SPOTLIGHT The classical music general discussion thread

[humprof]

I've been discovering the joy of Mahler's 5th symphony of late. Although I've got a few Mahler box set I keep on listening to the second or third symphony or Das Lied but I think I'm now ready to start enjoying #5. I've heard all the symphonies of course, it's just the 2 and 3 and too good, as is Das Lied. But I feel it's time to indulge #5. I mean, if it's good enough for Bernstein to take a copy to the grave with him then surely it's good enough for me while I'm still breathing lol

Gramophone announced a Mahler "collector's edition" today. I'm a little bit of a sucker for these sorts of things, even though I know they're rip-offs for dilettantes (that's me!), full of recycled content. Uncut's Radiohead issue? I was all over it! Still good bathroom reading. @4-earredwonder: they have a "Film Music" issue coming out in November. . . .
https://www.magsubscriptions.com/mahler

 

[windhoek]

Gramophone announced a Mahler "collector's edition" today. I'm a little bit of a sucker for these sorts of things, even though I know they're rip-offs for dilettantes (that's me!), full of recycled content. Uncut's Radiohead issue? I was all over it! Still good bathroom reading. @4-earredwonder: they have a "Film Music" issue coming out in November. . . .
https://www.magsubscriptions.com/mahler

Oh, I like the look of that!

 

[mkt]

"As of today, it is not possible to purchase discs and downloads from www.channelclassics.com anymore"
With a little more warning I'd have bought a few things.
https://www.channelclassics.com

 

[humprof]

"As of today, it is not possible to purchase discs and downloads from www.channelclassics.com anymore"
With a little more warning I'd have bought a few things.
https://www.channelclassics.com

I got that email too. Glad for the many discs I've gotten on sale over the past few years. Keep an eye on Berkshire Record Outlet, I guess?--or did Outhere Music acquire the entire stock?

 

[gene_stl]

My very very first cache of multi channel SACDs came from the great sale they had a few years ago. One was a CD but there were eight or nine SACDs and the bill was like $80. A great sale. ("The first one is FREE!" ) Very sorry to see them go.

Berkshire Record Outlet is great too. For us classical fans.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I suppose in this inflationary world it comes as no surprise that Channel Classics has fallen prey. I visit HRAudio.net regularly and have noticed the diminished amount of multi~CH SACDs being released worldwide unlike a scant few years ago when there was no short supply.

Thankfully, I have quite an ample multi~CH SACD collection from Channel which I've amassed over the years and shall treasure them.

 

[4-earredwonder]

NOW available from BMOP/Sound [Multi~CH SACD]

 

[humprof]

This week's BIS special is a Schubert symphony bundle with Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Like most casual listeners, I don't know that I care much about any of them beyond the "Great" and the "Unfinished." And depending upon how you view it, this isn't a complete set, as it doesn't include the 7th. (Maybe that one is not typically included anyway? No one had yet assayed a "completion" of it, I guess, before the Dausgaard cycle was finished--though iIt's also not part of the Rene Jacobs/B'Rock Orchestra cycle on Pentatone that was recently capped off--in Atmos--on Apple Music.). Anyway, it's a very fair price:
https://www.eclassical.com/labels/bis/schubert-the-symphonies-1.html

 

[ubertrout]

This week's BIS special is a Schubert symphony bundle with Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Like most casual listeners, I don't know that I care much about any of them beyond the "Great" and the "Unfinished." And depending upon how you view it, this isn't a complete set, as it doesn't include the 7th. (Maybe that one is not typically included anyway? No one had yet assayed a "completion" of it, I guess, before the Dausgaard cycle was finished--though it's also not part of the Rene Jacobs/B'Rock Orchestra cycle on Pentatone that was recently capped off--in Atmos--on Apple Music.). Anyway, it's a very fair price:
https://www.eclassical.com/labels/bis/schubert-the-symphonies-1.html

As I understand it there isn't a 7th, although Berio's Rendering is based on the sketches. That's why some count the Unfinished and Great as 7/8 and not 8/9.

 

[humprof]

As I understand it there isn't a 7th, although Berio's Rendering is based on the sketches. That's why some count the Unfinished and Great as 7/8 and not 8/9.

I hear you. The sum total of my knowledge about this came from Wikipedia (!), which mentions 3 "completions." I was clearly misremembering the dates of those completions when I made that first post. More googling tells me that the most recent, the Newbould, only saw its first performance in 1978. . . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._7_(Schubert)Doesn't seem like there are many recordings, though. Just Neville Marriner (whose Schubert cycle also includes a "realization" of a 10th symphony by Newbould!) & Heinz Roegner?

 

[humprof]

Raven Chacon, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for music, has a background that's at least as deeply rooted in "harsh noise" as in chamber music--never mind organ music--as an article in today's New York Times ("It's Indigenous, Experimental and Loud," reprinted here under a different title) emphasizes. But it seems "Voiceless Mass" is mainly being covered by classical reviewers. Whatever you call it: with a reverberant pipe organ and violins, flutes, and percussion positioned "around the seated audience," I hope the piece gets an immersive recording.

https://www.wpr.org/being-heard-ind...-mass-performed-milwaukee-wins-pulitzer-prize
https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/raven-chacon

 

[4-earredwonder]

TUVAYHUN — Beatitudes for a Wounded World

2L 2L-171-SABD (2 discs)
Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid
Classical - Vocal

BEST PRICE SO FAR: jpc.de On sale and with VAT removed €21

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/tuvayhun-beatitudes-for-a-wounded-world/hnum/10995477
And jpc.de also has over three dozen Pentatone Multi~CH SACDs [and RBCDs] on sale for a fraction of their list:

https://www.jpc.de/s/1247964_129384?searchtype=cid
And s/h to the States for 6+ items: €6.29

 

[mkt]

TUVAYHUN — Beatitudes for a Wounded World

2L 2L-171-SABD (2 discs)
Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid
Classical - Vocal

BEST PRICE SO FAR: jpc.de On sale and with VAT removed €21

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/tuvayhun-beatitudes-for-a-wounded-world/hnum/10995477
And jpc.de also has over three dozen Pentatone Multi~CH SACDs [and RBCDs] on sale for a fraction of their list:

https://www.jpc.de/s/1247964_129384?searchtype=cid
And s/h to the States for 6+ items: €6.29

Now steaming in atmos (despite stereo in the title) for those who partake

 

[4-earredwonder]

Now steaming in atmos (despite stereo in the title) for those who partake

Glorious music. My copy is enroute from jpc.de. Thanks for sharing

 

[humprof]

Now steaming in atmos (despite stereo in the title) for those who partake

I tried to find the post about this in the Streaming on Apple/Tidal thread from a couple of weeks ago (when there was only a preview track), just to update it, and couldn't find it.

Email about this release from 2L this morning touts the addition of MKV to their download options:

Dolby Atmos TrueHD and Auro-3D in MKV movie file​

— Dolby Atmos MLP in TrueHD from 24/48 ADM​

— Auro-3D 7.1.4 24/96 inside DTS HDMA container​

— Dolby Atmos EC3 in Dolby Digital+ from 24/48 ADM (this stream serves to compared DD+ to the lossless TrueHD)​

​

Dolby Atmos in streaming services are compressed to fit the older DD+ standard with reduced bandwidth. We have now started to explore how we can reach the home cinema environment with Dolby Atmos TrueHD and Auro-3D in full quality. Three audio streams are contained in parallel within the MKV container.​

​

All of the above versions originates from the very same 24/352.8 master file:​

​

The video is encoded as a continuous album with Chapter Marks for each track. If you play back thru a BD-player then numeric keypad and skip forward/backward will operate as a normal CD. Select audio stream at will. Media Players like the Plex app on Nvidia Shield Pro works fine and we have confirmed both Dolby Atmos TrueHD and Auro-3D passthru over HDMI from the media player.​

​

https://shop.2l.no/products/tuvayhun?variant=41290067869879​

A good move--only I wish they'd offer this format at a cheaper price than the physical disc.

 

[mkt]

I continue to not understand why downloads cost more than physical media.

 

[humprof]

I continue to not understand why downloads cost more than physical media.

No doubt there are hosting fees paid to whomever they're contracting with to store and deliver the downloads. But could that cut really exceed the costs of producing a physical product? Maybe. And/or maybe it's a chance for the label to make a slightly bigger margin.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Why would anyone want to download TUVAHUN when the physical disc package from 2L includes both a BD~A with multiple codecs to choose from, a Multi CH SACD, a booklet and even offers MQA on the CD layer all for [what I paid] €21?

 

[humprof]

Why would anyone want to download TUVAHUN when the physical disc package from 2L includes both a BD~A with multiple codecs to choose from, a Multi CH SACD, a booklet and even offers MQA on the CD layer all for [what I paid] €21?

Well, the most expensive download (€28 from 2L, $28 from IAA) includes Auro-3D FLAC + Dolby Atmos MP4 + Dolby Atmos MKV, though not stereo. And you can download the booklet for free from 2L. But €21 is a great price.

 

[mkt]

Why would anyone want to download TUVAHUN when the physical disc package from 2L includes both a BD~A with multiple codecs to choose from, a Multi CH SACD, a booklet and even offers MQA on the CD layer all for [what I paid] €21?

Immediate gratification