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Review by canonical March 20, 2009 (8 of 13 found this review helpful)
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Sonics: |
Revised 22 March 2009:
Just to clarify: The consensus from the discussion here on sa-cd.net, and from the review of this SACD on Amazon by Charles Rileigh is that (irrespective of whether copyright has expired on this recording or otherwise):
1. Praga Digitals ... the company that has put this EMI material onto a SACD ... appears to have done so without the approval of EMI, and without access to the EMI master analogue tapes.
2. The Nursery Variations and Cello Concerto are most likely ripped from the EMI compact discs; not from the analogue masters. If so, there can be no gain in placing the item onto SACD.
3. The Piano Concerto #2 appears to have been copied from a vinyl disc (although a very quiet one), and the sound is substandard.
In plain words, don't be fooled: the packet might say 'SACD', but all you are getting is a ripped CD. Caveat emptor.
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Review by AmirKessner April 9, 2009 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
I agree with canonical's review. Unlike Praga's modern issues, the sound here is pretty dated, in mediocre-to-poor transfers.
The Variations on a Nursery Song (22'59") and the Konzertstuck for Cello (22'20") were recorded in 1956 and are in stereo. The recording date of the Piano Concerto No. 2 (27'22") is unspecified, and sounds mono-ish, with background noises like in 78s or LPs.
The performances with piano are "authentic" - the composer plays in both. However, I greatly prefer the Variations with Earl Wild and the composer's son, Christoph von Dohnanyi, conducting the New Philharmonia on Chesky CD13: better pianism, better conducting and definitely better sound (RBCD only).
The Konzertstuck is very nicely played by Starker and Susskind conducting the Philharmonia, though the orchestra sounds pretty shrill.
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