[peteyspambucket]

I just thought I'd pass this along.

http://boards.iclassics.com/htdocs/d...ID22/586.html#


Of great interest to me are the SACDs to be released on Nov 11th: the Mercury Living Presence SACDs (5 disks -Suppe & Auber: Overtures - DSO/Paray; Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 - Dorati/Janis; Bach: The 6 Cello Suites - Starker; Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture/Capriccio Italien, etc - Dorati/MSO; Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances - PH/Dorati), Karajan Beethoven complete symphonies box set (5 disks), and the Mahler 2nd Symphony (from Gilbert Kaplan, instead of Pierre Boulez, thank goodness!).


Also on Nov 4th, the release of the first hi-def audio release on DVD-A of Mahler's 8th Symphony (although I already have this recording on CD, and it's not that great - maybe the sonics will provide extra clarity).


Two more months. I'm very thrilled that great SACD releases are coming out in all genres with some good frequency. Starting this month, there are 2-3 good SACDs per month leading up to XMAS. This is great if you're planning to get an entry level SACD/DVD player for someone this year during the holiday season.


Also, on my SACD wish list:

Chicago (Movie Soundtrack) - out already

David Bowie - Let's Dance - Sept 29th

Elton John - Yellow Brick Road - Oct 7th

The Who - Tommy - Oct 28th

Elvis Costello - North - Nov 4th

 

[Salmoneous]

Just to totally hijack your thread (which has lots of good info BTW) by why would anybody want the Chicago soundtrack, much less a SACD version?


Let's face it, the movie cast doesn't sing particularly well. When watching the movie, it's overlookable. But when it's just the soundtrack, I find it fingers-on-chalkboard painful. Get the Broadcast Cast Album instead, I say.

 

[peteyspambucket]

Salmoneous, I agree with you really. While it's on my wish list, it is out already, and I still haven't bought it. Maybe it should come off my list. I definitely think the Chicago DVD gives the full audio/visual experience of the movie, and I definitely enjoy the original cast much more! Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach! Given Hollywood's recent boost to Chicago the musical in general, maybe Arista will release the original Bway cast on SACD.


Hey, my thread's been hijacked! LOL

 

[apg]

Hmmm, _which_ Von Karajan Beethoven set...

 

[peteyspambucket]

I am thinking it's the Karajan cycle from the mid 70's, which is the most popular one. (Frankly, I like his last all-digital cycle very much. He finally lightened up the orchestral texture and went with faster tempi, which made the performances much more exciting.) While it's exciting news to have that as the first complete Beethoven cycle on SACD, I am hoping it will not end up sounding like the Beethoven 9th from Karajan that is out on SACD already. That one sounds really terrible. Crossing-my fingers.

 

[padreken]

Petey, It's my understanding that it will be the 1963 cycle released-this is arguably the best sounding of the 4 that Karajan did, made before DG engineers discovered the mixing console and began multimiking everything to death. The 1977 9th you mention does sound pretty mediocre, but so is the master-you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! I really like the performance, though, especially the soloists. Speaking of Beethoven, Telarc will release a 9th on mulitchannel SACD with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony on 9/23.


I'll be interested to hear those Mercury recordings, too-several of those are favorites of mine, particularly Janis' Rachmaninoff and Paray's Suppe overtures. Tommy and GBYBR are obvious must-buys, provided the transfers sound good.

 

[FredProgGH]

Weren't the Mercury Living Presence recordings originally recorded in a three track format (L,C,R) and then mixed to 2-track stereo? Will the new versions simply re-create a 3 channel mix across the front or attempt to synthesize some kind of surround info?

 

[wojtek]

Quote:

Originally posted by peteyspambucket the Mercury Living Presence SACDs

I might be interested if it was Freddie Mercury... Ooops, never mind...

 

[peteyspambucket]

Quote:

Originally posted by FredProgGH Weren't the Mercury Living Presence recordings originally recorded in a three track format (L,C,R) and then mixed to 2-track stereo? Will the new versions simply re-create a 3 channel mix across the front or attempt to synthesize some kind of surround info?

As far as I know, they are going back to the original 3-track tapes and are making 3-channel mixes which have never been commerically available.


Judging from the already amazing sounding CDs in this series, I wonder how much better the SACD could get.

 

[pillcrusher]

We need more SACD and DVD-A titles to choose from. I love classical and jazz but I want current pop, rock, alt, and vocal. Who cares for the re-release of Rolling Stones, The Police, Bob Dylan. Its all double dipping as far as I'm concerned. I want Sarah McLaughlin, John Mayer, Jewel (not that crappy new album), Santana, Seal, Wallflowers, etc. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[SebCanadaCEO]

Supposedly "Shania Twain's" "Up!" and "Come on Over" are being released in DVD-A soon... But I can't find them anywhere?

 

[Scott-C]

Quote:

We need more SACD and DVD-A titles to choose from. I love classical and jazz but I want current pop, rock, alt, and vocal. Who cares for the re-release of Rolling Stones, The Police, Bob Dylan. Its all double dipping as far as I'm concerned. I want Sarah McLaughlin, John Mayer, Jewel (not that crappy new album), Santana, Seal, Wallflowers, etc. Thanks for letting me vent.

I agree with you; more releases are needed, but I think the format war is making this difficult. I have an RP-91 and just recently started playing some DVD-As. As I looked through the possible DVD-As to buy, I also checked out the SACD titles. Both are woefully lacking, IMO. I love classical music and find it to sound great in hi-res audio, but I'd love to see more types of music come online.

 

[HTCrazy]

I'll take just about ANY Von Karajan Beethoven set on SACD. But the 70's version is excellent! I'll bet its going to be on the pricey side, but VERY worth it whatever it is.