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Audio News for February 28, 2017

by | Feb 28, 2017 | Audio News

Home Electronics Spying on You? –  The convenience of your Amazon Echo and Google Home could come at a cost, according to some security experts. The “wake word” is either “Alexa” for the Echo or “Hey, Google” for Google Home, but in order to recognize those words, the two devices are, by definition, listening to everything you say, even when you think your are out of earshot. That’s just a bit scary. And it’s not just those two companies who can access your devices. Somehow outside your home can access your machine and potentially use these items to spy on you. One security expert says “Make sure you have a firewall, and certainly use antivirus and malware software on your computers.” Google Home Adds Voice Shopping – You can now order everyday items just by asking Google Home. You’ll have to set up a default address and payment method, of course. Just to the Google Home app More Settings and select Payment under the Google Account Setting section. Agree to the terms, enter your card information and billing address under Payment Method. Follow the on-screen prompts and select your delivery address.  Over 50 retailers already participate and thru April 30 […]

BEETHOVEN: Two Sonatas – Grumiaux, v./Arrau, p. – Pentatone

BEETHOVEN: Two Sonatas – Grumiaux, v./Arrau, p. – Pentatone

by | Dec 28, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Beethoven as he was meant to be played. BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonatas No. 1 in D, Opus 12:1; No. 5 in F, Opus 24, “Spring” – Arthur Grumiaux, violin/ Claudio Arrau, p. – Pentatone multichannel (4.0) SACD PTC 5186 235, 45:22 (8/26/16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: They don’t get much better than this—Beethoven violin sonatas, that is. Grumiaux is one of those special cases whose CDs I return to often. That meltingly creamy tone, whether in chamber music, Beethoven sonatas, or Bach Sonatas and Partitas, bends the will of the composer’s tonal suggestions, whatever they may have been, to the mind and technique of a very special performer. Indeed, Grumiaux’s sensitive touch graces any work of art that he saw fit to engage, and for those whom beauty of sound is something special, if not mandatory, this release will send you to the stars. Alongside an equally dedicated and perspicacious partner like Claudio Arrau, it only gets better. Sometimes recordings that pair such talented and decidedly insightful performers like those here result in surly and surely misguided outcomes (one only needs to listen to the recording of the Beethoven Triple Concerto on EMI with Karajan, Rostropovich, and Richter to understand this), […]