Multichannel Recordings of Classical ♫ Music only | Tell us about the ones you fell for !

[jcarys]

The latest for me is John Wilson/Sinfonia of London playing Rachmaninoff. I particularly like the Symphonic Dances on this, and I'm just playing back the Atmos version on Tidal. I expect that I'll get the Chandos SACD for my own collection.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I'm using the Oppo 103 as my library server. I think I've got a bit over 175 multichannel SACDs (and a few stereo SACDs), along with ~40 DVD-As and ~30 BD audio albums now. They all reside on an SSD that's plugged into the USB port on the front of the unit. It's not a large library, but it's still growing. There really aren't that many SACDs on the market the last time I looked--about 5000 titles total.

That collection is small enough to get away with using the Oppo as library server even though it is rather crude. Triggered by your comment about the library and the extent of the number of titles, I filtered my collection and found a little over 1800 multichannel DSF albums but I cannot distinguish between ripped SACDs and downloaded files. It is the latter that have ballooned. Not all are worthy but I am very circumspect about deleting them as I still rediscover good stuff long forgotten.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The latest for me is John Wilson/Sinfonia of London playing Rachmaninoff. I particularly like the Symphonic Dances on this, and I'm just playing back the Atmos version on Tidal. I expect that I'll get the Chandos SACD for my own collection.

I find it hard to warm up to Wilson's Rachmaninoff, well played and well recorded as they are.

 

[Chris A]

That collection is small enough to get away with using the Oppo as library server even though it is rather crude.

I'm open to suggestion. My focus has been on physical media. as you can see. The amount of data for audio files I thought was large for downloads (multichannel), however my relatively new fiber service has changed my perspective on this.

I should share more multichannel titles...

I have been completing my acquisition of multichannel Beethoven piano sonatas and finished just recently. Since I dialed in the setup for minimum phase growth a few years ago (i.e., less than 90 degrees of phase swing from 100 Hz up to 20 kHz, all channels), multichannel piano has been truly breathtaking at times, and certainly mesmerizing. I found the Mari Kodama SACDs on Pentatone to be surprisingly good. There are 10 discs available across 9 albums, and all of them cause me to sit and just listen.

I continue to be amazed by this composer, and the sound of his sonatas arranged by early, middle and late periods presages the changes that were to occur after his passing.

Chris

 

[Scytales]

There really aren't that many SACDs on the market the last time I looked--about 5000 titles total.

Incidentally, there are now over 16,000 SA-CD releases as of today.

I have been completing my acquisition of multichannel Beethoven piano sonatas and finished just recently. Since I dialed in the setup for minimum phase growth a few years ago (i.e., less than 90 degrees of phase swing from 100 Hz up to 20 kHz, all channels), multichannel piano has been truly breathtaking at times, and certainly mesmerizing. I found the Mari Kodama SACDs on Pentatone to be surprisingly good. There are 10 discs available across 9 albums, and all of them cause me to sit and just listen.

I continue to be amazed by this composer, and the sound of his sonatas arranged by early, middle and late periods presages the changes that were to occur after his passing.

As far as Beethoven piano sonatas are concerned, I have listened again this disc featuring the master's first three after several years from my previous listening :

I was deeply impressed by Igor Tchetuev's interpretation, that is so transparent to the nuances. The pianist's articulation highlights every piece of bits of Beethoven's works, yet Tchetuev do not fell into the trap of sterile virtuosity. A sense of poetry transcend the technical performance. The sound recording is not bad either. I believe Tchetuev has played this sonatas on a Fazioli, which seems unusual to me and add an extra interest to this release. Under the fingers of Tchetuev, the first three sonatas appear greater and more interesting than their status of early works might suggests.

This disc is part of an integral of the recordings of all Beethoven's piano sonatas. I have others disc from this series, but I have yet to listen to them again.

 

[Chris A]

Under the fingers of Tchetuev, the first three sonatas appear greater and more interesting than their status of early works might suggests.

I've found that I listen to Beethoven's first three sonatas quite often relative to his others, if for no other reason the themes that are easier to listen to and to identify with. Same thing for his first three symphonies. I think it's characteristic of his "classical" early training and influence of others, particularly Haydn, who apparently was a mentor.

His late period sonatas are more involved for the ear than his first two period sonatas. I think the late sonatas involve more active listening but bring even more benefit to the listener. He begins to experiment with the sonata form and begins to use fugues in his last sonatas (30-32). Some of these sonatas are quite difficult for the performer (e.g., "Hammerklavier", no. 29, is noted for its difficulty).

I can't overemphasize the importance of the phase-flattening through the crossover regions to eliminate all-pass phase growth--on the enjoyment of this music. (More background on this here.)

Chris

 

[hvbias]

I've found that I listen to Beethoven's first three sonatas quite often relative to his others, if for no other reason the themes that are easier to listen to and to identify with. Same thing for his first three symphonies. I think it's characteristic of his "classical" early training and influence of others, particularly Haydn, who apparently was a mentor.

His late period sonatas are more involved for the ear than his first two period sonatas. I think the late sonatas involve more active listening but bring even more benefit to the listener. He begins to experiment with the sonata form and begins to use fugues in his last sonatas (30-32). Some of these sonatas are quite difficult for the performer (e.g., "Hammerklavier", no. 29, is noted for its difficulty).

I can't overemphasize the importance of the phase-flattening through the crossover regions to eliminate all-pass phase growth--on the enjoyment of this music. (More background on this here.)

Chris

Good observations on Beethoven's form. I like Mari Kodama in the early sonatas, but I find her interpretations dry in many middle and all the late sonatas. My ASR thread on favorites performances here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-favorite-beethoven-piano-sonata-cycles.4906/

This is a very good surround release for superb classical era music played on period instruments. Very good price as well from BIS.

 

[Chris A]

I have to say that my multichannel recordings of Mr. Brautigam on fortepiano remind me of spinet pianos. I don't like listening to them (even though they may be historically relevant).

There is a reason why later piano makers (like Steinway, et al.) using larger and much more highly tensioned string assemblies came into the forefront so rapidly about 2-3 decades after the passing of Beethoven. There really is no contest.

Chris

 

[Artsfols]

This disc is a real musical treat :

Bach's double concerto is a two channels recording, but the Mozart's and Brahms's are in three channels. Old, but both the musicians and the recording engineers have something to teach about realizing a good recording !

In general, many of the recordings made in the 1950s are superior to those of the 60s and 70s. That includes the many "Living Stereo" recordings, EMI and Decca recordings made in London, Mercury Living Presence, and the Philips catalogue from that era.
I feel that the reason is that the later recordings relied on close mic-ing the instruments and then mixing many tracks. IOW, early multi-tracking was a step back from the care and attention that went into acoustics and using a few mics in the earlier recordings.

 

[Artsfols]

One way to obtain a good source of many multi-tracked recordings is to subscribe to the "digital concert hall" web site, which is the official web purveyor of a couple of decades of Berlin Philharmonic concerts. Almost all major players and singers, and a wide range of visiting conductors, perform with the BPO. For the last few years, the concert archive is available in Dolby Atmos. I have only recently moved my system to 5.1 from 3.1, so can't attest to the quality.

 

[Bwmr]

This is a most compelling multi-channel recording.
Not only the interpretation and the singing are top-notch (imho), the booklet explains in detail how the work was performed in that Leipzig church under Bach's own setup (the technical and the artistic reasons): the 2 organs and the double choir were not organized into front left-and-right like most performances nowadays, but into front-and-back. The main orchestra, the first choir and the main organ in front of the audience, and a small orchestra, the second choir, and the second organ at the back. This multi-channel recording aims to reproduce Bach's performance setting in Leipzig.
I believe the SACD is out of print, but there may be some available in the secondary market such as ebay.

 

[Artsfols]

I recently upgraded my system to 5.1. I posted a couple of threads on my journey in the speaker section, but have been either too lazy or busy to write up the final chapter. In any case, I have a small listening room (11 x 12 ft) that posed special challenges, but I am quite pleased with the result. Anyway, that's a topic for the speaker forum, but what I have been doing is replaying SACDs from my extensive classical CD collection.
Here are some highlights.
LSO Live has a number of multi-channel sets that present a very immersive sound stage in 5.1. Because of my small room, the surround are off to one side, but in front of my couch. So these sets sound very good.

The Sibelius set includes a BluRay audio disc with all 7 symphonies and some other works. Just pop in the player and let it spin all day.

There are a number of other multi-channel LSO live sets to be had. Based on my experience with these, I plan to get them all.

 

[Artsfols]

It's a bit tedious to copy images so I'll just list some other great multi-channel SACDs from my collection.

Stile Antico - a collection of early music called Song of Songs on Harmonia Mundi

Ivan Fischer/ Budapest Festival Orchestra: Schubert's Great Symphony on Channel Classics

Suzuki/ Japan Bach Collegium: Sacred Cantatas on BIS. I have a few of these on SACD and they sound great. The entire set of cantatas is available on umpteen SACDs.

Munch/ BSO: Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 on RCA Living Stereo. I have an entire box set of this label on CD and a few on SACD. This one is 3 channel. A Richard Strauss recording is described as 2 channel but plays through all 5. [note: correction below].

Phoenix Chorale/ Gjeilo Northern Lights. This is a favourite recording, played often, and really shines in 5 channel. Goosebumps.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Munch/ BSO: Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 on RCA Living Stereo. I have an entire box set of this label on CD and a few on SACD. This one is 3 channel. A Richard Strauss recording is described as 2 channel but plays through all 5.

Which Strauss recording is that?

 

[Scytales]

Yes, that's puzzling.

 

[Scytales]

LSO Live has a number of multi-channel sets that present a very immersive sound stage in 5.1. Because of my small room, the surround are off to one side, but in front of my couch. So these sets sound very good.

Actually, some sound engineers favored placing the "surround" channel in front of the listening area instead of behind. They are experimentation made in Japan that have shown that the sense of envelopment by the sound is not compromised by a front-end layout of 4 to 5 loudspeakers compared to an equivalent number of speakers, two of which are placed behind the listening area.

 

[Artsfols]

Actually, some sound engineers favored placing the "surround" channel in front of the listening area instead of behind. They are experimentation made in Japan that have shown that the sense of envelopment by the sound is not compromised by a front-end layout of 4 to 5 loudspeakers compared to an equivalent number of speakers, two of which are placed behind the listening area.

Strong second to that.
I explored all the positioning options in these two threads.

Rear speakers - what do they add?

I currently have a 3.1 system and am reasonably happy with it. 2 Totem Arro's left and right, an ELAC centre channel and a Totem Tribe sub. The sub has its own amp; the rest is driven by a Denon 3700 amp. The proposal I am entertaining is to replace the Arro's with KEF LS50 Meta's then move...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Surround speaker options in a small room - case study

This is a follow on to an earlier thread I initiated: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/rear-speakers-what-do-they-add.63610/ Now that I have decided to add 2 surround speakers (sadly, I incorrectly referred to them as rear speakers in the earlier thread), I have found...

www.audiosciencereview.com

(Note: I mistakenly stated rear when I meant 'surround'.)

Two pieces of advice I took to heart:
1) Ensure your surrounds are in the same (horizontal) plane as the L,R, Center. This ruled out downward pointing rears on my back wall, for example.
2) Be more concerned with speaker quality than position.

A third thread on the result is yet to be written.

Suffice to say, I have been very pleased with the result.
Especially with my classical SACDs, the sound stage is still predominantly in front of me, and this is truer to the concert hall. I don't get the concert hall simulated reverb like you might get with true rears. But I prefer the immersive sound stage.
The system also sounds great with my complete collection of Crossroads and prior concerts (7 or 8 of them) and I have 100 or so concert DVDs that have languished for some years now to look forward to in 5.1.
I would say that Dolby Atmos, while not disappointing, has met the rather low expectations that I had for it. Individual mixes do vary, but not much improvement over 3.1 generally.

 

[Artsfols]

View attachment 494698
This is a most compelling multi-channel recording.
Not only the interpretation and the singing are top-notch (imho), the booklet explains in detail how the work was performed in that Leipzig church under Bach's own setup (the technical and the artistic reasons): the 2 organs and the double choir were not organized into front left-and-right like most performances nowadays, but into front-and-back. The main orchestra, the first choir and the main organ in front of the audience, and a small orchestra, the second choir, and the second organ at the back. This multi-channel recording aims to reproduce Bach's performance setting in Leipzig.
I believe the SACD is out of print, but there may be some available in the secondary market such as ebay.

I am a fan of Rene Jacobs. His Don Giovanni is my favourite of the half dozen I have on DVD. Don't know if you're into Mozart's operas, but DG is controversial and Jacobs reading makes the most sense to me, plus it just sounds great.

 

[Artsfols]

Which Strauss recording is that?

You are right to call attention to this. I somehow reversed the information.
The Saint-Saens recording, listed as 3 channel, plays through all 5. I believe that is the recording, not the amp, doing this.
The Strauss recording (Ein Heldenlaben with Reiner), listed as 2 channel does only play through 2.

I checked another 3 channel recording, Reiner with the CSO in Mussgorsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and it plays through 5 also. (This is one of my favourite discs across the board).

 

[Kal Rubinson]

You are right to call attention to this. I somehow reversed the information.
The Saint-Saens recording, listed as 3 channel, plays through all 5. I believe that is the recording, not the amp, doing this.
The Strauss recording (Ein Heldenlaben with Reiner), listed as 2 channel does only play through 2.

I checked another 3 channel recording, Reiner with the CSO in Mussgorsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and it plays through 5 also. (This is one of my favourite discs across the board).

I checked the Reiner/Mussorgsky (3 versions) and the Munch Saint-Saens (2 versions). All are 3 channels only. How did you determine that not it is your "amp"?