[AndreYew]

Recent Telarcs that sound good include their Mahler series, in particular:

1. The Zander M5 already mentioned.
2. The Levi Mahler series, especially 6 and 7
3. The Lopez-Cobos Mahler series

The Zander Mahler 9 is not well-recorded, and isn't recommended if you're looking for good recording quality.

The Mozart Requiem with Perlman and the Boston Baroque is well-recorded. The old one with Robert Shaw is one of the worst recordings (technically) I've ever heard. The recent Fidelio with Mackerras is very well recorded.

For a smaller recorded group, the Jacques Loussier recordings of classics interpreted through jazz techniques are quite good, with the best being the Bach album. The kickdrum on that recording is incredible, coming closest to what I've heard with a live jazz trio.

For my tastes, the best performance ever recorded on Telarc is the Barber album with Levi and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, with Sylvia McNair singing Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. It's an absolutely stunning performance, and I'm always left speechless at the end. I believe it's a mid-90s recording.

Someone else mentioned Reference Recordings. If you like Mahler, have a listen to Oue's recording of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. It's an excellent, middle-of-the-road interpretation, with incredible recording quality. With RR, you can pretty much always count on nothing less than the best recording quality, with performances varying in quality. Keith Johnson, the recording engineer for RR, is hands-down my favorite recording engineer.

--Andre

 

[dparrish]

Well, speaking of Mahler,

I don't have a lot of Mahler recordings in my library, but I just received the new Michael Tilson Thomas/San Francisco Orchestra recording of Mahler's 6th. I think the performance is quite good, and the recording in SACD (it is a hybrid) is among the most life-like recordings I have heard yet.

It is distributed by Delos, although it is privately funded. My understanding is that there are plans to do the entire cycle with this group. I can't wait!

 

[AndreYew]

dparrish,

I agree! The MTT/SFO M6 is a great recording. It was the announcement of the Mahler recording project by the SFO in multi-channel SACD that made me get an SACD player. I look forward very much to the project --- I've been commuting a few times a year for a while now up to San Francisco to attend SFO Mahler performances.

--Andre

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by Greg Freeman I just noticed that DMP re-released Flim and the BBs "Tricycle" CD on SACD.

Really? I'll have to pick that up, I really liked that one. One of the best openings of all time to an album.

 

[LiteJazz]

Oh my!   You just don't know what you are missing not owning any Telarc discs, in my humble opinion the very best quality recordings, period.  You should never be put off by a Telarc disc that is 10 years or older, there are virtually NO bad Telarc disc, all of them are cutting edge.  The only company that kept up with Telarc was Reference Recordings, and the problems with Tam Henderson's company, they record and recorded such "serious" classical music, they just never offered much I liked, but what they did offer, top shelf.  Telarc and Reference Recordings, are the top of the heap, it just does not get any better than those two labels.   Happy listening!

 

[edgeworth]

I was very impressed by the Telarc SACDs of Carmina Burana and also Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
 
Lots of other Telarc cds often seem a bit too distant or lacking in transparency to me -- at least compared to the best Decca analogue recordings or Mercury Living Presence rreissues.
 
I was impressed though by the opera recordings of Mackerras, especially the Marriage of Figaro and the series he did of Gilbert and Sullivan including the Mikado, Pirates of Penzance and Trial by Jury.  Very crisp, lively, and natural sound.

 

[brhfl]

Well, I hate to jump on a thread that's been resurrected from over ten years ago, but on the other hand, I do love Telarc... So, this is (well, was) about recent Telarc releases, but IMO the big thing about Telarc is their older releases... being on the forefront of commercial digital recording and distribution... the Soundstream recorders, the limited mics, the minimal editing... Newer Telarc sounds good, but it's just... not unique. If you (anyone, I suppose) decide to get into some old Telarc, check out Ormandy's Saint-Saëns Symphony no. 3 ("Organ"), with Michael Murray on the organ. Murray actually has recorded this symphony twice for Telarc, but the slightly more recent release is a two-parter (that is, the organ and orchestra were recorded separately). Murray recorded a lot of organ work for Telarc on a lot of different organs... It's an instrument that excels in showing off what digital recorders are capable of, and if organ music interests you, I'd recommend getting whatever turns up.

 

[GrindingThud]

Always liked this one:

 

[Jason Savage]

Just found this thread. I was going to mention Spies, when I noticed the the post, above. That's the very CD I have. It's a good one. Have you seen this link from 4/2002? https://www.ebay.com/b/Various-Telarc-Distribution-Music-CDs/176984/bn_7114708436

 

[rlanger]

Anything and everything by Hiromi. Absolutely astonishing musicianship to go along with the astonishing recordings.

Love Telarc.