SA-CD.net - In case you thought RCO Live was recently deceased!

Post by seth July 3, 2012 (11 of 12)

Chris said:

Bruckner's 8th from Haitink has received some criticism here. Too distant too cavernous according to some. But I find it clearly more natural coherent and better than the pcm recorded 3rd and 4th from the same venue.
I would stick my neck out and say that if someone finds that this recording sounds bad there is something wrong NOT with the recording itself but the system used.
It is imo a very realistic live take of an orchestra in a good hall without excessive multimiking and spotmiking allowed to mess up of the soundstage.
But you need to hear it via a system that is capable of delivering all the beauty actually captured.
The other two Bruckner recordings and most others I have heard from RCO LIVE are less natural imo.The only other exception that I own is Dvorak's Requiem coupled with his 8th symphony which to my ears also sound like they have been recorded in DSD.

I've found a lot of the RCO discs to be a bit muddy and cavernous, such as the Mahler 5 and Debussy/Dutilleux/Ravel (you don't really notice it in "La Mer" due to the nature of the music, but a lot of details are obscured in "La Valse" which requires more precision). It sounds like they used a completely different mic'ing scheme for the Mahler 2. The sound is much crisper, instruments are better defined. I was actually listening to it the other night (in surround) -- I think it's pretty terrific.

Post by Fitzcaraldo215 July 3, 2012 (12 of 12)

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hiredfox said:

This from Everett Porter at Polyhymnia via e-mail. I'm sure he'll not mind my sharing it on this forum...

"Rest assured that there are many RCO Live recordings in the pipeline, and that they are being recorded in hi-res and will be released on SACD. We're also busy with a blu-ray project of all of the Mahler Symphonies, which will also be hi-res audio and video. Though there haven't been many releases lately, we have been recording lots!

I wish I could give you more details, but I must leave that to the Concertgebouw orchestra and their distributors.

Hope you enjoy the releases once they arrive -- and thanks for your (sic) patience!"

I am generally a fan of RCO Live, and I have many disks from their SACD catalog. Some are superlative, the others merely quite decent and still worth having.

I am also deeply into Blu-ray concert releases, and I have access to and I have watched the majority of classical Blu-rays, most of which I treasure as a musical experience. There are perhaps only about 400 or so releases there in the classical repertoire, including concerts, recitals, operas and ballets.

What boggles the mind, though, is that the RCO would put another Mahler cycle on Blu-ray on the heels of a truly superb and excellent one by Abbado and the Lucerne Festival. It is often the same story on SACD, where, in spite of all the holes in the repertoire, we get Mahler cycles in superabundance. I will be delighted to see the RCO on BR, such as the recent Shostakovich 8th, but somehow I am doubting they are going to be able to outdo Maestro Abbodo on Mahler. But, does it take a marketing genius to figure out that there is no Brahms Symphony cycle on BR? Apparently, it does, so it is to be another Mahler cycle.

I have nothing against Mahler, who was indeed a great composer. But, there are many other great composers, too. I just fail to understand why he should be over represented, at the expense of others, in niche media such as BR and SACD.