New Martin-Logan Flagship Speaker – The leader in electrostatic speakers is making a tour to introduce their new built-to-order Neolith speaker pair. It was three years in development and features their largest-ever electrostatic radiating surface (22” x 48”), with a proprietary curvelinear transducer delivering a three-dimensional soundstage. Their unique Controlled Dispersion Technology is used. Both a 12” and a 15” woofer fill in the low end, down to 23Hz. The Neolith is fully passive, and can be biamped if the user wishes. It uses a high density composite for construction and will be available in a variety of painting finishes. It weighs between 300 and 400 lbs. So far there is only a pair of them in existence. Price has not been announced, but “it should be well under $100,000.”
Classical News – Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki a liar and a fraud according to American violinist Mark O’Connor, who has his own violin school too. He said Susuki had “no violin training from any serious violin teacher that we can find. I don’t believe anybody has properly checked his past. He was basically self-taught, beginning the violin at the age of 18, and it showed…He was never allowed a position in any orchestra and never performed professionally.” Suzuki was rejected from the Hochschule when he auditioned and he only met Einstein once. He claimed Einstein was his guardian. A new post-grad training orchestra is in the works at the Bard Longy School Music, using Miami’s New World Symphony as a model. The three-year full-time program in New York City will provide a master of music degree, a full tuition fellowship and an annual living stipend of $24,000.
Supreme Court Verdict on Klinghoffer: Not Guilty – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is Jewish, attended the opening night of The Death of Klinghoffer at the Met on Oct. 20. She disagrees with the Klinghoffers’ daughters and says the opera “is a most sympathetic portral of the Klinghoffers…There was nothing anti-Semitic about the opera.”
Is the Berlin Philharmonic Still the Tops? – A deliberating provacitve question, of course. Carnegie Hall and the NY Philharmonic are looking pretty good. And The New York Times’ Antony Tommasini said he has been hearing the Berliners for 35 years under the likes of Karajan, Abbado, and Haitnik, and under its current music director, Simon Rattle, he is shocked at the current state of the orchestra. He felt that the rest of the orchestra, aside from the strings, was “swimming in indirection.”
Panasonic “4K” UHD TVs Now Capable of Receiving Netflix UHD Programming – The AX800 series of Panasonic UHD TVs can now receive streamed Netflix 4K UHD programming. With the new firmware update they will be able to enjoy the UHD versions of House of Cards, breaking Bad and the new Marco Polo. Panasonic’s UHD sets join a list of UHD brands now capable of streaming the new high-resolution content. Their 65” and 85” AX models, now on sale, are capable of streaming the new hi-def content.
