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Review by nickc January 27, 2005 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
Now this disc is truly amazing! I just have to repeat what the other two reviewers have said - it is almost beyond belief that is was recorded 50 years ago. To paraphrase a famous saying Daphnis could be called the greatest of the greatest of Ravel's works. Just listen to the opening 5 or so minutes and you are in aural ecstasy -you can hardly take a breath in the whole hour of the work.
Unbelievably this was the first time I had ever heard this performance, having "grown up" on Dutoit's St Eustache Decca performance. It seems to me that Munch gives the music more time to breathe than Dutoit's slightly quicker pace - and the music blossoms from it. I also have Karajan's classic Second Suite from the mid 60s which may be even more overwhelming from memory, but of course there is no chorus on that disc.
The sound is absolutely magnificent. I could not hear any hiss at all and, most importantly, the orchestra is captured with such amazing fidelity it just makes you want to take today's recording engineers and grab them by the throat...frankly it seems some of them have gone backwards in the last 50 years with their small-scale and distantly-miked productions. Indeed I prefer this recording to either of the Chailly Mahler SACDs released in the last year (and that is coming from a MC addict!).
One final word of advice - just buy it!
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Review by thepilot October 18, 2004 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
| I have grown with this wonderful recording and I have all its different editions, in vinyl and CD. This SACD made my cry, it could have been recorded yesterday. It has tremendous dynamic range, astounding bass extension and treble air and clarity, and the soundstage dimensionality makes you think that this is a multichannel recording. Of course it was made in 1955, but hearing is believing, and you have to listen to this miraculous SACD. The transfer is a miracle of modern DSD A/D and the performance now sounds better than ever. All the other Daphnis' have to be judged by the standards this living stereo edition sets. I will cherish this disc for the rest of my life. Now I can give away the other recordings I have (about 15 different editions) and remain forever loyal to Munch's magic glow. This has to be rated 10 stars at least for sound quality and performance. WOW!
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Review by Monteverdi October 13, 2004 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
| Recorded in stereo on January 23 & 24, 1955 in Symphony Hall, the great Charles Munch, leading the superb Boston Symphony and New England Conservatory and Alumni Choruses (Robert Shaw, director), gave us what continues to be the most completely realized performance the score may ever have. With the combination of poetry and passion, we continue to marvel at this 50-year-old recording (!), sounding fresh and immediate in its SACD debut presentation. It is a wonder on all levels. ©AE 2004
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