Monthly Archive: April 2004
Home Page-April 2004
April 2004 Contents 13 Vinyl Reviews; 6 xrcd Reviews; Jazz SACD/DVD-A Reviews; Classical SACD/DVD-A Reviews; Pop/Rock SACD/DVD-A Reviews (57 total!); 27 Classical CDs; 12 Jazz CDs; 21 Reissues Components Reviewed: Polk LSi Series Speakers; Zektor Multichannel Switch; River Speaker Cables; April Fools Music Humor; Lexicon Logic for Bass Management; Nat. Recording Registry; 10 Music Video DVD Reviews plus 20 films & TV series; Survey of the Audio & HT Print Press – Updated! To Our Readers: You are urged to register with our site in order to be eligible for future product giveaways and a future newsletter. You do that by registering Right Here. We vow we will not sell your information to marketers. Weekly Audio News: APR. 7; APR. 14; APR. 21; APR. 28 = New Theremin Revealed; Surround Sound in the Sky and On The Air; RIAA Announces Increased DVD-Audio Sales; Jazz at Lincoln Center’s New Home
DVD-Video Reviews, Part 3 of 3
Part 3 – April 2004 [Part 1] [Part 2] Les Uns et Les Autres (Bolero) (1981) Starring Geraldine Chaplin, Robert Hossein, James Caan, Fanny Ardant etc. Directed by Claude Lelouch Music: Francis Lai & Michael Legrand Studio: Les Films 13/Image Entertainment Video: 2.35:1 widescreen enhanced for 16:9 display Audio: Dolby Digital stereo surround, French language Subtitles: English Length: 177 minutes Rating: **** This is a “Director’s Cut” DVD in spades: The original three-hour French film was butchered down to hour-and-a-half size and re-titled Bolero because it opens and closes with a modern dance performance of that Ravel music. The Ones and The Others is such a all-encompassing and sweeping epic with many different interweaving characters a la Robert Altman, and covering three generations of the characters, that even in the three hour version it takes some effort to figure out who is who and what is what. No wonder this important and often very moving film is unknown in the U.S.! The glue that holds all these various stories together is the magic of music; nearly all the characters are musicians, dancers or composers. James Caan has two roles and Geraldine Chaplin plays his wife in his role as the […]
DVD-Video Reviews, Part 2 of 3
Pt. 2 of 3 – April 2004 [Part 1] [Part 3] Desperado (1995) Starring: Antonio Banderas, Joaquim De Almeida, Selma Hayek Studio: Columbia TriStar Video: 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced for 16:9 Audio: DTS 5.1, DD 5.1 Length: 103 minutes Rating: ***1/2 Though normally sequels are not more popular than the first film in a series, that is the case with Desperado. Although many people feel that El Mariachi was a better film, others may not even know that it exists. With the DVD release of the third film in the series, there is now a new collector’s edition of Desperado. This is a review of the 2001 Superbit release. One of the strong points of this film is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. In addition, it is a clear that the director has a talent for turning what may seem quite ordinary in other films into exciting drama. This is what ultimately elevates it into a much better film. I have to admit that sometimes I can’t understand what Antonio Banderas says—take Ballistic – Ecks v. Sever, but in this movie his dialogue is kept to a minimum and he enunciates better. The scenes in the beginning of […]
DVD-Video Reviews, Part 1 of 3
April 2004, Pt. 1 ALL MUSIC VIDEOS [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet Ballet Galina Ulanova, Juliet Yuri Zhdanov, Romeo S. Koren, Mercutio A. Yermolayev, Tybalt; Members of the Bolshoi Ballet Choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky (co-director) Directed by L. Arnstam Music conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky Studio: VAI DVD 4260 Video: 4:3 color Audio: Mono Extras: Bonus Track from Swan Lake Length: 91 minutes Rating: **** Filmed in vivid, even lurid color in 1954, this Russian film version of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet may be to ballet what Citizen Kane is to film noir – a kind of archetype. If Franco Zefferelli watched it, I am sure he learned much from its staging and cutting, which is consistently cinematic and not “just another movie of a static ballet set.” The principal dancer and obvious star of this mighty paean to tragic love is Galina Ulanova (1910-1988), for whom Prokofiev wrote this ballet in 1935, as well as his scores for Cinderella and The Stone Flower. To watch her transform from a naive free-spirited youngster to a mature self-willed woman in love is a coup of acting worthy of Vivian Leigh, Janet Gaynor, or Celeste Holm (both of the […]
Component Reviews, Part 4 of 4
April 2004, Part 4 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] Lexicon’s Subwoofer Logic by David J. Weinberg [If you thought bass management was a simple matter, have a look at this article from the Boston Audio Society’s Speaker newsletter…Ed.] [This was sent to Lexicon in the hope it might prove of value to them — DJW.] With all my Lexicons (CP-1, DC-1, DC-2, MC-12) over the years, I have preferred a 7.1-channel configuration, non-THX. With my speakers I would prefer crossovers set at: Left and Right Front: 40Hz highpass (HP); Center: 80Hz highpass (the Lexicon feeds signal below this to both Left and Right Front outputs); Left and Right Side: – 40Hz highpass; Left and Right Rear: 60Hz highpass;with the single subwoofer set for a 120Hz lowpass (LP), so it handles the whole LFE signal plus all the seven channels’ audio below the above-listed highpass-crossover frequencies. Of course this assumes that the processors feed the remainder (the signals below the seven channels’ HP crossover settings) to the subwoofer, regardless of the subwoofer’s LP crossover setting, as long as the frequencies are below that setting. My assumption was that in no case would both a main channel speaker and the […]
Component Reviews, Part 3 of 4
April 2004, Review 1 [2] [3] [4] River Cable FLEXYGY 6-conductor Flat Speaker Cable SRP: $255 4M pair; $270 5M pair (contact River Cable for custom lengths) River Cable Technologies 350 Power Avenue Hudson, NY 12534 1-888-927-4837 (voice) 1-888-776-3713 (fax) www.rivercable.com Basic Description 6 x 16 gauge fine-stranded copper flat speaker wire; .6” wide by .18” thick; available in a dark blue jacket with gold pins, spades, or banana plug ends; 30 day in-home trial; cable “birth certificate” that certifies the cable meets or exceeds certain technical requirements: capacitance <43 pF/ft, DC resistance <.003 ohms/ft, velocity factor > .87; LIFETIME warranty. Associated Equipment B&W 703 loudspeakers, Musical Fidelity A308 Integrated Amplifier, Musical Fidelity A308 CD player (used as transport), Musical Fidelity TriVista 21 DAC, Audioquest Jaguar interconnect, Audioquest Optilink III Optical cable, DeCorp 12DePWR speaker wire and Audioquest Type 4 and CV-6 for comparison. Setup The River Cable speaker wire was connected and played for a couple of days on the system; right away the impressions were positive. For the comparison tests, cables were plugged and unplugged utilizing the multiple connections on the back of the Musical Fidelity A308 integrated amplifier. I requested the FLEXYGY cables with spades on both […]
Component Reviews, Part 2 of 4
April 2004, Part 3 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 4] Zektor MAS3 Multichannel Remote-controlled Switch MSRP: $449 Specs: Insertion Loss (0-100K – 0 dB Adjacent Channel Crosstalk at 20K – less than -104 dB Unselected Channel Crosstalk at 20K – less than -104 dB Power Consumption: less than 5W Size: 17” W x 6.5” D x 1.75”H Warranty: One Year ZEKTOR, LLC 12675 Danielson Court, Suite 401 Poway, CA 92064 www.zektor.com customerservice@zektor.com Intro Many of us are into both of the new hi-res disc formats and have separate dedicated players for each of them. Some of us even have three players – perhaps both single play and changer SACD decks or the third player being a much-tweaked CD-only player which still sounds better on standard CDs than either of our new-format players. While the universal players are improving steadily, some of us have found that those we could afford don’t necessarily sound quite as good as our dedicated players. The problem is that almost none of the multichannel processors and receivers have more than a single six-channel analog feed-thru for a multichannel player. So some sort of switching or constant unplugging and plugging-in is required. I used three $15 Radio […]
Component Reviews, Part 1 of 4
No. 2 [No. 1] [3] [4] • April 2004 Polk Audio LSi Series Home Theater Speaker System LSi9 = Drivers Mid/Woofer: 2 – 5-1/4″ Diameter (13.34cm) Dynamic Balance with Aerated Polyprpylene cone, cast basket and rubber surround (shielded) Tweeter: 1 – 1″ Diameter (2.54cm) Dynamic Balance Ring Radiator (shielded) Electrical Overall Frequency Response: 38Hz – 27kHz Lower -3dB Limit: 50Hz Upper -3dB Limit: 26kHz Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms Recommended Amplifier Power: 20 – 200 w/channel Efficiency: 88 dB Crossover: Driver 1: LPF at 200Hz 12dB/oct, Driver 2: LPF at 2.4kHz, 12 dB/oct. Tweeter: HPF at 2.4kHz 18dB/oct. Inputs: Dual gold plated 5-way binding posts for bi-amp/bi-wire hookup Dimensions Cabinet Size: 14-7/8″ H x 8-5/8″ W x 15-1/4″ D (37.78cm H x 21.91cm W x 38.73cm D) Enclosure Type Vented via rear-mounted Power Port and dual front-mounted ARC ports Shipping/Other Product Weight 33.00 lbs. each Total Shipping Weight 75.00 lbs. Speaker Warranty 5 Years parts and labor LSi7 = Driver Complement Mid/Woofer: 1 – 5-1/4″ Diameter (13.34cm) Dynamic Balance with Aerated Polypropylene cone, cast basket and rubber surround (shielded) Tweeter: 1 – 1″ Diameter (2.54cm) Dynamic Balance Ring Radiator (shielded) Electrical Overall Frequency Response: 45Hz – 27kHz Lower -3dB Limit: 53Hz […]
Reissue CD Reviews, Part 2 of 2
pril 2004, Pt. 2 of 2 BALAKIREV: Islamey; Overture on 3 Russian Themes; Russia/TCHAIKOVSKY: Hamlet–Fantasy Overture, Op. 67; Theme and Variations from Suite No. 3 in G Major, Op. 55 Lovro von Matacic conducts Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milan (Suite No. 3) Testament SBT 1331 71:22 (Distrib. Harmonia Mundi): Another in the Testament restoration of EMI inscriptions by Lovro von Matacic (1899-1985), this disc captures the fiery Croatian conductor in color repertory, some of which had prior issue on EMI’s own Artists Profile Series (5 68739 2) back in 1996. New are the 1954-1956 Balakirev entries, each of which is ablaze with arrangements of folk melodies; in fact, the Overture on 3 Russian Themes utilizes The Crane tune that dominates the final movement of the Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony. The Second Overture on Russian Themes might have been spliced together from Liadov’s Op. 58 Eight Russian Folk Songs. Particularly lively is the Franz Schalk orchestration of the piano piece Islamey, here in a scintillating performance that rivals my old EMI favorite by Eugene Goossens. The 1956 performance of Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet is a powerful account not far from the level of tempestuous intensity Stokowski garnered for his Lewisohn […]
Reissue CD Reviews, Part 1 of 2
April 2004, Pt. 1 of 2 MAHLER: Symphony No. 6 in A Minor Sir John Barbirolli conducts Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Testament SBT 1342 74:50 (Distrib. Harmonia Mundi): Sir John Barbirolli (1899-1970) led and recorded (some are live broadcasts) all the Mahler symphonies except the Eighth. Having rediscovered his affection for the music of Mahler in the mid-1950’s, Sir John made Manchester a haven for Mahler interpretation; he then extended his repute in this music to Berlin, playing Mahler’s Ninth with the BPO in1963. Given his emotional, driven style of leadership, the Berlin players responded warmly, especially after their years since 1954 with Karajan’s cool, over-refined demeanor. Karajan would not conduct Mahler in Berlin until 1972, when he led the Fifth Symphony. This frenzied account of the Mahler 6th (which includes periodic “singing” by Sir John) derives from the concert of 13 January 1966, where the rest of the program was filled in with Mozart’s Symphony No. 34. This so-called “Tragic” Symphony has any number of pitfalls for the interpreter, including severe shifts of tempo and mood, a strange, almost occult mixture of spiritual malaise and bucolic nostalgia, captured in the shambling cowbells that intermittently intrude on the music. I won’t […]
Jazz CD Reviews
JOHN SURMAN Selected Recordings 1976-99 = Druid’s Circle, Number Six, Portrait of a Romantic, Ogeda, The Returning Exile, Edges of Illusion, The Buccaneers, The Snooper, Mountainscape VIII, Figfoot, Piperspool, Gone to the Dogs, Stone Flower – ECM :rarum XIII B0001803-02: EBERHARD WEBER Selected Recordings 1974-2000 = Nimbus, The Shopper, Oasis, Silent Feet, Fluid Rustle, Maurizius, Gesture, Closing Scene, Her Wild Ways, French Diary – ECM :rarum XVIII B0001804-02: While cynics might see the :rarum series is a thinly-disguised ploy to re-release old recordings from the ECM catalog without having to spend anything on new recording sessions and thereby cleaning up, they would be wrong. That’s the sort of thing the major labels do all the time. Manfred Eicher, who started this unique modern jazz label over three decades ago, didn’t dictate what selections were to be on each disc. Instead the artists involved chose the tracks themselves to represent what they felt was their best work over the years. The versatility and breadth of each musician is displayed in the very best light, using the latest mastering techniques for best possible fidelity. 20 artists from the ECM catalog are surveyed in this series so far – players who have left […]
Classical CD Reviews, Part 2 of 2
April 2004 Pt. 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] How about starting out this section with a bunch of really tuneful, accessible, easy-on-the-ears music – first from Europe and South America, and then from the U.S.? SAINT-SAENS: Carnival of the Animals; Septuor in E Flat Major; Fantasie for violin and piano; Romance and Priere for cello and piano; My Heart at They Sweet Voice, From Samson & Dalila (cello & piano) – Renaud and Gautier Capucon and chamber ensemble – Virgin Classics 5 45603 2 3: Saint-Seans enjoyed writing works for unusual and even unique combinations of instruments. His wonderfully witty Septet here was created for a group of amateur musicians which happened to include strings and a trumpet player. The contrasts between the two instrumental sounds provide for plenty of drama and quirkiness in this very French four-movement work. But the well-known “grande fantasie zoologique” is the main entree on the menu ici. Except that instead of the full orchestra version we have its original chamber music score for only a dozen instruments – what Saint-Saens orginally had to work with. The light-hearted 14-section suite moves along with even more élan that usual, and it seems as if the […]
Classical CD Reviews, Part 1 of 2
Part 1 of 2 [Part 2] BIRTWHISTLE: The British Music Collection. Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez, et al. Decca 468 804-2 (2 CDs): In Alice in Wonderland, Alice has a great deal of trouble with a “little gold key.” At first, it’s too big to open the door she wants; then when she find a door that it fits, it’s not the one she wants. When she shrinks, the key is out of reach on the glass table. Listening to the music of British composer Harrison Birtwhistle is like struggling over Alice’s key. The first task is finding it. Surely there must be a key to these complex and intriguing structures. But where is it? At first, a piece like Endless Parade seem like third stream jazz, with its seemingly melded jazz and classical elements. Yet this ebullient trumpet concerto belies categorization. Its lurking undercurrent constantly struggles to emerge, but is beaten back by the bright staccato tones of Elgar Howarth’s trumpet. Third stream would seem to apply more to Panic, the saxophone concerto. A chaotic opening and random direction, suffused with spiky energy, is reminiscent of the late work of Don Cherry or John Coltrane. Performed with hot lava passion […]
Hi-Res Reviews, Part 3 of 3 Pop/Rock
57 SACD & DVD-A Reviews April 2004 – Pt. 3 – Rock/Pop [Part 1] [Part 2] click on any cover to go directly to its review Creedence Clearwater Revival – The Concert; Fantasy FSA-4501-6 Stereo Hybrid SACD DVD-A: Creedence Clearwater Revival (or CCR as the fans like to call ‘em) weren’t always a big name in rock ‘n’ roll. The band’s initial efforts as the Blue Velvets and the Golliwogs were hardly drops in the bucket. But in 1968 when the band’s debut album for Fantasy Records came out, the story changed. John Fogerty’s voice is unique and in many ways so is their brand of country rock ‘n’ roll. It’s polished and yet rough at the same time and has a gut-wrenching raw quality that has always made songs like “Green River” and “Proud Mary” extremely popular. This live concert took place on January 31, 1970 at a high point in their career. One song after another and another and the crowd is jubilant. The mix of songs is of hits and some less well known, but all sure to please. “Tombstone Shadow” is a good example of their art. It has a slow start with a […]
Hi-Res Reviews, Part 2 of 3 Classical
57 xrcd, SACD & DVD-A Reviews April 2004 – Part 2 of 3 – Classical click on any cover to go directly to its review [Part 1] [Part 3] Since we started the jazz section with the xrcd reviews, we’ll continue with two more xrcds to start off the classical hi-res section for this month… KHACHATURIAN: Masquerade Suite; KABALEVSKY: The Comedians – RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra/Kiril Kondrashin – RCA Victor/JVC xrcd24 JM-XR24014 (33 min.): This Lewis Layton-engineered Living Stereo stereo session took place in NYC in 1958 – the year the new stereodisc was first introduced. I recall being captivated by the optimistic, catchy tunefulness of both of these high-energy suites when I auditioned and programmed them at the public radio station at which I worked. These are brilliant gems of Soviet-era music, originally written as stage music for plays; the ten movements of the Comedians race by (some under one minute) with a breathless gaiety that Kondrashin plays to the hilt. He was the first Soviet conductor to move to the U.S. and became an overnite sensation with the Van Cliburn/ Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto recording. When CDs came out I enjoyed the RCA CD of this music, and […]
Hi-Res Reviews, Part 1 of 3 Jazz
57 xrcd, SACD and DVD-A Reviews This Month! April 2004, Pt. 1 of 3 – Jazz [Part 2] [Part 3] click on any cover to go directly to its review Let’s start off with one of the hi-res formats which doesn’t require any special decoders or players and which has made a hit with many audiophiles willing to pay more for the very best that can be achieved with 44.1K CD technology: xrcds Landscape – Art Pepper Live in Tokyo ‘79 – JVC xrcd24 VICJ-61035 (52 min.): Besame Mucho – Art Pepper Live in Tokyo ‘79 – JVC xrcd24 VICJ-61158 (47 min.): This is really a double-CD package but released as two separate albums (otherwise the package would run $60). With George Cables on piano, Tony Dumas, bass and Billy Higgins on drums, the quartet of the leading alto saxist knocked ‘em dead at the Shiba Yubin Cholin Hall in Tokyo in July of that year. The notes are nearly all in Japanese, but in the middle of them is a list in English of all the tunes played at the concert with those on the two xrcds in bold. It shows that the tunes are not consecutive but […]
Library of Congress Recordings List
Special Features This Month: 13 Vinyl Reviews; April Fools Music Humor; National Recording Registry Additions LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS NAMES 50 NEW RECORDINGS TO THE NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has announced the second annual selection of 50 sound recordings to the National Recording Registry. Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian is responsible for annually selecting recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Registry recordings must be at least 10 years old. Nominations for the registry were gathered from members of the public, who submitted suggestions online (www.loc.gov/nrpb), and from the National Recording Preservation Board, which comprises leaders in the fields of music, recorded sound and preservation. The board also assisted the Librarian with the review of nominations. In announcing the registry, the Librarian called the selection of the National Recording Registry “a difficult, but absorbing task. The number and range of recordings to consider is great – and a tribute to our extraordinarily rich and varied sonic history. This year’s list attests to the diversity of significant recorded sound in our lives – not only music of many types, but political addresses, comedy, sports, poetry, sermons, and machinery.” […]
April Fool’s Music Humor
Special Features This Month: Vinyl Reviews; April Fools Music Humor; National Recording Registry Additions April Fools Music Humor A young child says to his mother, “Mom, when I grow up I think I’d like to be a musician.” She replies, “Well honey, you know you can’t do both.” Q: What’s the difference between a guitar player and a large pizza? A: A large pizza can feed a family of four. Q: What do you call a beautiful woman on a trombonist’s arm? A: A tattoo. Q: What do you call a drummer in a three-piece suit? A: “The Defendant.” Q: What do clarinetists use for birth control? A: Their personalities. Q: What did the drummer get on his I.Q. Test? A: Saliva. Q: What’s the similarity between a drummer and a philosopher? A: They both perceive time as an abstract concept. Q: What is the difference between a drummer and a vacuum cleaner? A: You have to plug one of them in before it sucks. Q: Why do some people have an instant aversion to banjo players? A: It saves time in the long run. Q: What’s the difference between a jet airplane and a trumpet? A: About three decibels. […]
Vinyl Reviews
3 Special Features This Month: 13 Vinyl Reviews; April Fools Music Humor; National Recording Registry Additions 13 Audiophile Vinyl Reviews Well, too much time has again passed since our last survey of another hi-res format (one that’s been around much longer): audiophile vinyl. We find it interesting that a number of recent audiophile reissues have been mono, but that doesn’t mean they don’t sound great. Also that some vinyl releases are being tied in with simultaneous SACD releases of the same material. Our first review is of a lavish package from Germany of three important Mercury Living Presence gems of 20th Century music. Since analog sources for vinyl playback can have an even greater variation in sonic quality than optical disc players, here again is a list of equipment used for these reviews: SOTA Star vacuum turntable with SME-V tonearm with Sumiko mod & Transfiguration Spirit MC cartridge, SOTA clamp, Grado phono preamp, MapleShade Big Footers, MSB IsoPlate, Arcici bladder base, Jena Labs and Cardas cables, VPI record cleaning machine. The Living Presence of 20th-Century Music on Mercury Records Sold as 3-LP boxed set from Speakers Corner Records, Germany: ALBAN BERG: Wozzeck suite; Lulu suite – Helga Pilarezyk, soprano/London Symphony?antal […]
Index to All 143 Discs Reviewed for April 2004
Index to All 143 Discs Reviewed for April 2004: AUDIOPHILE VINYL REVIEWS – The Living Presence of 20th-Century Music 3 LP set from Speakers Corner (Works by BERG, SCHOENBERG, WEBERN, SCHULLER, FETLER); DVORAK & GLAZOUNOV: Violin Concertos – Milstein (Cisco); BRITTEN: Young Persons Guide, DOHNANYI: Variations on a Nursery Tune – Slatkin (Cisco); Ray Brown Trio featuring Gene Harris – Soular Energy (Pure Audiophile); Burton/Corea/Metheny/Haynes/Holland – Like Minds (Pure Audiophile); June Christy – Something Cool (Cisco); Lester Young – The President Plays (Speakers Corner); LA4 – Just Friends (Groove Note); LOUIS & BEBE BARRON: Forbidden Planet soundtrack (Moving Image Entertainment); Orig. TV soundtracks of two Star Trek pilots – Music of ALEXANDER COURAGE (MIE); The Best of Mission Impossible (MIE) HI-RES REVIEWS, PT. 1 (Jazz) – Art Pepper Live in Tokyo ‘79 – Landscape & Besame Mucho (2 xrcds); Salena Jones – Romance with Beethoven, Bach…(xrcd); Helen Merrill Sings the Beatles (xrcd); Monty Alexander with Ernest Ranglin – Rocksteady; Jacques Loussier Trio – The Best of Play Bach; Clark Terry – Portraits; Relaxin’ with The Miles Davis Quintet; “The Quintet” in Jazz at Massey Hall; Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – Ella and Louis; Andy Narell & Calypsociation – The […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
