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STRAVINSKY: The Firebird; NIKOLAEV: The Sinewaveland – Homage to Jimi Hendrix – Seattle Sym. Orch./Ludovic Morlot – Seattle Symphony Media

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 25, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

A magnificent Firebird in state of the art CD sound. STRAVINSKY: The Firebird; NIKOLAEV: The Sinewaveland – Homage to Jimi Hendrix – Seattle Sym. Orch./Ludovic Morlot – Seattle Symphony Media SSM1014, 58:32 *****: This CD is another example of the superb recordings and performances that have become a signature of the Seattle Symphony’s recordings under the leadership of Ludovic Morlot. Their recent Mahler 10th Symphony, the three CDs surveying the orchestral works of Henri Dutilleux have defined the best in current audiophile technology and performance. There’s a vibrant immediacy and musical presence to their sound that vividly captures these live performances. Despite Igor Stravinsky’s (1882-1971) title as the apostle of modernism in his time, popularity of his output among audiences in the ensuing 50 years since his death has waned. But his three early ballets, and a few neoclassical pieces have stood the test of time. While much of Stravinsky’s music tends towards structural and stylistic innovations (pounding, irregular rhythms, pungent harmonies and musical disruption held together by persistent tempos), his three ballets (The Firebird, Petrushka, Rite of Spring) add memorable melodies, an element of fantasy and orchestral brilliance that enchant contemporary audiences. The Firebird (1910) exists at the intersection […]

Audio News for September 13, 2016

by Audiophile Audition | Sep 13, 2016 | Audio News

Designer Reimagines Classics as Data Visualizations – Nicolas Rougeux creates a sort of Rorschach test of notes from famous classical music scores, in Off the Staff. Standard sheet music is turned into works of expressive art, He says he wants to represent an entire score in a single image which fans of the music would want to have on their wall because they’re familiar with the music. He uses a circle as frame to break away from the staff representation of notes and show all the notes on a same scale. He warps an entire score around a circle starting at the top, removing all musical marks except the notes, spacing them evenly around the circle and having the circles of different sizes based on a note’s duration. He uses colors to differentiate between multiple instruments. Those notes closer to the center of the circle are the lower notes, and those farther away are higher. Here’s an example of the first movement of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachmusik: Google Chromecast 2 Update Features UHD – The $35 gadget basically makes most TV smart, even older ones (but will only display HD content on a “4K”TV). It lets you wirelessly cast content […]

STRAVINSKY: Petrushka; DEBUSSY: La Boite à joujoux — Seattle Sym. /Ludovic Morlot — Seattle Sym. Media

by Audiophile Audition | Sep 5, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

A vibrant new “Petrushka” and a Debussy rarity make for great listening. IGOR STRAVINSKY: Petrushka; CLAUDE DEBUSSY: La Boite à joujoux (“The Toy Box”) — Seattle Sym./Ludovic Morlot — Seattle Sym. Media SSM1010, 68:33 *****: The Seattle Symphony and its current music director, Ludovic Morlot, are on a real run here lately and especially since they have focused their recording on twentieth-century masterworks and on their own label. I urge you to check out their recent Henri Dutillieux albums or Morlot’s Rite of Spring coupled with the rich but obscure Raskatov Piano Concerto. This is but an example of what is coming out of Benaroya Hall lately and it’s all wonderful; including this latest sparkling new rendition of the complete Petrushka. This new Petrushka is wonderfully paced and Morlot brings out all the nuance and picturesque quality of Stravinsky’s ballet featuring the very symbolic escapades of the title harlequin puppet come to life. There is balance throughout the orchestra, and kudos to all the soloists, especially principal trumpet David Gordon for those charming but oh, so exposed, solos in the “The Blackamoor.” I liked this Petrushka among my favorites of all time, including Giulini’s with Chicago and that of Dutoit. […]

Audio News for July 5, 2016

by Audiophile Audition | Jul 6, 2016 | Audio News

Panasonic Has a $699 UHD Blu-ray Deck – The DMP-UB900 has 60fps playback, HDR support, and can stream UDH content from Netflix and YouTube. Audio specs include hi-res playback of WAV, FLAC, DSD and ALAC files, digital tube-sound with up-sampling, isolated twin HDMI ports for audio and video, and 7.1 analog audio output. Samsung also has one, at about half the price, and the new Xbox One S will support UHD Blu-ray playback for as little as $300 later this year. What Does a Classical Conductor Do? – The Helsinki Conservatory is the unique center for training of classical conductors. In many countries, student conductors rarely get to practice their conducting on professional orchestras, and the Conservatory solves this. To some audiences, orchestral conductors seem to dramatically wave their arms with no discernible effect on the music. In reality, they undergo rigorous conservatory training, followed by further feedback on the job as they move up the career ladder. What they learn, however, remains a mystery to most non-musicians, and what constitutes good conductor training even more so. Students come from all over the world to study at the Helsinki Conservatory. One of them said: “…you have to learn the mechanics, […]