Monthly Archive: May 2004
Home Page-May 2004
May 2004 Contents 14 Jazz SACD/DVD-A Reviews; 30 Classical SACD/ DVD-A Reviews; Pop/Rock SACD/DVD-A Reviews (47 total); 26 Classical CDs; 13 Jazz CDs; 15 Reissues; Components Reviewed: Axiom Home Theater Speaker Systems, Harmonic Technology Cables, Panasonic DVD Recorder; 18 Music & Film DVD Reviews; Survey of Audio & HT Print Press Updated 5/22! To Our Readers: You are urged to register with our site in order to be eligible for future product giveaways (hi-res discs, starting next month!) and a future newsletter. You do that by registering simultaneously Right Here. We will not sell or share your information with marketers. Weekly Audio News: MAY 5; MAY 12; MAY 19; MAY 26 = TAG McLaren Sold; Hi-Def DVD War Rumbles; SACD Progress Reported
DVD-Video Reviews, Part 2 of 2
Pt. 2 of 2 – MAY 2004 [Part 1] Three Women (1977) Starring: Sissy Spacek, Shelley Duvall, Janice Rule Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Video: Widescreen Enhanced for 16:9 Audio: Dolby Digital Mono Subtitles: English Extras: Audio Commentary by director Robert Altman, Stills Gallery, Theatrical Trailers and T. V. spots Length: 124 minutes Rating: **** Three Women, set in the desert area around Palm Springs, is a rich and haunting story about personality theft. This film has been described as one woman becoming two, two women becoming three and three women becoming one. Based on a dream Robert Altman experienced, much of it has a dream like quality. These sequences are accompanied by atonal music, perfect for the mood. Scenes involving water are prominent and there’s considerable cutting to bizarre murals. The desert landscapes are striking on widescreen. The actors improvised much of the dialogue. What a treat to experience Altman’s rich commentary in that section of the DVD. He states “I have no idea of how actors work and it’s none of my business. Certainly his many observations add great value to this DVD. The opening scene is set in a convalescent nursing home where Milly (Shelley Duvall) works as […]
DVD-Video Reviews, Part 1 of 2
Part 1 of 2 [Pt. 2] Van Cliburn: Concert Pianist Studio: A&E/RCA “Legendary Visions” 82876-57907-9 DVD/Audio Disc combo Video: 4:3, Color and Black&White Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo Length: 58:17 (DVD); 52:02 (Audio) Rating: **** Originally produced for A&E”S “Biography” series, the video portion of this RCA presentation is narrated by Dan Rather and traces the life and artistic impact of Texas pianist Van Cliburn (b. 1934). The major focus is, of course, the 1958 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition, which Cliburn not only won but during which he singularly managed to crack “the Iron Curtain” at the same time. Using historic, newsreel footage from the period, the film takes pains to establish the political-cultural context which surrounded the Moscow competition. The launch of Sputnik, the U-2 incident, the hostility of Kruschev to President Eisenhower, each made the mid-1950’s a time of nuclear proliferation and international paranoia. The tall, lanky Texan, appearing to Russians like a clone of Gary Cooper, won their hearts and minds with the suave assurance of his playing. Upon his return to America, Cliburn became a national icon, a symbol of the power of a classical musician to move old and young generations with the same charisma attributed to Elvis […]
Component Reviews, Part 3 of 3
May 2004, Part 3 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] Panasonic DMR-E60S Progressive-Scan DVD Video Recorder with Built-in SD & PC Card Slots; Records to DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs SRP $549.95 Time Slip Function Chasing Playback Simultaneous Recording and Playback Time Slip Roller and Button Control Rapid Random Access , Recording and Playback Playlist Playback Direct Navigator One-Touch Record and Play Selectable Recording Modes: XP/SP/LP/EP/FR Picture Quality Improvement Functions Input TBC 3D Y/C Separation 3D Noise Reduction Block Noise Reduction Mosquito Noise Reduction PC Card Slot Compatible with Standard PC Card, SD Memory Card, CompactFlash Card, MultiMediaCard, Smart Media Card, and Memory Stick DV Input Terminal Built-in SD Card Slot SD Card Playable File Formats Still Picture: JPEG & TIFF Dolby Digital 2ch Audio Recording Bilingual Recording (DVD-RAM only) MPEG2 Encoding with Hybrid VBR (Variable Bit Rate) Technology Commercial Skip Multi-Format Playback (Playable Disc) DVD-Video, DVD-Audio (2-channel), DVD-RAM, DVD-R, Video CD, CD, CD-R, CD-R DVD-RAM Video Playback Capability DVD-R Playback Capability CD-R/RW Playback MP3 Playback Capability Progressive Scanning Video D/A Converter: 54MHz/10-bit Picture Control Brightness, Color, Contrast, Gamma Frame Advance (Forward & Reverse) Advanced Surround (V.S.S.) Cinema Mode Dialogue Enhancer Audio D/A Converter: 96kHz/24-bit Power Consumption 28W (3.2W in power save mode) Horizontal […]
Component Reviews, Part 2 of 3
No. 2 [No. 1] [3] • May 2004 Some Harmonic Technology Products: An Illustrated Review/Essay by Max Dudious Well if anyone had told me, at this late date, that my tired old ears (and I mean old) could still hear the subtle differences among a group of excellent interconnects or loudspeaker cables, even between AC wall sockets of reasonable grade and “Audiophile Grade,” I’d have laughed out loud! HAH! If anyone had told me these differences would be more than just a tad discernable, like the difference between two good wines from nearby chateaux in the Margaux district, I’d have thought that person an insufferable “wine snob.” Hah Hah! The joke’s on me. I’m here to tell you that such differences surely exist even among barrels of the same vintage from the same chateau. Or, when a master chef runs low on an ingredient and uses a substitute in a kind of slap-dash way, thinking; “Oh what the hell. So tonight it will be a little different; parsley instead of chervil in the sauce. No one will notice, except me.” But to some truly gourmet restaurant patrons that small difference is all the difference in the world. And to my […]
Component Reviews, Part 1 of 3
May 2004, Review 1 [2] [3] Axiom 7.1 HT Speaker System SRP: $2980/set (as tested) Axiom Canada Inc. Hwy 60, Dwight Ontario, Canada P0A1H0 866-244-8796 https://www.axiomaudio.com/index.html Basic Description System tested consisted of: 1 pr of M60ti tower speakers, 1 EP350 12” powered subwoofer, 1 VP150 center speaker, 2 pr of QS8 quadpolar surround speakers, and 2 pr of matching QSS stands (for the surrounds). VP100 was also tested as an alternate, smaller center channel option. All models (excluding subwoofer) use 5-way binding posts and include a wrench to tighten them down. 5-year warranty of speakers, 1 year on subwoofer. Multiple finish options—see website (above) for more details. Associated Equipment Front speaker testing: Panamax 5100 line conditioner, Arcam CD73t CD player, Arcam A80 Integrated Amplifier, Linn Axis Turntable with Basik arm and LK9 Cartridge, Audioquest Type 2 speaker cable, Audioquest King Cobra interconnect, Paradigm Monitor 9 v.3 ($900 pr) speakers for comparison. Center channel comparison: Smart Devices Garbage Collector line conditioner, Philips CDC-935 (as transport), Meridian 568 Preamplifier, Mark Levinson No. 29 power amplifier, Discovery digital cable, DeCorp flat wire speaker cable, Audioquest Lapis balanced interconnect, Axiom QSS stands. Subwoofer testing: Marantz DV8400 universal player, Rotel RSP-1098 surround processor, Aragon […]
Reissue CD Reviews, Part 1 of 2
May 2004, Pt. 1 of 2 [Pt. 2] BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral” Agnes Giebel, soprano Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano Richard Lewis, tenor Walter Berry, bass Otto Klemperer conducts Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra Testament SBT 1332 68:47 (Distrib. Harmonia Mundi): Recorded for the BBC Third Programme at the Royal Festival Hall, London, December 27, 1961, this electric performance of Beethoven’s Ninth under the 76-year-old Otto Klemperer is a happy occasion on all counts. The singers are particularly impressive: Richard Lewis’ flexible rhythms in the “Turkish march” section of the finale is rich and breezy; Agnes Giebel hits her notes accurately and with a luster that is rare even for her. Walter Berry’s bass tones in the final quartet have a yearning quality I do not hear often. Having taken the first three movments at a relatively brisk pace, Klemperer urges his own monumentalism on the last movement that gives it an imposing breadth. The hard-edged marcato that he gets from the trumpets and strings in the recitative have urgency and punch. Much can be said as well for the playing of the Philharmonia Orchestra, their flute Gareth Morris, and all the woodwind section in the first movement. The Scherzo […]
Jazz CD Reviews, Part 2 of 2
May 2004 Part 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] James Carter – Live at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge (Carter, reeds; David Murray & Franz Jackson, tenor sax; Larry Smith, alto sax; Johnny Griffin, tenor sax; Kenn Cox, piano; Gerhard Gibbs, B3; Ralphe Armstrong, bass; Leonard King, drums; Richard ‘Pistol” Allen, drums) – Warner Bros. 48449-2: Carter has been responsible for some highly individual albums in the past, usually highlighted by expertise on several different members of the saxophone family. Since all the horns here are saxes there is the feeling of a saxophone quintet with keyboard and rhythm section – my kinda jazz. With sidemen such as David Murray involved how can you lose? The tracks with the B3 are of course my favs. There are vocals on a couple of the numbers. This particular watering hole seems to gain its fame from a bar designed to look like a giant keyboard – there’s a photo of it. Organist Gibbs is featured on Soul Street, and the swinging group vocal sounds therein don’t seem to be coming from the players, but I didn’t know any B3 had sampled vocal sounds like that. Plus this track seems to have two-channel surround possibilities – […]
Jazz CD Reviews, Part 1 of 2
May 2004 Part 1 of 2 Parts [Pt. 2] We start out this month with four very different keyboardists… HIROMI UEHARA, piano – Brain (with Tony Grey or Anthony Jackson, bass; Martin Valihora, drums) – Telarc CD-83600: Make way for the most exciting new jazz pianist recording today. The petite Japanese keyboardist turned many heads and ears with her debut Telarc release Another Mind, and this second album was recorded direct to DSD so it will soon be appearing as an SACD; but I just couldn’t wait to get out the word to the majority who haven’t yet taken the hi-res plunge. This is terrific stuff: all eight selections are her own originals, kicking off (if you’ll pardon the expression) with an amazing electronic foray dedicated to Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. It features some sort of synth – perhaps the Yamaha keyboard since Hiromi’s music is published by the Yamaha Music Foundation – used in a most creative and high-energy manner. One lovely solo piano track is called Green Tea Farm and recalls her home area in Japan which is a famous source for Green Tea. Some synth sounds come back into the mix at the conclusion of the […]
Classical CD Reviews, Part 3 of 3
May 2004 – Pt. 3 of 3 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] We begin this section with two highly contrasted discs involving the piano… SCRIABIN: – The Composer as Pianist – His Welte Mignon reproducing piano rolls from 1910; other pianist’s rolls of his music: Josef Lhevinne, Constantine Igumnoff, Alexander Goldenweiser, Austin Conradi, Leff Pouishnoff, Magdeleine Brard – Pierian Recording Society 0018: This usual collection’s note booklet opens with an essay by the great New York Times critic Harold Schonberg which complains “We don’t get much Scriabin anymore,” and “…there does not seem to be any indication of a revival or a reappraisal. This grieves those of us who consider Scriabin one of the most original, fascinating, enigmatic, revolutionary – and, yes, rewarding – composers of the century.” The quote is from over two decades ago and the highly individual Russian composer has received some increased attention since then, though nothing like what happened with, say, Mahler. Count me in as one of those who agrees with Schonberg’s statement about Scriabin. Thus it is quite a thrill to hear for the first time these nine Welte rolls recorded by the composer in Moscow in l910. The German-made recording and playback […]
Classical CD Reviews, Part 2 of 3
May 2004 Pt. 2 of 3 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 3] SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3 in C Major, Op. 52; Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105 – Sir Colin Davis conducts London Symphony Orchestra LSO OO51 53:44 (Distrib. Harmonia Mundi): Two live performances of Sibelius symphonies recorded at the Barbican Center, September-October 2003 under the direction of Sir Colin Davis, who impressed many with his complete Sibelius cycle with the Boston Symphony almost a generation ago. The C Major Symphony No. 3 (1904-07) remains the problem child among the Sibelius symphonies, resisting easy description as neo-classical or as an “economical” response to the issues of symphonic composition after the large, romantic canvasses of the first two symphonies. Commentators often point out the danger of anti-climax in the work’s last movement; certainly its unorthodox, non-histrionic sensibility eluded Karajan, who never took the piece on in his several Sibelius surveys. Kletzki and Barbirolli made sense of the piece, even wringing out some tender beauties in the Andantino second movement. The C Major Symphony No. 7 is a one-movement, organic composition that might have taken its cue from Debussy’s use of rondo and fanta! sia in Jeux. Davis and the LSO […]
Classical CD Reviews, Part 1 of 3
May 04 – Part 1 of 3 [Part 2] [Part 3] DANIELPOUR: In the Land of the Beloved. Trio for Violin, Violincello and Piano (A Child’s Reliquary). Double Concerto for Violin, Violincello and Orchestra (In the Arms of the Beloved). The Kalichstein/Laredo/Robinson Trio (in the Trio). Joseph Kalichstein, piano; Jaime Laredo, violin; Sharon Robinson, cello. The Iris Chamber Orchestra/Michael Stern. Laredo/ Robinson in the Double Concerto – Arabesque Z6767: Both works on this disc end with slow movements of haunting and resplendent beauty; each contain scherzos that are clever, rhythmically vibrant and suffused with a joyous energy. And both were written within the last five years. What happened to the modernism of the early 20th century? Richard Danielpour is an American composer of Iranian heritage that has crafted a prestigious career writing music that is expressive, tonal and intellectually stimulating. He acknowledges the influences of many composers including Bartok, Stravinsky, Copland, Shostakovich, the Beatles and John Adams. The Piano Trio “A Child’s Reliquary” was written in 1999 in tribute to the tragic death of the 18 month old son of Carl and Susan St. Clair. Carl Sinclair is the conductor of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Danielpour was its composer […]
SACD and DVD-A Reviews, Part 3 of 3 Pop/Rock
47 SACD & DVD-A Reviews this month May 2004 – Pt. 3 Classical cont., Soundtracks, Pop & Misc. [Part 1] [Part 2] click on any cover to go directly to its review *****MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH***** MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 “Titan” – Utah Symphony Orchestra/Maurice Abravanel – Vanguard/Silverline Classics multichannel DVD-A 288238-9: This is the first of a series of some of the great quad-era masters recorded by the Solomon brothers at Vanguard in the early 1970s and an auspicious start to be sure. Rather than retaining the four-channel layout from the original analog master tapes (as in the Pentatone RQR series), a remix to 5.1 surround has been done – first converting the analog originals to 192K digital, and both the multichannel and stereo options are then reduced to 96K/24 bit. The original recording was made in the voluminous acoustics of the Mormon Tabernacle in June of l974. Abravanel’s Mahler series still holds its own against some very tough competition; it’s quite surprising what he accomplished in Salt Lake City during his long tenure there. It may be apparent we’re not listening to the Berlin Philharmonic here, but in its glorious multichannel presence this is an […]
SACD and DVD-A Reviews, Part 2 of 3 Classical
47 SACD & DVD-A Reviews This Month May 2004 – Part 2 of 3 – Classical (beg.) click on any cover to go directly to its review [Part 1] [Part 3] The frequency of hi-res disc releases has certainly been stepped up recently. Even with our reviewing more of them each month than any other publication web or print we are beginning to get a bit behind schedule. I noticed one of the following discs had a January release date – horrors! We’ll try to catch up on some of the backlog his month. One interesting indication of the increased activity is the simultaneous receipt here of three different SACD releases of Franz Liszt’s “Years of Pilgrimage” piano pieces (see below)! SACD still has the edge over the DVD-A camp in the classical repertory, and is holding its own in jazz too with massive release schedules from both Concord and Fantasy, as well as several new small jazz labels. The growing popularity of universal disc players seems to be the solution to the hi-res format war, just as turntables that played both 45s and 33s solved that former format war in the 1950s. – Ed. We’ll begin with some […]
SACD and DVD-A Reviews, Part 1 of 3 Jazz
47 SACD and DVD-A Reviews This Month! May 2004, Pt. 1 of 3 – Jazz [Part 2] [Part 3] click on any cover to go directly to its review Calamari – featuring Emil Richards, vibes; David Garfield, piano; Mike Valerio, bass; Joe Porcaro, drums – Aix Records DVD-A, DVD-V 80023: Richards is one of the leading vibists and percussionists working in the Hollywood studios today. He has played with jazz ensembles and symphony orchestras, and his drummer on this date has been with him almost 60 years. The ten tunes are all Emil’s except for one by drummer Porcaro. They play around with odd meters but they are all tuneful, tonal and swinging. The other members of the quartet get to shine at solos, not just Richards. The video side of the disc is again very worth watching, with a variety of shots and even occasional moving cameras. Split screens often give the opportunity of watching Richards’ vibes up close while also seeing the rest of the group on the other screen. I like the fact that the DTS-encoded video mix is usually the one with the “stage” (closer) acoustic perspective. But the 96K DVD-A side is a tad […]
Index to All 118 Discs Reviewed for MAY 2004
Index to All 118 Discs Reviewed for MAY 2004: HI-RES REVIEWS, PT. 1 (Jazz) – Calimari with Emil Richards; Bill Evans – Portrait in Jazz; Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery; Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane; Cannonball Adderley Quintet in SF; Scott Hamilton with Strings; Wynton Kelly – Kelly Blue; Art Pepper + Eleven; Sonny Rollins Quartet – Tenor Madness; Kinda Jazz, Kinda Funky; Hiromi – Brain; Stan Getz Q. – Pure Getz; Eric Dolphy – Out There; Concord Jazz Super Audio CD Sampler HI-RES REVIEWS PT. 2 (Classical) – GOULD: Sym. No. 2, HARBISON: Cello Con.; JENNIFER HIGDON: City Scape, Con. for Orch. – Spano; 3 Versions of LISZT: Annees de Pelerinage (Turtle/Cybele/Lyrinx); STRAVINSKY: Soldier’s Tale, Suites 1 & 2, etc.; SHOSHTAKOVICH: Piano Con. Nos. 1 & 2; VERDI:Requiem – Gergiev; FAURE: Requiem – Herreweghe; MOZART: Sonatas in C minor, E Flat major, Variations on a Theme of Gluck; MOZART: Violoin/Piano Sonatas; MOZART: Flute Con. Nos. 1 & 2, Con. for Flute & Harp; HAYDN: Symphonies 22, 44 & 64 – Boni; HAYDN English Sonatas & BEETHOVEN: Piano Con. 2 – Lazic; BACH: Complete Orchestral Suites – Martin Pearlman; RACHMANINOFF: Piano Con. Nos. 2 & 3 (DVD-A & SACD […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
