[kpfeifle]

Quote:

Kp: If you haven't taken this one down yet, add C.J. Williams' "When Alto was King" (on Mapleshade) to your lengthening list. Most of the label's jazz acts really can swing--with Telarc's recordings of Brubeck, Brown, and Peterson being notable exceptions, not a regular truth in this specialized, highly hit-and-miss sector. Their four-discs-for-nine-dollars price break makes it all the more a steal. NGF

NGF:

How funny, out of their entire catalog, that's one of the two I own (the other being their Sample Disk). I love this CD!

 

[zikarus]

@ KR

You are right on the second part IMO.

As for your first comment: Your are not wrong

but what I tried to say (and still think) is that a newbie to classic should begin with the more famous orchestras and - more important - conductors.

@ NeoVibe

Don´t know whether there is an amazon in Potugal. To give you an impression have a look here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...625155-3519663

Somewhere in the mid you will find the link to the "Penguin Guide to Compact Discs (Penguin reference)" (second in the "Customers who bought ... also bought" column). Both guides are not perfect but fine (the Penguin is twice as thick and heavy as the Grammophone).

The Phillips 50 years special series is not bad. It mostly consists of older recordings with a more or less legendary status which have been remastered using 24bit/96khz equipment (just like the "Decca Legends" series, EMI "Great Recordings Of The Century" series or (most of the) DG "The Original" series - all of which are very interesting series IMO).

 

[Nisbeth]

Thought I'd post it here as well.
I bought Beethovens 5th symphony conducted by Carlos Kleiber (part of the DG Originals series) a while ago, and it is simply amazing!! I though I had heard this piece lots of times before, but now I'm not so sure. Sound quality is good (the original recording is from '75) but the performance! *OMG* it is nothing short of outstanding!!! More intense, more precise and especially more "agressive" than I can remember from other versions and the contrast between the quiet theme and the big symphonic parts is incredible. If you want this symphony, I strongly recommend this version of it as being the best I've heard.

Oops, got a little carried away there, I guess...

/U.

PS: Got i few other discs from this series (The "DG Originals" series), and I find them all very good, though you can hear that some of them are pretty old.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Where can we find XRCDs and are they labeled? Or are they stuck in the same as the rest of the redbooks? Gotta get that Bill Evans....

 

[kpfeifle]

ooheadso:

Tower has the JVC XRCD's mixed in with the regular stuff. They are clearly marked XRCD or XRCD2 (new version). It's hard to miss as you don't see many CD's priced at $30.00

They are also packaged in very nice book format card cases (not jewel boxes). Online, check out here . They have just about the entire catalog. Enjoy!

 

[ooheadsoo]

Thanks, kpfeifle, I'll keep an eye out!

 

[Mr.PD]

I want to hear more about these aluminium CD's.
I have never heard of such a thing.

 

[DarkAngel]

PD
Aluminum CD has no special meaning, it is just the standard silver looking cheap CD used everywhere, when discussing various audiophile gold CDs this can come up in discussion. The gold CD is being used less and less it seems even by audiophile labels.

 

[kpfeifle]

Quote:

Aluminum CD has no special meaning, it is just the standard silver looking cheap CD used everywhere, when discussing various audiophile gold CDs this can come up in discussion. The gold CD is being used less and less it seems even by audiophile labels.

I don't really put much stock in the gold is better/worse then aluminum argument. What I do feel in all of these audiophile CD's, is that much more care has been put into mastering the music, and in the case of the XRCD's, in manufacturing them as well. Quality in > Quality out

 

[KR...]

This website has great prices on audiophile CDs, check them out :

http://www.dccblowout.com/

 

[sliberman]

Some comments:

The JVC XRCD remasterings are just superb. I went to CES2003
and in the high-end audio exhibits at the Alexis hotel, I found that
the guys from JVC had their whole catalog for sale, at $20 for a CD. I had to buy some, so I walked away with 12 of them...
All remasterings from the RCA Living Stereo catalog, most of them
I already own in the RCA CD edition.

Great performances, huge improvement in sound:

1) Fritz Reiner/Chicago SO/Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade
One of the best classical CDs ever!

2) Charles Munch/Boston SO/Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
*OMG* - check those bells!
Not to be played in a portable CD player. this one requires
a lot from the D/A converter and output amp.

3) Charles Munch/Boston SO/Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 "Organ"
Those massed strings...

and much more: Bartok, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven

Other recommendations:

The Mercury Living Presence series, also recordings from the early sixties, using only three microphones, competing with the RCA Living Stereo.

My favorite Beethoven Symphony No. 5 performance:
Carlos Kleiber/ Vienna Philharmonic, DG recording 1975
(already recommend in this tread)
If only JVC would give their XRCD treatment to this one...

 

[sliberman]

The JVC XRCD catalog can be found at
http://www.xrcd.com/

This is the address for the ones available in the USA.

There are other XRCD discs that came out in Hong Kong,
and they do not appear in the web site above.

A web store I bought some XRCD discs for less than $30:
http://www.cdconnection.com/

 

[zikarus]

@ Nisbeth and silberman

Carlos Kleiber´s Beethoven performance (5.+7. Symph.) has just been rereleased on (Hybrid-)SACD!

Held one in my hands today but did not have the opportunity to listen to it and then decided to buy Biber´s Missa Salsburgensis with Goebel/Mc Creesh on SACD (first

).

 

[sliberman]

Quote:

Originally posted by zikarus @ Nisbeth and silberman Carlos Kleiber´s Beethoven performance (5.+7. Symph.) has just been rereleased on (Hybrid-)SACD! Held one in my hands today but did not have the opportunity to listen to it and then decided to buy Biber´s Missa Salsburgensis with Goebel/Mc Creesh on SACD (first ).

AAAARRRRGHHHH!
Visions of expensive SACD player being bought.....

The SACD version is not listed in Amazon.com yet.

 

[yage]

Quote:

The JVC XRCD remasterings are just superb...

In relation to the Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 "Organ", does the XRCD clean up some of the problems of the "Living Stereo" CD reissue? I tried out the reissue disc and I remember it sounding a bit thin and rough around the edges - worse than the other "Living Stereo" reissues I own. And since the XRCD is so damn expensive, I went with a Telarc release - the one with Michael Murray at the organ and Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra (an equally fine performance, in my opinion).

As far as "audiophile" recordings go, I have two Miles Davis XRCD's, some Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis Japanese imports (DSD remastered), some Rachmaninoff Chesky CDs, those RCA "Living Stereo" reissues and a few Telarc releases.