Thread: TOP TEN: Multichannel SACD's You Must Have In Your Collection

Posts: 6
Post by dbmay75 November 6, 2007 (1 of 6)
There was so much talk about Julia Fischer on this site lately, I had to get some fresh air and create this thread ... and just to throw in MY two cents about incredible violinists, what about putting Jean-Luc Ponty's best albums through the surround sound spin cycle? For those who are familiar with this late 70's projects, can you imagine???

Anyhow, please list the top ten multichannel titles that YOU believe every SACD listener should own, not so much on the basis of the album's popularity but on the overall quality of the mix.

Thanks!

Dan,
San Francisco, CA
Post by FunkyMonkey November 7, 2007 (2 of 6)
dbmay75 said:

There was so much talk about Julia Fischer on this site lately, I had to get some fresh air and create this thread ... and just to throw in MY two cents about incredible violinists, what about putting Jean-Luc Ponty's best albums through the surround sound spin cycle? For those who are familiar with this late 70's projects, can you imagine???

Anyhow, please list the top ten multichannel titles that YOU believe every SACD listener should own, not so much on the basis of the album's popularity but on the overall quality of the mix.

Thanks!

Dan,
San Francisco, CA
I only have about ten, so all of those.
Post by Windsurfer November 8, 2007 (3 of 6)
withdrawn
Post by darkroommd November 11, 2007 (4 of 6)
dbmay75 said:

There was so much talk about Julia Fischer on this site lately, I had to get some fresh air and create this thread ... and just to throw in MY two cents about incredible violinists, what about putting Jean-Luc Ponty's best albums through the surround sound spin cycle? For those who are familiar with this late 70's projects, can you imagine???

Anyhow, please list the top ten multichannel titles that YOU believe every SACD listener should own, not so much on the basis of the album's popularity but on the overall quality of the mix.

Thanks!

Dan,
San Francisco, CA
In no particular order:

Beethoven S3/8 - BIS - Minnesota/Vanska
Beethoven S4/5 - BIS - Minnesota/Vanska
Beethoven S7 - LSO - LSO/Haitink
Tchaikovsky S4 - Harmonia Mundi - RPO/Gatti
Tchaikovsky S5 - Harmonia Mundi - RPO/Gatti
Tchaikovsky S6 - Harmonia Mundi - RPO/Gatti
Mussorgsky/Stokowski Pictures - Naxos - Bournemouth/Serebrier
Holst Planets - DG - Philharmonia/Gardiner
Brahms Hungarian Dances - Etcetera - Kolacny bros.
Bach Four Great Toccata & Fugues - Sony - Biggs
Post by Arthur November 11, 2007 (5 of 6)
I quickly came up with a list of 20 that easily could have been 30. But thinking of titles that might be of interest to general listeners rather than specialty listeners allowed me to whittle it down:

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 - Vänskä
Boccherini: Fandango & Sinfonias - Savall
Debussy: Orchestral Works - Haitink
Liszt: Piano Works - Arrau
Rachmaninov: Complete Symphonies & Orchestral Works - Edo de Waart
Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 - Latry, Eschenbach
Schubert: Piano Trios - Haydn Trio Eisenstadt
Schumann: Romanesque - Vladimir Tropp
Tchaikovsky: Suite No. 3, Stravinsky: Divertimento - Jurowski
Vivaldi: Vespri per l'Assunzione di Maria Vergine - Alessandrini

Some complain about the Eschenbach performance of the Saint-Saens, but I'm not bothered by the speed of the Scherzo or tempo for the coda: a litle jarring maybe, but I've come to enjoy it. Sonically it's a barn-burner!

The Vivaldi is only 4 channel, but what 4 channel! This disc has cemented my love for Rinaldo Alessandrini!

The Haitink Debussy and Arrau Liszt are 70's 2 channel, but they show clearly how superior Philips engineering was at that time. And they are great performances as well.

Honorable mention go to Julia Fischer's Mendelssohn Trios with Gilad and Mueller-Schott; to Reiner's Strauss Also sprach and Ein Heldenleben--mind-blowing for 1954(!); and to Leonard Bernstein's Mozart 36th with the Concerto No. 15--great music-making brought to life in the remaster!
Post by The Seventh Taylor November 14, 2007 (6 of 6)
I would never argue that everyone should own these ten albums (or any other ten albums, for that matter) but this is currently my personal multichannel SACD top 10:

1. Jeff Wayne: The War of the Worlds
2. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
3. Roxy Music: Avalon
4. Depeche Mode: Violator
5. Propaganda: A Secret Wish
6. Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Rage Hard, The Sonic Collection
7. Guano Apes: Don't Give Me Names
8. Kane: So Glad You Made It
9. Kinobe: Versebridgechorus?
10. Paul Van Dyk: Reflections

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