User Details - jdaniel


Name:
  John Daniel
Details:
  Musician, classical music lover,
Location:
  Northern California
HiFi:
  Vandersteen 3a Signature Speakers, Audioquest CV6 bi-wire cables, (with battery packs), Musical Fidelity A308 Amp, Jaguar Interconnects, VPI Scoutmaster, Dynavector XX2 MK2 Cart, Sony SACD player.
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Posts:
  501

 
 
Reviews
Found: 4

Richard Strauss: Alpine Symphony, Four Last Songs - Luisi        (6 of 8 found this review helpful)
  August 14, 2010

The recording is just a marvel; blessedly a touch distant and oh, how Strauss' huge swaths of sound lay so easily on the ear. My past favorites have been Kempe's, for the Dresden's luminous strings, and Strauss style that doesn't beat one over the head, Previn's Philadelphia one-off, for his ... more
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 - Zinman        (5 of 6 found this review helpful)
  July 25, 2010

Love the organ! Not nasal or tart! Great fundamentals, too. Spacious HUGE sound, chorus sings with swagger and jubilance rather than ferver. Soloists get a touch hard on high notes but stay on pitch and employ tasteful vibrato. Engineers allow their voices to blend with acoustic before hitting mics; ... more
Schoenberg: Gurrelieder - Gielen        (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
  November 24, 2008

Let my get to the voices first; many reviews I've read regarding this release tends to have a reservation about Tove and Waldemarr, the soprano and tenor--the centerpieces around which the drama revolves. The good news is that technically they're perfectly fine. The tenor Robert Smith has a gorgeous ... more
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 - Furtwängler        (9 of 11 found this review helpful)
  November 22, 2008

Hi Resolution SACDs of legendary mono performances, I love it! It's a 24/192 resolution, not DSD, not that I care particularly. I"m only able to compare this release to his famous EMI '51 9th live recording. Objectively speaking, this '54 is much better played, not least in the 3rd mov't during ... more

 
 
Latest Posts

Discussion: Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Reiner
July 4, 2013
I prefer Beecham's infinitely more evocative, perfumed reading and Ansermet's rough and ready PCO recording. Too much hooplah about the Reiner, both as a recording and a performance. IMHO, if there's one Reiner performance *and* recording that transcends time and place it's his Mahler Das Lied. Yet nary a word. ... more
Discussion: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 - Stenz
November 19, 2012
I'm SO jealous, never knew this performance was available. I'm not usually a Sir Simon fan as he's gotten so fussy. All those incredibly-talented young people too; you must have left knowing/thinking that the future is in good hands. ... more
Discussion: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 - Stenz
November 18, 2012
Thank you for the link, a fun, exciting listen, though I hope they edited the 1st Soprano's flat solo Bb which is meant to float ecstatically above the final chorus @ 1:14:36. Yikes! One can see a girl in the children's choir react at that moment; thank God for the honesty of children. : ) I find Elizabeth Connell unforgettable in this harrowing ... more
RIP Elliot Carter
November 8, 2012
Substitute Carter for Reger: every last note justified, could spit out fugues like a Univac 2001, unfailing taste, admirably-high compositional standards... Are dumb people still "simply not ready" or "literate enough" for Reger? ... more
RIP Elliot Carter
November 8, 2012
Think of Mozart's PC 21 2nd mov't: the "simple" outlining of a triad. Does an appreciation reveal...what? ... more