Classical Music for Audiophiles (remastered)

[Elkerton]

Spotify is terrible for finding specific classical works. For those looking for Kal's tip, it's called "Poulenc, Saint-Saëns & Barber: Works for Organ & Orchestra" on there. No idea where they got that title from, it's not listed like that anywhere else. Not in Ondine's own catalogue, nor on Discogs.

If it helps, the first piece is the Barber, the second the Poulenc, and the third the Saint-Saëns.

 

[Elkerton]

It's been done:

It is almost unbelievable to hear this 1955 performance played back on a Yamaha disklavier in the Gould performance hall in Toronto, particularly in the multichannel SACD form-- astonishing; clean, clean, clean; no distractions, just the music! O, and the second half of the disc has the binaural version for headphone users.

 

[Bwmr]

It's been done:

Yes indeed. I have that SACD. Their "re-performance" is a great concept. too bad it did not become more popular.
Maybe because listening to "Glenn Gould" without all his humming feels like a ghost performance?

 

[Bwmr]

I can't separate someone singing or humming from piano. I am currently working on a new project, using mono source material. I tried a few things to make it more engaging and found a nice result. I'm not the first, but I did take a slightly different approach, and I think the result is very natural.

It's still a work in progress, but here's what I have at the moment.

01 - Track 01_ASR.flac | Powered by Box

app.box.com

To be clear, the biggest issue for me was the amount of electronic noise / hiss on the original. The stereo mix was more of an afterthought.

Is it Furtwangler?

 

[Robin L]

Is it Furtwangler?

It's got the same thumping about in the pit in the beginning, also the same duration. Seems like the same overall sound as standard mono with some room around it.

 

[BenB]

Is it Furtwangler?

It is. I manually removed/reduced many of the audience sounds, and things like that, but there are so many that this piece is going to make me try my hand at writing an automatic sound excision tool. That means I'll likely re-do the excision completely. Like I said, it's a work in progress.

 

[JanesJr1]

Thanks! It’s on Qobuz, I’ll check it out tonight.

I will check it out, too.

I discovered Bruckner 25 years ago, listened intently, became familiar with it, and then kind of inadvertently left it behind. I recently returned by listening to the DG Bruckner symphony cycle with Karajan in Berllin, compiled in 1990 as a Karajan signature collection. (It's on Amazon HD but they don't list a recording ID.) Oh, I know Karajan and Bruckner have been around for us for decades, but they are a good match, and the bonus is that this cycle is sonically one of the most satisfying set of orchestral recordings I have heard.

25 years ago, I listened to Bruckner on decent freestanding speakers, and this time around, I found that this recording brought headphone listening as close to the experience of listening on good freestanding speakers as I might ever expect. I'm now using planars that seem perfectly suited to this music, in that they bring out all the fine attributes of the recording without ever giving me the impression of being analytical in any negative way.

So far I've listened to the 4th, 6th and 8th, and the horns, which Bruckner used so heavily, are recorded perfectly: the round softness of the French horns, the brightness of the trumpets (bright like live horns, but without harshness), etc. The best demonstration of orchestral horns I've heard. There is a wonderful resonance of the strings and tympani in the recording venue. The dynamics are stunning. The detail and separation are perfect: when Bruckner brings his overlapping themes together, not always exactly contrapuntal, but still converging naturally, you can pick out the timbre of the small tendrils of notes in the background as alternate themes climb toward climax. The warmth of the strings brings out the lyricism of the adagios, especially with the 8th. The entire tonality is balanced and complete through the entire FR. The soundstaging has you sitting back of the conductor; not in the middle of things, far enough away to take in the total sonic picture, but close enough not to miss a thing.

Balanced, detailed, just so.

 

[BenB]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned my intention to write an automatic transient removal function. I eventually did do that, though I haven't gone back and applied it to the Furtwangler. The function is not fully automated; a user has to configure the start time, end time, and frequency span of the transient. The program does its best to match the character of the music before and after the blip.
I made a video that walks through my process, though without giving any algorithmic details. You can find it here if you're interested: