten - Young Person's Telarc Andre Previn Royal Philharmonic
*** I like this for the Young Person's Guide to the orchestra ***
> > >
Alexander Glazunov - Seasons Telarc Edo De Waart Minnesota Orchestra
> > >
Holst - The Planets Telarc Andre Previn Royal Philharmonic
> > >
Rachmaninoff - A Window in Time - Realized by Wayne Stahnke Telarc
> > >
Just printed out your list. Thanks. I've, of course, got a version of Peter and the Wolf and will compare this one with it. As for the others, they will be new listening experiences.
Lopes Cobos doing Mahler 3, 9 and 10 and Jon Kimura Parker playing Chopin, come quickly to mind.
Thanks. Ill check them out.
There are a couple samplers that I carry when system shopping.
R&R
Jazz
Opera
Orchestral
Choral
Piano
String Quartet
GuitarA little bit of everything
Steve
I'll try it out. I've been using the Chesky 10th Anniversary 2 cd collection when I do system shopping (assuming you mean by that phrase looking for audio components). I'll just have to pick these demos up and slip them into the component shopping bag.
nt
Just look. Looks interesting. However, most of the posts appear to be about SACD or DVD neither of which will play in my cd player. HDCD is about it.
Telarc's SACDs are hybrids, meaning that they will play on all CD players as well as SACD players. In the case of the 50 kHz 'historical' Soundstream reissues, the CD layers of those discs have been remastered (i.e., derived from the newly mastered DSD layer) so that they sound better than the original CDs.Russell
Thanks for the information on the Telarc SACDs. I'll check the Hi-Rez thread again. Also will look for the SoundStream stuff.John
I don't have a lot of Telarc's but I have an organ album right now from the library that I really like:
Encores a la francaise - Poulenc: Organ Concerto
I checked it out mainly because of the Poulenc.
Jeff
Don't have any Poulenc in my collection. About the only time I listen is on demo discs, particularly the Gramophone demos. I'll check it out of the library, just out of curiosity.Thanks.
are Robert Shaw's choral recordings, and Ray Brown's jazz recordings.
I have some Robert Shaw I like a great deal. Will look for more. As for Ray Brown, that was a new name to me--not a serious jazz fan. But I hear him on a disc with Andre Previn the other night. And enjoyed it. So I will check it out.
I am real fan of Shaw's Faure Requiem. Just picked up Herwegghe's version on HM -- an excellent recording, but it just didn't grab me like Shaw's, seemed spiritually sterile by comparison (and it has that dreadful Frank symphony immediately following)
His last recording...
Thanks for the Shaw recommendation. I'll check it out.
He was one of the geniuses of our time and the brightest star on Telarc's impressive roster.
Shaw was pretty great with a choir, but what made him think he could pull off Brittens War Requiem or Mahlers 8th? Neither of these recordings is up to much. Don't get me wrong, I've got a lot of respect for the guy.
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