32 of 34 recommend this SA-CD
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Label:
   Mercury Living Presence
Serial:
   475 6608
Title:
   Dvorak: Cello Concerto, Bruch, Tchaikovsky - Starker/Dorati
Description:
   Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B minor Op. 104, Bruch: Kol Nidrei, Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme

Janos Starker (cello)
London Symphony Orchestra
Antal Dorati (conductor)
Details:
  
Genre:
   Classical - Orchestral
Content:
   Stereo/Multichannel
Media:
   Hybrid
Recording type:
   Analogue
Recording info:
  
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Related titles: 9 show all
 
Reviews: 2
Review by sgb May 16, 2005 (11 of 11 found this review helpful)
Performance:  Sonics (S):
This is an exceptional recording, augmented tremendously by the new DSD mastering. It will take you less than a moment or two to discover how diffuse the earlier PCM recording sounds by comparison, and it in itself was one of the better CD transfers to appear in the Living Presence series.

As for performances, nearly all SA-CD enthusiasts will already know that we are graced now with two of the best renditions of the Dvorak Concerto ever to appear on record - and each deserves its rightful place in one's music collection for the emotive senses they can provoke in the listener. Polished as it is, the Starker performance conveys more the sense of authority and bravado than Piatigorsky's RCA, but Piatigorsky gives us an equally competent yet more reserved reading of the score. Each of these can serve different listening needs quite effectively, and both offer convincingly authentic sound.

Edit 5/24/05
It has been pointed out to me by another member that I should look to determine if this is a PCM transfer and it is. Nonetheless, the above assessments stand.

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Review by nickc June 3, 2005 (5 of 5 found this review helpful)
Performance:  Sonics (MC):
What an unbelievable fillip these magnificent Mercury recordings have been to us SACD lovers - and this is another example! We have "the" classic cello concerto and two substantial fillers on this disc.
The performances, of course, are absolutely fabulous - even in comparison to the classic Rostropovich/Karajan coupling on DG. In comparison to that CD I would say Starker/Dorati push slightly more, Karajan was more "romantic" if I could put it that way. One place where I clearly preferred the Karajan is at the end of the slow movement of the Dvorak where the woodwind interjections are absolutely magical; here at a much faster tempo they don't seem to have the same effect.
The sound is well nigh perfect. Although there is some slight residual tape hiss and you can tell the strings are from a 45 year old master (say in comparison to Ivan Fischer's Dvorak 8/9) I just love the presentation of the orchestra in these Mercury recordings; up close so you can almost feel the instruments in your living room.
Essential!

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Works: 3  
Max Bruch - Kol Nidrei, Op. 47
Antonin Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, B. 191 Op. 104
Peter Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme, TH 57 Op. 33