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Quite a few available on SACD, but I have yet to see one that really sticks out. I'm afraid we won't get to see some great Planet recordings because of the glut of so-so recordings out there. Tell me about your experiences with the SACDs out there of this work.
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Post by Dinko October 20, 2003 (2 of 21)
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I've heard three.
Mark Elder/Hallé Orchestra (Hyperion) - stereo only
I like it. It is different, and Elder emphasizes different parts which other conductors do not. I like the Hallé, even though it may not have the weight or power of the New York Philharmonic. Sound is quite good: nicely detailed, good percussion.
Kazuyoshi Akiyama / Tokyo Symphony Orchestra - stereo & multichannel
Not among my favourite Planets. It lacks a good deal of the raw energy of the better versions. It's a little tame by comparison, as if colour were more important than brute force. I find it different, but again, I'm sometimes in the mood for a lighter Planets recording, and this one does nicely. Sound is decent I find, but not great. The bonus cues are interesting fillers. There's a two minute fanfare by Shin-Ichiro Ikebe written for the Tokyo Symphony. It's given a bunch of readings: for brass, for strings, for orchestra. It's also available in a 'concert hall' surround mix like the rest of the disc, but there are two additional mixes of the orchestra and brass versions which completely surround the listener by placing him inside the orchestra. So you have brass behind and in front which is weird, but interesting to have as bonus cues to complement the regular 'concert hall' surrounds.
John Eliot Gardiner / Philharmonia - stereo & multichannel
When I got this, the CD version had been highly recommended to me as being the best Planets recordings. I strongly disagree with that assessment. I find Gardiner's recording somewhat boring. There are moments where he just stretches the music too much, or he's not swift enough, then there are moments where I think he's too fast. I just can't get into his approach, it annoys me. Sonically, it's decent. I think it was originally a Deutsche Grammophone 4-Dimension recording. I haven't listened to it for a while, but I seem to remember it had a good dynamic range, and well-defined instruments. Good sonics, but not spectacular.
I've been meaning to get the Bernstein/New York Philharmonic version for a while, but I never bring myself to actually buy it. I'm not sure I want to take my chances with Naxos either. I don't really need any more Planets as I'm quite content with Elder/Hallé and Andrew Davis/Toronto Symphony (CD).
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Dinko said:
I've heard three.
Mark Elder/Hallé Orchestra (Hyperion) - stereo only
I like it. It is different, and Elder emphasizes different parts which other conductors do not. I like the Hallé, even though it may not have the weight or power of the New York Philharmonic. Sound is quite good: nicely detailed, good percussion.
Kazuyoshi Akiyama / Tokyo Symphony Orchestra - stereo & multichannel
Not among my favourite Planets. It lacks a good deal of the raw energy of the better versions. It's a little tame by comparison, as if colour were more important than brute force. I find it different, but again, I'm sometimes in the mood for a lighter Planets recording, and this one does nicely. Sound is decent I find, but not great. The bonus cues are interesting fillers. There's a two minute fanfare by Shin-Ichiro Ikebe written for the Tokyo Symphony. It's given a bunch of readings: for brass, for strings, for orchestra. It's also available in a 'concert hall' surround mix like the rest of the disc, but there are two additional mixes of the orchestra and brass versions which completely surround the listener by placing him inside the orchestra. So you have brass behind and in front which is weird, but interesting to have as bonus cues to complement the regular 'concert hall' surrounds.
John Eliot Gardiner / Philharmonia - stereo & multichannel
When I got this, the CD version had been highly recommended to me as being the best Planets recordings. I strongly disagree with that assessment. I find Gardiner's recording somewhat boring. There are moments where he just stretches the music too much, or he's not swift enough, then there are moments where I think he's too fast. I just can't get into his approach, it annoys me. Sonically, it's decent. I think it was originally a Deutsche Grammophone 4-Dimension recording. I haven't listened to it for a while, but I seem to remember it had a good dynamic range, and well-defined instruments. Good sonics, but not spectacular.
I've been meaning to get the Bernstein/New York Philharmonic version for a while, but I never bring myself to actually buy it. I'm not sure I want to take my chances with Naxos either. I don't really need any more Planets as I'm quite content with Elder/Hallé and Andrew Davis/Toronto Symphony (CD).
This is going to sound strange, I know, but a favourite in recent years, at least for recording quality has been the Virtual Reality Dolby Surround cd released by Delos with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony. Put aside the dreadful cover art and its not at all bad, and should be a suitable candidate for DSD remastering given the quality of the original surround tapes.
Two non-surround favourites are the Solti with the LPO, for Decca, and, another surprise, a bargain version on Tring with the Royal Phil and Handley. I doubt the Tring will ever see the light of SACD day, which is a shame, but if the Solti does I'd be more than pleased to "upgrade" my copy. Its a reading I've been fond of for quite a few years, - one of Solti's best: riveting and aggressive but also subtle (in Neptune for example) and spacious. The sound is brilliant, in best Decca/Solti tradition (listen for the big, bright trumpets) and the orchestra has real presence on a wide soundstage.
(P.S. I seem to remember another Decca recording that had great sound for its time, - with Zubin Mehta, either late 60's or very early 70's. Is this still around the catalogue??)
After Hickox's recent triumphs with RVW, i wouldnt be at all surprised to see Chandos release a Planets SACD with him in the next year or so, and I think I'll keep my powder dry for that unless Decca get into re-mastering of their back-catalogue in the meantime.
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Post by Dinko October 20, 2003 (4 of 21)
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nucaleena said:
This is going to sound strange, I know, but a favourite in recent years, at least for recording quality has been the Virtual Reality Dolby Surround cd released by Delos with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony. Put aside the dreadful cover art and its not at all bad, and should be a suitable candidate for DSD remastering given the quality of the original surround tapes.
Sheesh. Talk about coincidence.
I ordered the Delos/Dallas/Litton/Planets DVD from Barnes & Noble two weeks ago, and got it this very morning about an hour after posting my initial post.
In terms of surround, in terms of overall sound feel, and in terms of performance (both Litton's reading and the orchestra's playing) I have to agree that this Delos/Dallas Planets recording is highly satisfying. However, I think instruments on the Delos DVD sound digitalized and do not have the natural tone they should have.
I would be quite curious to compare the Dolby Surround CD with the Dolby Digital DVD. So far, I have been unimpressed by Dolby Digital on DVD, which always sounded like a glorified mp3 suffering from digitalitis, and this disc is no difference.
That said, the Delos surround program is quite good in its concert hall feel. Litton's Planets are very tight rythmically and I think that Mars is given the steadiest and most march-like beat from all the recordings I've yet heard.
I also agree about a DSD transfer. Now that Delos have entered the SACD market, I hope they find the time to re-release this on SACD. It certainly has the potential to be the best Planets recording, if only it would lose that dreadful digitalized feel found on the Dolby Digital DVD.
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Dinko said:
Sheesh. Talk about coincidence.
I ordered the Delos/Dallas/Litton/Planets DVD from Barnes & Noble two weeks ago, and got it this very morning about an hour after posting my initial post.
In terms of surround, in terms of overall sound feel, and in terms of performance (both Litton's reading and the orchestra's playing) I have to agree that this Delos/Dallas Planets recording is highly satisfying. However, I think instruments on the Delos DVD sound digitalized and do not have the natural tone they should have.
I would be quite curious to compare the Dolby Surround CD with the Dolby Digital DVD. So far, I have been unimpressed by Dolby Digital on DVD, which always sounded like a glorified mp3 suffering from digitalitis, and this disc is no difference.
That said, the Delos surround program is quite good in its concert hall feel. Litton's Planets are very tight rythmically and I think that Mars is given the steadiest and most march-like beat from all the recordings I've yet heard.
I also agree about a DSD transfer. Now that Delos have entered the SACD market, I hope they find the time to re-release this on SACD. It certainly has the potential to be the best Planets recording, if only it would lose that dreadful digitalized feel found on the Dolby Digital DVD.
I have so many recordings of this, including the Naxos SACD, but the one that I have liked was BBC magazine cd that came with the magazine a few years back. Tortelier and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Anyone have that?
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Dinko said:
Sheesh. Talk about coincidence.
I ordered the Delos/Dallas/Litton/Planets DVD from Barnes & Noble two weeks ago, and got it this very morning about an hour after posting my initial post.
In terms of surround, in terms of overall sound feel, and in terms of performance (both Litton's reading and the orchestra's playing) I have to agree that this Delos/Dallas Planets recording is highly satisfying. However, I think instruments on the Delos DVD sound digitalized and do not have the natural tone they should have.
I would be quite curious to compare the Dolby Surround CD with the Dolby Digital DVD. So far, I have been unimpressed by Dolby Digital on DVD, which always sounded like a glorified mp3 suffering from digitalitis, and this disc is no difference.
That said, the Delos surround program is quite good in its concert hall feel. Litton's Planets are very tight rythmically and I think that Mars is given the steadiest and most march-like beat from all the recordings I've yet heard.
I also agree about a DSD transfer. Now that Delos have entered the SACD market, I hope they find the time to re-release this on SACD. It certainly has the potential to be the best Planets recording, if only it would lose that dreadful digitalized feel found on the Dolby Digital DVD.
the dolby surround cd didn't have a "digitised" feel at all, so an SACD should be terrific.
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Post by pann October 21, 2003 (7 of 21)
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Dinko said:
....However, I think instruments on the Delos DVD sound digitalized and do not have the natural tone they should have....
.....if only it would lose that dreadful digitalized feel found on the Dolby Digital DVD......
A short question:
Does this DVD have DTS audio tracks?
I try not to buy music DVDs which do not have DTS track for the exact reasons you stated above.
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Post by Dinko October 21, 2003 (8 of 21)
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pann said:
A short question:
Does this DVD have DTS audio tracks?
I try not to buy music DVDs which do not have DTS track for the exact reasons you stated above.
No DTS.
There's only a Dolby 5.0 mix, and a 16bit/48khz PCM stereo mix.
I try to avoid music DVDs without DTS as well, but in this case, it was a choice between the CD, and the DVD. I figured if anyone can get Dolby Digital to work, it would be Delos, but apparently, Dolby Digital is bad for music, especially classical music, no matter what.
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Post by pann October 21, 2003 (9 of 21)
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Dinko said:
No DTS.
There's only a Dolby 5.0 mix, and a 16bit/48khz PCM stereo mix.
I try to avoid music DVDs without DTS as well, but in this case, it was a choice between the CD, and the DVD. I figured if anyone can get Dolby Digital to work, it would be Delos, but apparently, Dolby Digital is bad for music, especially classical music, no matter what.
Some times I do buy DVDs with Dolby Digital just because the music is too good to pass up -- Karajan/Mutter Beethoven Violin Concerto for example.
DTS is pretty acceptable to me. One of my favorite DVD/DTS is Viva Vivaldi with Bartoli; pure beautiful music making. You can even follow the on-screen scores. Another one is Angela Gheorghiu/Abbado/Berliner Phil Verdi Requiem --There was an unusually long, long, long pause between the end of the music and the audience applause; If you didn't see the performance, you just don't know what was going on. Also on the same DVD, if the loud drum sounded a little stranger than what you thought it should be, You wouldn't know unless you watched it in action on DVD. On my another DVD/DTS -- Rigoletto - the tenor did an encore in the midst of the opera right after he sang the "La donna e mobile"--amusing as well as charming!
Classical music is a performing art. It's been an integral whole until Thomas Edison invented the gramophone :-). Audio offers only part of the experience! It should never be separated. I hope some day SACD and DVD or even better HD-DVD will converge. For the time being, the crude DVD-DTS is my happy medium :-) or :-(
Should this be on a new thread?
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So this is an old thread I started some time ago. I know we've talked about the Hyperion, the Gardiner, etc., and I did end up buying the MFSL recording with Susskind. I know it's been overdone, but we really haven't had the Planets done definitively in SACD multichannel (at least of recent vintage).
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