Blu-ray Audio from Naxos and Euroarts
by Brian Wilson
A number of Naxos blu-ray audio recordings have come
my way recently, mostly of recent repertoire. As they sell for almost
twice the price of the ordinary CDs, in which form they are also available,
the question inevitably arises – is it worth spending the extra, around
£9-10 as against around £6 in the UK? Part of the answer must be: not
if you simply intend to play the music through your television; you
really need a separate blu-ray player coupled to your audio system.
It may seem like the wrong priority but I have a perfectly adequate
£100 Sony blu-ray player for the TV and a £500 Cambridge Audio, which
also makes a very good job of SACDs, coupled to my audio system.
All the blu-ray discs come in 24-bit sound, some at 48kHz or 88.2 kHz,
most at 96 kHz. They should play easily even without the visual guide
on your TV screen – choose the green button for 2.0 stereo or the red
button for 5.1 surround. In all cases where I have been able to compare
the BD-A with the equivalent CD or CD-quality download there is a significant
though hardly spectacular improvement in the quality of the sound.
In
two cases I have already answered that question about value in the affirmative.
When I reviewed the recording of Modest MUSSORGSKY’s (1839-1891) Pictures from an Exhibition, Songs and Dances of Death and The Nursery in 2012, then available as a download only, I
expressed the view that it should not only appear as soon as possible
on CD but that it should also be released on blu-ray. With an orchestration
even bigger and more powerful than the usual Ravel and an orchestra
to match, Peter Breiner’s arrangement of Pictures was tailor-made
for digital sound, so the BD-A is well worth the extra. (NBD0036 – review with purchase links).
Two of the CD volumes of the recent 4-disc complete set of Gioachino
ROSSINI (1792-1868) Overtures conducted by Christian Benda have
been combined on one BD-A disc, thereby making it slightly less expensive
than buying its two CD siblings. As the performances have been hailed
all round, not just by myself and MusicWeb International colleagues,
this is another clear choice. (NBD0028 – review with purchase links).
I
wouldn’t have placed the 2005 recording of Antonio VIVALDI’s (1678-1741) ubiquitous Four Seasons and two other concertos from Op.8
with Cho-Liang Lin (violin) and Anthony Newman (harpsichord and organ)
with Sejong high on my dream list for those works, especially as the
playing time, even with the addition of La tempesta di mare,
Op.8/5, and Il piacere, Op.8/6, is a mere 55:11. As Robert Hugill
put it: ‘If you are looking for a bargain version of Vivaldi’s The
Four Seasons, then you need look no further than this disc. Here
are efficient, well played virtuoso performances with two extra concertos
thrown in. But if you are looking for love, warmth and a feeling of
friendly communal music making, then look elsewhere.’ See review and review by Gary Higginson.
I don’t think that availability in 24/88.2 sound makes it much more
attractive but the recording sounds suitably analytical in that format,
with detail easy to place, including just a hint of the continuo on
harpsichord or chamber organ – not too prominent but enough to remind
the listener that it’s there. (NBD0016) Available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com.
If you are looking for a first-rate performance of The Four Seasons in 24-bit sound I would suggest Linn’s re-mastered version of Neville
Marriner’s classic recording with the Academy of Saint Martin, an analogue
recording but sounding almost new-minted in 24/96 format (UNI007 – download from linnrecords.com for £18). See March
2012/1 DL Roundup.
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Complete Overtures performed by the Prague
Sinfonia/Christian Benda (NBD0019), like the Rossini from the
same performers, offers the contents of two CDs, playing for 127:36,
so it’s very good value as well as containing fine performances of music
too often squeezed in as fillers to Schubert symphonies. Downloading
the 24-bit version of Volume 1 alone from eclassical.com would set you
back $17.05, more than you should have to pay for the complete set on
BD-A.
John Sheppard derived considerable pleasure form Volume 1 – review – and was equally pleased with its successor – review – which Stephen Francis Vasta also had no hesitation in recommending
– review.
I don’t know of any other collections that offer such a complete overview
so, with very good 24/96 sound for less than the price of the two CDs,
what’s not to like? Available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com.
Fryderyk
CHOPIN (1810-1849) Piano Concerto No.2 in f minor, Op.21, Variations
on Mozart’s Là ci darem la mano, Op.2 and Andante spianato
and Grande Polonaise brillante in E-flat, Op.22 are performed by
Eldar Nebolsin (piano), the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Anton
Wit on NBD0012 [62:53]. The CD earned a Bargain of the
Month accolade from John Sheppard – review – and, though I missed it at the time and have my own preferences, I
can see why. This is Chopin pianism of the highest order and very well
supported.
You need only listen to the low-bit streamed version from Naxos Music
Library to hear that the recording is first-rate and the 24/88.2 blu-ray
amply confirms that impression. The disc is available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com.
My Desert Island choice remains one of the Anton Rubinstein recordings,
supplemented by the recent Linn recording with Ingrid Fliter as soloist,
the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Jun Märkl (CKD455 – review).
If only Naxos had chosen to couple the two Chopin Piano Concertos, as
they did with a much earlier recording, Nebolsin and Wit would also
have come into that category. As it is, you need only add the blu-ray
recording containing Piano Concerto No.1 to complete the set, reviewed
in BD-A format by Robert Cummings (NBD0011 – here).
Karol
SZYMANOWSKI (1882-1937) is one of those composers whose music I
like but don’t yet know well enough, so I was pleased to receive NBD0022,
containing his Third Symphony, Op.27, ‘Song of the Night’, and No.4, Symphonie Concertante, Op.60, performed by Warsaw Philharmonic
Orchestra/Antoni Wit, with Ryszard Minkiewicz (tenor), Ewa Marczyk (violin),
Marek Marczyk (viola) and the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir in No.3 and
Jan Krzystof Broja (piano) in No.4. I can’t think of a better set of
exponents but once again the playing time is rather mean [54:13]; since
this blu-ray release represents a re-shuffling of the CD releases, surely
Naxos could have thrown in something from another recording or even
joined two recordings, as with Rossini and Schubert. Dan Morgan thought
the coupling of Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 ‘very welcome indeed’ – review.
The blu-ray comes in 24/88.2 sound and is available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com.
I compared Symphony No.3 with the lossless CD-quality download from eclassical.com of the pairing of Nos.2 and 3 (8.570721) and both with the version
of that recording as streamed from Naxos Music Library. The streamed
version is more than tolerable but the lossless download helps to separate
the strands of Szymanowski’s rich textures and the BD-A even more so.
The Polish text and English translation of the Persian poem set in No.3
are included in the CD and BD-A booklets.
As with the companion blu-ray reissue of Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, which
have been reshuffled as NBD0021 – see review by John Quinn – the sound is, as JQ writes, very good but not revelatory.
In the light of that review and of hearing No.2 as downloaded in CD-quality
sound from eclassical.com, that sounds well worth having, too – but
bear in mind the short playing time.
Audophiles in particular should note that I plan to include in a future
Download News a review of the eclassical.com download of 8.570721 alongside Chandos CHAN/CHSA5115, a coupling of Symphonies 2 and
4 with the Concert Overture, Op.12, available as an SACD and in mp3,
16- and 24-bit lossless downloads from theclassicalshop.net,
a recording which Dominy Clements was not alone in thinking excellent
– review.
George
GERSHWIN (1898-1937) Rhapsody in Blue , Strike up the
Band Overture, Promenade and Catfish Row are performed
by Orion Weiss (piano), John Fullam (clarinet), the Buffalo Symphony
Orchestra and JoAnn Falletta on NBD0033 – from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com.
This is another rather short recording [54:16] and Brian Reinhart thought
the performances too sober – review – while John Whitmore thought them safe and dull – review – so even the 24/96 sound would need to be very good indeed to make
it attractive at the higher price. It’s good but not outstanding.
I can’t point you to a 24-bit alternative and I thought slightly better
of the performances than my colleagues, but I wasn’t tapping my feet
as much I like to do with Gershwin. It’s a shame not to be able to give
this a warmer welcome since I was rather taken with the first volume
in the series, offering the Piano Concerto, Second Rhapsody, etc. That,
too, is available on blu-ray (NBD0025); it hasn’t come my way
for review in that format but Paul Corfield Godfrey liked it – review.
For Rhapsody in Blue the oldies are still the best, with Leonard
Bernstein (Sony 88697757642 – yours for around £4.25) heading
the field.
Thierry
LANCINO (b.1954) Requiem (2009) perfomed by Heidi Grant Murphy
(soprano), Nora Gubisch (alto), Stuart Skelton (tenor), Nicolas Courjal
(bass); Choeur de Radio France; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Eliahu
Inbal (NBD0020) combines the traditional Latin texts with a libretto
by Pascal Quignard in the form of a dialogue between the pagan Sibyl
and the biblical David – both mentioned in the Dies Iræ as foretelling
the Day of Judgement. After a lengthy Prologue, for example, the Kyrie
eleison is prefaced by the Sibyl’s famous wish to die: apothanein
thelo. It’s powerful music with a performance to match and the style
is not too ‘advanced’ for anyone who can cope with Bartók. I’ve been
coming to terms with the music since 2011 – see December
2011/1 DL Roundup – but I’m still not sure how often I would wish
to hear it. As I wrote before, try this first from Naxos Music Library
if you can and you may well find yourself agreeing with William Hedley
that there’s nothing distinctive or memorable in this music – review – imposing as it is.
The recording sounds powerful enough in the download format in which
I reviewed it in 2011 and, though the 24-bit version is only at 48 kHz,
that’s even more powerful. There are no texts in the booklet but these
can be accessed at Naxos.
Available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com.
Recording of the Month
My
final choice – leaving the best till last – comes not from Naxos but
from Euroarts and it’s a blu-ray with video as well as 2.0 stereo audio
and 5.1 surround sound. I’ve long been a fan of Jacques Loussier and
his way with Bach but there’s something very special about the performances
on Jacques Loussier Trio play Bach … and more (2054064,
around £20, also on DVD, 2054068). Available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com,
here are 98 minutes of superb music-making recorded live at Bach’s own
Thomaskirche, Leipzig, on 28 July, 2004 and a bonus 16-minute conversation
with Jacques Loussier. The picture is full 1080i and in 16:9 format
and it’s playable worldwide.
As well as Johann Sebastian BACH’s (1685-1750) Fifth Brandenburg
Concerto in D, BWV1050, the inevitable Air in G from Suite No.3, BWV1068,
and the third movement of the Harpsichord Concerto No.3 in D, BWV1054,
which ends the programme, there are several shorter pieces: Fugue No.5
in D, BWV850, Gavotte in D from Suite No.3, BWV1068, and Pastorale in
c minor, BWV590. The ‘… and more’ section offers Claude DEBUSSY’s Arabesque and L’isle joyeuse, Eric SATIE’s Gymnopédie No.1 and Maurice RAVEL’s Boléro. There’s really not much
to add to what Robert Gibson wrote of the DVD in his detailed review:
‘A beautifully filmed, beautiful performed and beautifully presented
concert, I truly cannot recommend this enough.’ I’m sure the spirit
of JSB was present that evening and wholly approving of the whole thing.
If you decide to play this blu-ray in audio only you may find yourself
perplexed at hearing the same introductory phase repeated endlessly.
Press ‘enter’ or ‘OK’ on your pad and you should move on to the concert
proper.