[scrypt]

Quote:

Originally posted by KR... The best 9th ever (IMHO) is on Chesky. This version is extremely intense, and some may not like that, but I don't listen to classical to relax like many people do. The classical that I listen to is certainly not background music to say the least, so this version appeals to me the most.

I'm in total agreement with you, KR. Which is why I've found the top of the line Grado to be the best headphone for classical I've heard so far.

It's also why I'll be checking out the Chesky 9th on your recommendation. Thanks.

 

[DanG]

Yes, classical music for me is also something that needs to be played back as honestly as possible to the original recording -- no cushioning or calming-down is appreciated by me. That's why I also love my HP2 with classical -- as well as everything else.

Anyway, Naxos has some great stuff and some very bad stuff. I have Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) on Naxos CD and it sounds great. I also have a collection of some works by Saint-Saens, including the beautiful Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. The performance is great, but listening on headphones I can hear the regular and loud breathing of the violinist. That makes this work unlistenable on headphones, though great in the car or on my parents' mid-fi speaker-based stereo system.

There are plenty of little labels that are great for classical music. I have Tcherepnin's Symphony No.4 on a Marco Polo recording. Don't have anything else on that label as far as I know. It's performed by the Czecho-Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra with some Wing-Sie Yip conducting -- apparently, same principle as Naxos on performer choice. It's not a unique formula, but apparently Naxos is the biggest of this type of label.

As an aside, it turns out some of the small classical-only record labels have been put out of business by Napster and other file-sharing services. I'd have never thought that the classical music industry would be seriously affected by file-sharing considering the stereotype of the classical-music lover. Go figure.

 

[j-curve]

Quote:

As an aside, it turns out some of the small classical-only record labels have been put out of business by Napster and other file-sharing services.

You wouldn't be the only one to be surprised by that. In fact, I don't believe it. Can you give a link or some reference?

 

[DanG]

It's actually the father of a friend of a friend who owned one of these labels. I don't know on what he based his claim that it was Napster et al. that brought down his small label and others but that's what my friend told me. Yeah, I know, tenuous connection and all but that's what I heard. And I don't know what reason there would be to make up something like that.

 

[TripsRight]

Well, most people are inclined to find some external individual or entity to blame for a failure regardless of whether it was the case or not. It's just our natural tendency. No idea whether it happened in this case of course, but it does tend to happen.

 

[j-curve]

90% of internet users are on dial-up, which means 56k modem at best. I just can't see people going crazy downloading classical tracks through a modem. Plus the extra dynamic range of classical shows mp3 limitations etc. etc.

Not saying it didn't happen, but all the same...

 

[AC1]

I just picked up some Naxos that were recommended by audiophile sites... The ones produced by Andrew Walton have excellent sonics (Holst Planets, and the Samual Barbers) which says on the back of the cd they are recorded and edited at some kind of high resolution (24 bit, or sampled at xxx, etc). I found their regular cds sonically to be bit closed in even on ones that were recommended. Good value though, Virgin Megastores had them for $5 each.

 

[scrypt]

Exactly which Samuel Barber did you snatch for your lurid amusement, my 24-bit-covetous libertine?

(You'll have to forgive my tone. I've been watching the new TCM version of Mario Bava's vigorously purple Black Sunday. Here's the opening narration:

"Before the dawn of the Age of Reason, Satanic beings appeared across the world, lusting for blood. Simple folk and gentry alike rose up to desperately defend against the murderous assault of those monstrous undead horrors among them. No piteous pleas of human love or bonds of family afforded safety from condemning accusation! No beloved spouse or cherished brother was to be spared from the vampires for the flames of savagely justified destruction! At that time, a ritual began that signified the casting of the unholy ones into the abyss to suffer the eternal tortures of the dark underworld. Wielding steel and fire, the righteous inquisitors nailed the horrid mark of Satan into the unclean flesh of the damned, sealing their fate and establishing the Mask of Satan.")

 

[AC1]

They have 2 cds out for Samuel Barber, Orchestral Works Volume 1 and 2, the first consisting of Symph 1 and 2 and the later Cello Concerto, Medea, and Adagio for Strings. The Vol1 was a recommended disk which is how I discovered these disks.