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Can anyone out there help?
I'm new to this forum, having only discovered it a few weeks ago. I'm also new to the joys of SACD, only owning a universal Arcam disc player since early last year.
SACDs and DVD-As have really changed the way I'm appreciating music, and I'm finding that styles and types of music that I'd previously not been overly bothered by, are really appealing to me. A very good example is the SACD Dave Bruebeck "Take Five" album. I wouldn't really call myself a jazz fan, but this album is for me breathtaking in it's clarity and presence.
I'm still very careful not to buy music that I'll not like, but in an effort to expand my hi-res musical repertoire, can anyone give me their thoughts on the Naxos Shostakovich Jazz Suites SACD? I appreciate that i'ts subjective to a point, because our tastes vary so much. How does it compare style-wise with the Dave Bruebeck album?
Thanks in advance - look forward to hearing from some of you.
P.S. I have read the Amazon.com reviews posted on this forum already.
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Post by Claude May 13, 2008 (2 of 13)
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Hi,
The Shostakovich Jazz Suites are compositions "in a jazzy style" for classical orchestra, while the Brubeck album is a jazz group, which plays a theme and then gives the individual players space to improvise.
The Shostakovich suites are nice, but lightweight stuff and not very essential in his work. Even a jazz fan should start with the Shostakovich symphonies and concertos first.
The best thing would be to check out online music samples.
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Claude said:
Hi,
The Shostakovich Jazz Suites are compositions "in a jazzy style" for classical orchestra, while the Brubeck album is a jazz group, which plays a theme and then gives the individual players space to improvise.
The Shostakovich suites are nice, but lightweight stuff and not very essential in his work. Even a jazz fan should start with the Shostakovich symphonies and concertos first.
The best thing would be to check out online music samples.
My opinion of the Shostakovich Jazz Suites is more positive. While I don't own those works on SACD, I often return to my rbcd recording with Ricardo Chailly and an ensemble from the Royal Concertgebow of Amsterdam. The playing and acoustics are so good, I don't feel the need to buy a new SACD recording. If you like the Jazz Suites, check out Shostakovich's Piano Concertos. The first concerto also uses lots of humor. Just because they are less serious doesn't make them inferior to symphonies. IMHO Shostakovich Symphonies outside #5, #10, #9, and #1 are very overrated.
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Kutyatest said:
Can anyone out there help?
I'm new to this forum, having only discovered it a few weeks ago. I'm also new to the joys of SACD, only owning a universal Arcam disc player since early last year.
SACDs and DVD-As have really changed the way I'm appreciating music, and I'm finding that styles and types of music that I'd previously not been overly bothered by, are really appealing to me. A very good example is the SACD Dave Bruebeck "Take Five" album. I wouldn't really call myself a jazz fan, but this album is for me breathtaking in it's clarity and presence.
I'm still very careful not to buy music that I'll not like, but in an effort to expand my hi-res musical repertoire, can anyone give me their thoughts on the Naxos Shostakovich Jazz Suites SACD? I appreciate that i'ts subjective to a point, because our tastes vary so much. How does it compare style-wise with the Dave Bruebeck album?
Thanks in advance - look forward to hearing from some of you.
P.S. I have read the Amazon.com reviews posted on this forum already.
Hi and welcome to sa-cd net.
All the versions the Jazz suites are very good.Ive got two. The only thing to really consider is what is on with them.? Tea for two is also fun.
Must admit I was very interested and suprised by Claudes reply especially as I struggle with Jazz music when it goes off the beaten track.
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raffells said:
Hi and welcome to sa-cd net.
All the versions the Jazz suites are very good.Ive got two. The only thing to really consider is what is on with them.? Tea for two is also fun.
Must admit I was very interested and suprised by Claudes reply especially as I struggle with Jazz music when it goes off the beaten track.
Thanks very much for all your responses so far - I have been surprised at how quickly I've had replies!
It sounds to me from what has been said so far, as if the music is fairly easy listening, and not at all representative of his music generally (which I gather is a bit heavy and not jazz). It sounds as if it might be the sort of thing for me, as I definately wouldn't class myself as a jazz fan. I'm definately not very knowledgable with classical orchestral music - and even less jazz. I notice that "Tea for Two" is on the Naxos disc.
I'm not absolute hell-bent on the Naxos label, it's only that my latest disc bought from them advertised the Shostakovich Jazz Suites on the inside. I'm not even insistant that it has to be MCH, just hi-res.
I'm happy to hear any other commemts/feedback.
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Kutyatest said:
Thanks very much for all your responses so far - I have been surprised at how quickly I've had replies!
It sounds to me from what has been said so far, as if the music is fairly easy listening, and not at all representative of his music generally (which I gather is a bit heavy and not jazz). It sounds as if it might be the sort of thing for me, as I definately wouldn't class myself as a jazz fan. I'm definately not very knowledgable with classical orchestral music - and even less jazz. I notice that "Tea for Two" is on the Naxos disc.
I'm not absolute hell-bent on the Naxos label, it's only that my latest disc bought from them advertised the Shostakovich Jazz Suites on the inside. I'm not even insistant that it has to be MCH, just hi-res.
I'm happy to hear any other commemts/feedback.
Shostakovich wrote in a variety of styles. The concertos are different than the symphonies, which are different than the ballets..., etc.
If you're new to classical music, there are ways to get exposure without spending money.
Public libraries often have CD's that were donated by collectors, which you can check out. If you like the cd, then you can look for the same work on SACD.
www.hbdirect.com has a very comprehensive selection of classical titles. Titles with the small apple icon received a very favorable review (just because it was received well doesn't necessary mean you'll like the music). Use HBdirect for browsing and buy the title used on Amazon.
If you don't have a classical radio station in your home town, then there are several on the net. Oregon alone has two streaming stations that are reasonably good. KMHD in Portland (which also streams) may be the best jazz radio station in the world.
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I have both the Naxos and Brilliant SACDs and would recommend them both (in a musical sense anyway). It's basically 'light classical' and not jazz at all, but oh anyone who likes good melody should enjoy it. Naxos comes with the suite from The Bolt (a ballet and a bit more serious than the rest) while Brilliant comes with the rarely-recorded Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Themes, as well as Novorossijsk Chimes -- which I'm not sure is even available otherwise. Incidently, Brilliant also mixes up the movement order for some reason on the second suite...
-Joshua
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Post by Peter May 14, 2008 (8 of 13)
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sacd_fan_2007 said:
IMHO Shostakovich Symphonies outside #5, #10, #9, and #1 are very overrated.
...or you are under-rating at least some of them!
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Post by Peter May 14, 2008 (9 of 13)
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TerraEpon said:
I have both the Naxos and Brilliant SACDs and would recommend them both (in a musical sense anyway).
I prefer the Brilliant performances as they're less relentless, but T 4 2 is terrific!
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Thanks again for all your input. From what has been said, it sounds as if it's fairly easy listening. I reckon I'll take the plunge and order the Naxos album very soon.
I realised last night, looking at my collection, that my Dave Brubeck SACD is actually called Time Out, and not Take Five. Take Five is one of the tracks featured.
I agree that public libraries are a good solution to finding music. I have used that method in the past (when my wife worked in the local library), but since moving to a new town, our new local library has a really dire small selection. Back on the subject of discovering new music via hi-res, and not wishing to divert the course of this posting too much, I recently got my brother to copy a Flaming Lips CD from his library, to see if I'd like it enough to buy the hi-res version (the other hi-res format - no names mentioned!) of it. He sent me the copied version on CD-R, but it just wasn't my style of music at all, so the search continues.
Thanks again for the very useful feedback.
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