What are you listening to? (Vol VII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 29 December 2010
Vol VI - https://forums.naimaudio.com/ev...8019385/m/9042967727
Vol V - http://forums.naim-audio.com/e...385/m/9962941917/p/1
Vol IV - http://forums.naim-audio.com/e...8019385/m/1832985817
Vol III - http://forums.naim-audio.com/e...385/m/6192934617/p/1
Vol II - http://forums.naim-audio.com/e...8019385/m/3112927317
Vol I - http://forums.naim-audio.com/e...8019385/m/6532968996
AND - this might be of interest:
http://forums.naim-audio.com/e...962920617#1962920617
On Vinyl. Pearl Jam - Ten
On Vinyl
The 7th and sounding fabulous
Been posted a few times on this forum. Great album!
the last one is soulstar by Musiq
atb
kk
loving this new one by the Ozrics.
Only been played through the Sennheisers though.
The double vinyl should be here tomorrow and get a play at some point through the main system in the next week.
Stu
Haven't played this album for a while. Brilliant!
First spin of disc 1 of Chailly's new set of the Beethoven symphonies. Much too early to say anything about the artistic side - save that this first listen is very enjoyable so far. The (studio) recording is lifelike and natural. Chailly plays these works swiftly but with a big dynamic range, and both definition and volume are captured excellently.
Classy packaging, by the way.
Cheers,
EJ
Straight on to disc 2, with the Eroica and #4. I don't think I've ever heard a speedier, stricter Eroica. Chailly dispatches the funeral march in little over 12 minutes. It still sounds ominous and powerful - there is no sense of speed for the sake of speed (here or elsewhere so far), thanks to a clear vision, some very sharp orchestral playing, and the beautiful recording.
But this is far to good for some drive-by review based on first listening. I never expected to be so excited about the Beethoven symphonies again. Great stuff.
EJ
Disc 3, Symphonies #5 and #6. All four movements of #5 are brilliantly done - some conductors feel that they need to be really expressive (Bernstein!) or simply beat their way through the first movement, which usually makes the rest of the symphony sounds like a work that is less than the sum of its parts. Chailly is - relatively - slow (still fast) in I, which he allows to evolve into a natural tension span across the remaining movements. I've switched to listening on headphone, after complaints about volume which admittedly kept going up.
I'll leave the Pastorale for tomorrow. Still want to sample Queyras' new Vivaldi disc to close the day in style.
EJ
On to #6. First two movements are rhythmically taut, relatively fast but leaving sufficient room for some gorgeous legato (smooth transitions between notes) by the string sections. At the opening of III (allegro, after all), things speed up considerably. The thunderstorm movement is absolutely fantastic, played very fast and very loud and my only criticism is that it doesn't last very long at these speeds. V is relatively quiet again. The performance again evidences Chailly's clear vision and the orchestra's technical brilliance.
A picture is emerging: this set of symphonies is similar in scope and focus as, say, Annie Fischer's set of sonatas (although infinitely more polished). Exciting, bold, crisp, consistently illuminating certain sides of Beethoven. The softer, romantic side remains rather underdeveloped as a consequence, but I mean that in the good way: as a result of a clear interpretative vision, not because something is missing in these performances. If you appreciate Kovacevich, Pollini, Fischer, Gulda on the piano, you'll love these performances.
Cheers,
EJ
All discs include one or more of the overtures, and Disc #4 starts with a dramatic account of 'Egmont' that is a great showcase for the technical brilliance of these performances. A beautiful but robust performance of Symphony No.7 follows, with the same qualities as before.The huge dynamic range and the quicksilver ease with which dynamics are played out are the most obvious characteristics. As expected by now, Chailly does not wring the last ounce of sadness from the - fast - second movement but there is plenty to make up for that. IV is very impressively done, building the musical tension to the very last note.
EJ
Cleaned up my old LP. Fantastic. Its been years, and I forgot how great this album is. My second disc has a pit that I don't want my needle to encounter. Anyone have any experience with CD version or Epic reissue (it seems) on vinyl?
From the Naim autumn sales list.
Blind Pilot "We Are The Tide"
my favorite purchase of 2011 to date
Outstanding atmospheric, ambient, electronic, modern classical late night in the dark music. Super stuff.
