Dutton Epoch - 6 New Classical Multichannel SACDs (November 2017)

[steelydave]

I'm reliably informed that all the new Epoch quad SACDs are in stock now, and all orders are shipping out today and tomorrow.

 

[rustyandi]

I'm reliably informed that all the new Epoch quad SACDs are in stock now, and all orders are shipping out today and tomorrow.

That,s great I have brought all of them.
And I would like to thank you for your information on the SACD,s
Now after all that When do we get More?

 

[4-earredwonder]

Extreme KUDOs to Michael Dutton and Dutton~Vocalion for their latest batch of 6 stellar QUAD SACD releases. Impeccably mastered with gorgeous liner notes, this latest offering from D~V rewards the listeners with hours of supreme talent and discrete sonics.

Anyone who has any interest in classical music and the brilliant QUAD engineers at Columbia Records in the early 70's should order all of these discs.....PRONTO!

https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/blog/

 

[ubertrout]

These all arrived a few days ago, finally had a chance to listen to the Boulez conducts Stravinsky disc...an absolute knockout. The mix on Pulcinella especially is extremely active in all four channels, using them very creatively. Looking forward to listening to the rest shortly.

 

[ubertrout]

My schedule has been crazy this week so I haven't gotten as much listening in as I'd like, but I got to listen to Michael Dutton's own quad mix for the Levine/Chicago Brahms 1 - a recording I'm guessing is close to his heart (otherwise why take the time to do a quad mix, really, there's plenty of existing quad fillers in Sony Classical's library)...the booklet tells the story but basically Levine was budgeted six recording days for the gargantuan Mahler 3rd Symphony (which usually clocks in at about 110 minutes), but bet against himself that he'd only need five, and recorded the Brahms first in a single 3-hour session with the Chicago Symphony. The recording has been a favorite since its release and it remains among the top choices.

And...it's great on SACD too. It's not super discrete but the use of surround is more than ambiance - the quad picture is used to immerse you in the piece rather than make you feel like it's coming all in all directions. The fidelity is really good too - not a surprise considering it's remixed from the original multitracks. I'm looking forward to listening to the Mahler 1st from this set next.

 

[ubertrout]

Finally got to listen to the Levine recording of the Mahler 1st and it's astonishingly good. The mix is once again active and engaging and discrete without feeling like it's pummeling you from all directions. Fidelity is very good too, and the performance is excellent - really first-rate music making. Very highly recommended.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Finally got to listen to the Levine recording of the Mahler 1st and it's astonishingly good. The mix is once again active and engaging and discrete without feeling like it's pummeling you from all directions. Fidelity is very good too, and the performance is excellent - really first-rate music making. Very highly recommended.

+1, ubertrout and a brilliant example of how 'judicious' discrete use of the surrounds for classical fare, IMO, transcends ambient only recordings.

If it's ambience you seek, play the disc in stereo and engage the DSP mode on your pre/pro and you'll exact all the ambience your little heart desires.

 

[humprof]

Agreed, ubertrout. I don't want to open up a can of worms here; I know politics etc. are off-limits on the forum, and for good reason. But recent revelations about Levine's private sins notwithstanding, this is going to be my go-to Mahler 1st from here on out. Every one of the November D-Vs was just superb.

Finally got to listen to the Levine recording of the Mahler 1st and it's astonishingly good. The mix is once again active and engaging and discrete without feeling like it's pummeling you from all directions. Fidelity is very good too, and the performance is excellent - really first-rate music making. Very highly recommended.

 

[ubertrout]

Agreed, ubertrout. I don't want to open up a can of worms here; I know politics etc. are off-limits on the forum, and for good reason. But recent revelations about Levine's private sins notwithstanding, this is going to be my go-to Mahler 1st from here on out. Every one of the November D-Vs was just superb.

Yeah, I've heard those revelations as rumors for 15 years, so it wasn't a shock they came to light. But they don't diminish these recordings, at least for me - he's 74 and enfeebled now, all that's left is the music. Doesn't excuse his actions, but at least for me it doesn't ruin it either.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Yeah, I've heard those revelations as rumors for 15 years, so it wasn't a shock they came to light. But they don't diminish these recordings, at least for me - he's 74 and enfeebled now, all that's left is the music. Doesn't excuse his actions, but at least for me it doesn't ruin it either.

Politics, aside, the same accusations have riddled City Ballet's Peter Martins with similar allegations https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/...er-misconduct-accusation.html?ref=todayspaper

I wonder if this rampant witch hunt will invariably address other sectors of business, as well [Wall Street, etc.]. Inexcusable, of course, but the arts do seem to flourish in a climate of 'questionable' behavior.

Am currently listening to Levine's Mahler Symphony #4 in G with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Thank you Dutton Vocalion. Our digital players are hungry for MORE!

 

[H.A.L.]

Put on the Rubinstein-Barenboim Beethoven SACD yesterday, since I was -- I WAS -- enjoying an extremely rare "snow day" from work. Three minutes into it, my power went off and stayed that way for 36 hours

It's back now, yay, so I continued the listen: superb! Really knocks the socks off the LIVING STEREO 3-channels I have of Beethoven.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Put on the Rubinstein-Barenboim Beethoven SACD yesterday, since I was -- I WAS -- enjoying an extremely rare "snow day" from work. Three minutes into it, my power went off and stayed that way for 36 hours

It's back now, yay, so I continued the listen: superb! Really knocks the socks off the LIVING STEREO 3-channels I have of Beethoven.

That same system is now blanketing the East Coast, halbroome. Snow in Mississippi....VERY unusual.

Yes, halbroome, who'd have thought in 2017, we'd be getting such sonic QUAD treasures from the RCA/Columbia vaults at prices SONY was charging in 2006 for the Living Stereo 2/3 channel SACDs?????

I'm currently listening to the Richard Strauss EIN HELDENLEBEN coupled with JOHANNES BRAHMS Alto Symphony, Op. 53 conducted by Lorin Maazel & the Cleveland Orchestra as the snow is tapering off...........

 

[McCrutchy]

I have no idea where to put this, so I thought I would post it here.

I was perusing Warner Music Japan's site, and I see that they have already loaded in the February 2018 Warner Classics releases. Amongst them is an upcoming redbook CD of Sir John Barbirolli and the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", which was recorded in 1967. While the forthcoming release purports to have a new 24/96 remaster, the fact that it was so obscure led me to look for other versions. And eventually, I found one, from the Barbirolli Society in 1997, and remastered by...Michael Dutton.

Unfortunately, the Barbirolli Society disc appears to be long out-of-print, but the new Warner disc is listed on Amazon.de and Amazon.fr.

I also found the 1995 Toshiba EMI Japanese CD referenced by Warner Japan, but other than the LPs, which were apparently only in limited production (and apparently never issued in Japan), that appears to be the entire authorized published history of the recording. Ironic, though, that it was issued on reel-to-reel tape back in the day, when that is now being revived as an audiophile format.

Of course, I wouldn't say no if Dutton Epoch were able and willing to release a stereo SACD version.

 

[ubertrout]

I have no idea where to put this, so I thought I would post it here.

I was perusing Warner Music Japan's site, and I see that they have already loaded in the February 2018 Warner Classics releases. Amongst them is an upcoming redbook CD of Sir John Barbirolli and the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", which was recorded in 1967. While the forthcoming release purports to have a new 24/96 remaster, the fact that it was so obscure led me to look for other versions. And eventually, I found one, from the Barbirolli Society in 1997, and remastered by...Michael Dutton.

Unfortunately, the Barbirolli Society disc appears to be long out-of-print, but the new Warner disc is listed on Amazon.de and Amazon.fr.

I also found the 1995 Toshiba EMI Japanese CD referenced by Warner Japan, but other than the LPs, which were apparently only in limited production (and apparently never issued in Japan), that appears to be the entire authorized published history of the recording. Ironic, though, that it was issued on reel-to-reel tape back in the day, when that is now being revived as an audiophile format.

Of course, I wouldn't say no if Dutton Epoch were able and willing to release a stereo SACD version.

Those Barbirolli Society RBCDs are great - having the Pye Mahler 1st in stereo fills a gaping hole in the discography. And people ordering their SACDs from Dutton might notice that you can get a few RBCDs thrown into the order for peanuts (a dollar or two in many cases). The price has gone up, but this was a pound last month: https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDSJB1024

I wouldn't complain if we got these as stereo SACDs, but I'd rather Dutton focused on the quads and new recordings.

 

[jdmack]

Wow! How did I miss this thread until tonight?

James Levine conducts Mahler & Brahms - this was recorded with the orchestra in the round, as diagrammed on the front cover. I don't know how readable this is on the CD cover but it's clear the album. I have the CD-4 of this but my 4-channel sound card stopped working before I had a chance to record this to my computer (a necessary step for me to hear CD-4 albums in quad). I've always wondered how this sounded compared to other classical quad albums which supposedly have ambiance in the rear channels but always sound like double stereo to me. I wish I had seen this thread when the set was 15 pounds instead of 20 pounds, and before a bunch of unexpected expenses took a big bite out of my music buying budget.

J. D.

(I could swear there was an article about how this album was recorded published sometime in the mid-70s but I can't find it either through Google or americanradiohistory.com)

 

[GOS]

I largely avoid classical type titles and as far as Vocalion goes, I have not purchased a single title of theirs that is classical in nature. Is there a single title that is simply the very best that I should consider?

 

[fredblue]

I largely avoid classical type titles and as far as Vocalion goes, I have not purchased a single title of theirs that is classical in nature. Is there a single title that is simply the very best that I should consider?

from a surround pov i heartily recommend to you
"Boulez Conducts Stravisnky Petrushka & Pulcinella"
and "E Power Biggs Rheinberger Organ Concertos",
also if you don't have the SACD already the Swingle Singers Four Seasons disc is amazing surround sound imho!

 

[4-earredwonder]

from a surround pov i heartily recommend to you
"Boulez Conducts Stravisnky Petrushka & Pulcinella"
and "E Power Biggs Rheinberger Organ Concertos",
also if you don't have the SACD already the Swingle Singers Four Seasons disc is amazing surround sound imho!

Great Recommendations, Adam and I would also add this one [ultra discrete and gorgeous]: https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDLK4594

And I'd like to add that IMO, DUTTON~VOCALION seems our ONLY real hope of realizing any future SONY/RCA QUAD SACD titles as there's been silence from SONY Japan in this department so if there are any D~V Quad Titles which you may have overlooked, buy them [provided you are into the titles] and support them!

Perhaps other labels will follow and allow D~V to add more QUAD/5.1 titles from labels other than SONY! Just sayin'