I'm ashamed of my old-recording phobias.
I bought just about all of the '50's and '60's RCA Living Presence SACD
releases and wow--could've been recorded yesterday. How they captured
all that dynamic range back then, yet couldn't do it in the '70's beats
me. It's been fun to hear them in their original 3 channel incarnations;
the Reiner/Chicago stuff, the Rubinstein Chopin Ballads/Scherzos...
An amazing set or re-releases, especially if you've never heard these
performances. The Munch Daphnis (in 2 channel only), is especially fine,
and leaps and bounds in sound quality over the original CD release, (OK,
I had this one). These SACDs are of course hybrids, a layer for 3
channel, two channel SACD and two channel CD.
Another astonishing oldie but goodie on SACD is Schipper's Alexander
Nevsky. Abaddo/Chicago on DG has been my favorite for a long time, yet
this Schippers, (in full surround no less--and *recorded* that way back
in '61--no processing!), takes the cake. Very intense reading, very
characterful choir. A new fav, and once again, the dynamic range is
huge, no compression, no tape hiss and plenty of bloom. An early SACD
release with NO CD layer, BTW.
Davis Hurwitz gave the new Hyperion Hough/Litton Rachmaninov piano
concerti recording a 10/10. It will be available as CD and SACD in
November, at least thru Amazon UK. We'll see if they're a 10, but in
any case, I'm glad he liked them.
Big news: LSO Live is going SACD! The Rosty Shosty 11th will be
re-released in surround and high resolution. Other releases will include
Verdi's Falstaff and Brahms Symphony 3/Serenade 2. I can't wait for a
new Davis/LSO Berlioz Requiem. Anyone in London do tell: Is the Requiem
being performed this year???
In the mean time, is the Telarc SACD Spano Requiem, er...to die for?
Well, Hurwitz and Sjveda call this performance 'dull.' I disagree.
Getting right to the point, Spano holds back the battery of tympani
players in the Dies Irae section so that one can hear what's going on
in the choir, which is actually quite musical. There is also a refreshing
distinction made clear between tympani and bass drums, (the latter having
some interesting rhythms I've never heard before), but be prepared for
a more dryish and militaristic massed-percussion sound. So: while the
'big moment' is not the hysterical cacaphony we're used to, the all-around
new-found clarity is a pay-off in it's own way, and the volume of sound
is, well...sufficiently volumous to say the least. Elsewhere, the choral
singing during reflective moments is gorgeous. The orchestra plays
vividly for the most part, especially the winds, sounding delightfully
reedy. Passing beauties are tended to, something I missed in Spano's
Vaughan Williams. The arpeggiated strings under the final Amens of the
Angus Dei are handled in a way that is quite touching. The Lacrymosa
is another favorite moment; the last couple of minutes are some of the
most inspired music ever written, IMHO; though it takes awhile for Spano
to generate the required heat. Gong-lovers rejoice though, you'll feel
it in your chest as the mov't ends! Complaints? Of course: In the Dies
Irae those off-stage trumpets could have been just a little more strident
and intimidating, though in the text they *are* referred to as "wonderous
trumpets." The upward rushes of strings that signal each key-change in
the earlier section of the same mov't could have been more intense. The
tenor soloist's voice in the Sanctus is just a little heavy for the part.
In the end, I still find the overall performance to be a rewarding
experience--the intimate moments are excellent, and the 'big' moments
contain musical revelations, which are much more rewarding to me upon
repeated hearings then a muddy mass of drums. Not the only Requiem I
would own, but certainly one I'll keep in my collection. How is the
sound you ask? In surround, spectacular. Depth and width of soundstage
is uncanny, rear effects, (the extra batteries of trumpets), emerge
thrillingly, yet remain part of the hall's acoustic. Magical.
John Smyth
Sac, CA
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