Linus Roth, London Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Sanderling – Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 129; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, Op. 35 (2016/2019)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 / 6.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 01:14:23 minutes | 3.91 GB
Genre: Classical | Publisher (label): Challenge Classics – CC 72689
This is the world premiere recording of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in its original version. There are a few different notes and phrasing bowings than in what is usually played. The most obvious audible difference is that the complete second movement is played with mute, while it has become a tradition that the violinist take the mute off for the second theme and therefore for most of that movement. This was never intended by Tchaikovsky. The work is the coming back to life and light, a work of positiveness. His music was strongly connected to his personal life. Linus Roth has played the piece for twenty years and feels confident to record his unique interpretation. Shostakovich’s Second Violin Concerto is a late work by the composer who at that time was already ill and knew that his life would soon be over. The conductor of the recording, Thomas Sanderling, was a close friend of his and remembers him well in his late years. Clearly this is not a funny piece, but tha
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Anna Malikova, WDR-Sinfonieorchester Köln, Thomas Sanderling – Camille Saint-Saëns – Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 (2007)
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 2,75 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 941 MB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Audite # aud 10.012 | Country/Year: Germany 2007 | Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic
The five piano concertos of St.-Saens are not frequently heard and that is a shame in view of the endless repeats of the Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Schumann warhorses. They are all well-composed examples of the best of French instrumental music of the later 19th century and full of lovely melodies that would appeal greatly to concert audiences. I hadn’t enjoyed any of them for some time and it was a pleasure to have these two concertos in enveloping hi-res surround. I don’t know how we missed out on Vol. I but plan to check into that.
Brian Bloom talks in his Denon receiver review this issue about the people who often prefer the stereo mix on SACDs to the multichannel. I admit I seldom check either the CD or stereo options anymore because I always hear about the same thing in comparison. I really can’t imagine why anyone with five properly matched and located speakers would prefer the stereo mix to the multichannel mix! On these concertos the two-channel option is excellent and there is little one would miss. However, when switching to the multichannel option the soundstage takes on a depth and breadth it didn’t have, and the piano is better separated from the sound of the orchestra. There’s much more “air” around everything. The piano still sounds too wide but that’s a given.
The first movement of the Third Concerto is so bombastic one might almost think the composer was humorously depicting a lion or elephant from his Carnival of the Animals. It’s slow movement is rather brooding, but the finale is a colorful showpiece for the soloist. The Fifth Concerto is sometimes subtitled “Egyptian Concerto” because that is where it was composed. St.-Saens frequently spent time in North Africa, which had started when he was a child with a medical problems. He indicated the middle movement was a sort of tour of the Orient. One theme in it is a Nubian love song which the composer had heard boatmen on the Nile sing. The opening and closing movements are however thoroughly French. Orchestration is very colorful, with solos originating in the winds and strings. 4/5 ~audiophile-audition
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