What Classical are you listening to?

[Joe B]

Today's commute:

 

[Joe B]

Listening to Paul Mealor's "Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal":

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]

CD 3

 

[eljr]

I listened/watched this yesterday,
3rd listen, first time I got through the entire 180 minutes!

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]

 

[Joe B]

 

[Joe B]

Today's commute:

 

[Joe B]

 

[Joe B]

 

[TLS Guy]

This is the back of the package:

Region code 0 will not cause any problems on any players.

You are absolutely correct about the dynamic range. It is colossal. My wife was leaving the house just as I was putting it into the player and did not return until the last 7 minutes of play. I set the volume at -22db, which is loud on my system, and let it play through. I was very impressed with the product. The recorded sound is great. I know the box says its DD 5.1, but I could swear my Anthem said it was playing DTS HD Master Audio (that rig is powered down now, I'll confirm/deny this the next time I power it up). [I just confirmed at arthaus-musik.com that it is DTS HD Master Audio] Anyway, I was also extremely impressed with the camera work. The director knew every nuance of the piece and had his camera men exactly where they should be throughout the work. Editing was first rate. Overall, a really good product. My first concert on blu-ray, but if other ArtHaus products are like this, and the trailers on the disc for other releases indicate they are, it will not be my last.

My disc came yesterday. So the Amazon site is wrong. My disc said region 0 also.

Now the codec says PCM stereo and DD 5.1

Well now is a tale. So I switched off the four amp channels for my bi-amped Surround Backs and their crossovers.
The on screen menu said DTS Master HD 5.1. Anyhow I assumed not unreasonably that it was a 5.1 recording, which I thought a pity, since the children's choir was right at the back of the cathedral. So when the children's chorus came in, it was really odd. They were very distant and poorly defined. So after a while I investigated. I checked my Marantz Pre/pro display to find out that it was displaying DTS Master HD 7.1! So I switched on the rear surround back amps and crossovers. It was a revelation, the children's choir were coming from the back as they should and sounded perfect. You absolutely need 7.1 to play this disc properly.

This is a absolutely wonderful performance of Britten's War Requiem. I thought the Tenor and Baritone were superb. I have always admired Mark Padmore the tenor. The singers are supposed to include one German as per Britten's instructions. However I know this is a very difficult work for the Germans, and I could tell this was difficult for the Baritone. At the end I noted Mark Padmore gave a kind comforting gesture to his German colleague.

The recording was first class with the dynamic range as it should be. Everything well recorded with just the right balance between ambiance and detail. This is very important as so much of this work is essentially chamber music. Like Wagner you have to listen to as a chamber work more than anything else. I know there are huge forces in play, but those forces are used sparingly but to great effect. A soft organ pedal I did not hear at one point, but felt a soft rumble in my chest. At the point were the organ let loose it was all as it should be. I have to say this recording put me right in Coventry cathedral. Once I got the codec sorted and allowed for 7.1 playback, the walls of the room opened and acoustically disappeared. This made for a highly charged and captivating experience were you really could forget this was reproduced sound.

The engineers were all German I see. However the performance was broadcast live on BBC radio 3. There was no double mic set up, so there must have been cooperation between the BBC and German teams. The BBC have enormous experience broadcasting from the cathedrals and colleges of the UK, because of the weekly Choral Evensong series which has broadcast weekly for almost 100 years now, and is the world's longest running broadcast series. They always sound superb.

I think the heartiest thanks and congratulations are in order for all the performers and recording team.

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]

 

[Joe B]

 

[Joe B]

Listening to Cyril Scott's "Piano Quintet No. 1":