ULTRA AUDIO -- Archived Article
 

January 1, 2007

Audiophile Discs from Norway

I listen to many discs, but most don’t pass muster for this column or inspire a second hearing. Rarely, I put something in the player with no expectations and hear sounds that freeze me into listening mode, unable to tear myself away. This happened recently. One of the SoundStage! reviewers had sent me a solo piano disc of holiday variations on the 2L label and turned me on to a review of some Mozart violin concertos from the label. Always looking for the best in sound, I wrote 2L and received a half dozen discs for my effort.

The one that caught my attention is Over the Hills -- and Far Away, a collection of marches performed by the Kristiansand Wind Ensemble conducted by Bjørn Sagstad. Every once in a while, I go over to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to hear the local university’s wind ensemble, and Over the Hills sounded exactly like one of those concerts. It is one of the most realistic recordings of a band I’ve ever heard. The woodwinds are up front, the brass behind, and the percussion behind the brass. Just listen to the opening of Saint-Saëns’ Marche Militaire Française, which begins this hybrid multichannel SACD. In the theme statement, you first hear the horns, center stage and back, then the first trumpet and orchestral bells, so clean you can follow each line.

It wasn’t just the sound that was wonderful. The Kristiansand Wind Ensemble is superb, and Bjørn Sagstad a first-rate leader. Though the marches range from the jolly title tune to Mendelssohn’s somber Trauer-Marsch, each has a singular rhythmic vitality, and every interpretation sounds just right. What more can you ask? That combination of great performances in great sound doesn’t come along every day.

I’m now busy exploring the rest of the 2L catalog, which includes a lot of music by 20th-century Norwegian composers as well as older favorites. If you want the best in multichannel sound, I suggest you do the same. Here’s the link: www.2l.no. I hope to hear new releases as they come out, and will keep you posted.

In the meantime, here are six significant and enjoyable discs to bring in the New Year.

Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Death and Transfiguration
Wagner:
Prelude and Liebestod from "Tristan und Isolde"
Christine Brewer, soprano; Donald Runnicles, Atlanta Symphony.
Telarc SACD-60661, Hybrid Multichannel SACD.

Christine Brewer’s voice is one of the wonders of the vocal and opera worlds. Warm, big, voluptuous, yet precisely focused, it’s as close to a perfect vocal instrument as one can get. Better yet, Brewer knows how to use it. Her singing of Isolde’s Liebestod is absorbing and appealing, with just the right amount of drama balanced with just the right amount of romantic passion. In this recording, her reaches for high notes were so lovely and true they sent shivers down my spine. I had that feeling, as well as goose bumps all over, when conductor Donald Runnicles’ performance of Death and Transfiguration reached the "redemption" climax near the end of the piece. I have never heard it done so passionately yet so naturally. Runnicles just lets it unfold, which proves the right thing to do. In the rest of the work, he juggles drama and lush romanticism with ease. The Atlanta musicians prove again that they play in one of the world’s great orchestras. Telarc’s sound is rich and full, with generous yet not overbearing reverb in the surrounds and a perfect balance of soloist and orchestra. Having a breakneck October schedule, I almost passed this SACD by; I’m very happy I did not. Once I’d pushed Play and heard the first few measures, hell or high water couldn’t have moved me from my listening seat. I’m up for more Strauss from Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony.

Mahler: Symphony No.2, "Resurrection"
Lisa Milne, soprano; Birgit Remmert, contralto; Iván Fischer, Hungarian Radio Choir, Budapest Festival Orchestra.
Channel Classics CCS SA 23506, Hybrid Multichannel SACD.

Mahler’s gigantic second symphony, scored for soloists, chorus, and a huge orchestra -- including extra brass, an offstage band, two harps, and organ -- is a natural for high-resolution audio formats. Ranging from the softest whisper to thundering fortissimos, it will test any audio system to the max. There have already been hi-rez recordings led by Maurice Abravanel, Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, and Riccardo Chailly, but all of them seem only warmups for this release. Iván Fischer has ideal soloists, and a chorus and orchestra that surpass all the others in technical ability and ravishing tone. His pacing is just right and his control of dynamics remarkable. The first entrance of the chorus is pianissimo in other readings; here it seems whispered, a thought carried on a gentle breeze. Yet when the big finale comes, Fischer pulls out all the stops. In most performances, the orchestral coda after the chorus stops singing sounds like an afterthought; not so here. The sound is, for my money, perfect. All balances are ideal. For once, the offstage instruments sound offstage, not merely softer. The organ thunders in the finale without overpowering the orchestra, and the two vocal soloists are heard in proper balance with the orchestra and chorus. The two-channel tracks sound excellent -- until you hear the multichannel ones.

Beck: Symphonies, Op.4, Nos.1-3; Overture from "L’isle déserte"
Michael Schneider, La Stagione Frankfurt.
CPO 777 033, two Hybrid Multichannel SACDs.

Franz Ignaz Beck’s long life (1734-1809) paralleled Haydn’s (1732-1809), but Beck never received anything like the level of acclaim his compatriot enjoyed. Hearing these vigorous works, composed in 1766, the reason for the discrepancy is hard to fathom. They have the swagger of a young man, yet in the middle movements a gentleness that can come only with experience and age. The oboes and horns are often featured, and the symphonies are scored for continuo, a carryover from the Baroque period. La Stagione Frankfurt, a largish chamber orchestra founded in 1988, has specialized in Beck’s music, and its accomplished players show great enthusiasm for this vibrant music, performing with vigor but without ever coarsening the music. The sound is close-up with lots of detail, but never at the expense of an aural picture of the entire ensemble. The small number of strings allows the all-important oboes and horns to be heard with ease. The two-channel tracks are fine, but the surround mixes bring the listener a little closer to the ensemble and allow it to sound more three dimensional.

Howard Shore: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers -- The Complete Recordings
Howard Shore, London Philharmonic Orchestra, chorus, soloists, etc.
Reprise 44376-2, three CDs, one DVD-Audio containing 5.1 and 2.0 high-resolution mixes.

Last year, Reprise gave us a similar set -- three CDs, one DVD-A -- for the music of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Presumably next fall we’ll get the complete music for The Return of the King. This second of the three is packaged exactly like last year’s offering, which is a shame. The box contains a sturdy foldout that contains three CDs, plus a handsome booklet that explains the use of themes and discusses the score in depth. The DVD-A includes, in multichannel sound, all the tracks that are on the three CDs. It’s secured to the inside of the box lid by a rubber hub that’s none too steady: when you open the box, the naked DVD is on the left, on the lid’s inside surface, while the CDs and booklet are in a protective inner folder. If you don’t put the disc back on the hub just right, it falls off when you close the lid. Like many other buyers, I complained about this when the Fellowship set was released (read the reviews at Amazon.com). But apparently the DVD-A, despite being labeled "Entire Score in Superior Sound," is regarded by Reprise as a stepchild unworthy of even modest consideration. Moreover, there’s no track printout for the DVD-A; you’re supposed to get that from the video menu. That’s fine if you use a screen, but many of us listen to DVD-As in systems that lack displays. In addition, the booklet discusses character themes, and gives examples by citing CD disc numbers and tracks that will mean nothing to the DVD-A listener.

That rant aside, this DVD-A sounds as magnificent as the first one did. The bass is solid, the highs are sweet and transparent, the stage is deep, and the presence is palpable. The percussion and brass sound particularly rich, and all the participants -- chorus, orchestra, and soloists -- are ideally balanced. The rear channels are used for ambience and to better shape the front channels. The DVD-A is a disc worth treasuring, so be careful when you close that lid.

Puccini: Tosca
Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Ingvar Wixell; Sir Colin Davis, Royal Opera House Chorus & Orchestra.
PentaTone 5186 147, two Hybrid Multichannel SACDs.

Recorded in 1976, this is a Tosca with many strengths. Its three principal singers were all at the top of their game and sound solid and sonorous from beginning to the end. Sir Colin Davis, not usually associated with Puccini, brought to his interpretation the same sort of objective rapture that he has often lavished on the works of Berlioz. This is an arch-romantic reading, but one tempered with intelligence and logic. The performance, originally intended to be released in a Quadraphonic mix, was recorded on eight tracks in order to achieve the best balance of singers and orchestra. The Quad mix was never made, however, so this new mix from the eight-track master is the first surround version.

It is a very successful one. The singers move naturally about the wide, deep soundstage in perfect balance with the orchestra. The overall sound is warm and lush, yet clean enough to let minute details clearly emerge. The surround channels are largely used for ambience, though Act II’s offstage chorus, with Tosca singing the lead, is successfully wrapped around the rear stage. I had thought perhaps the same would be done with other offstage effects, but while these really do sound offstage, they’re confined to the front. Perhaps they were buried in that eight-track mix, but the cannon fire in Act I and the shots of the firing squad in Act III seem to have disappeared -- a small criticism of a production that otherwise is artistically and sonically first rate. You seldom hear an opera recording with so impeccable a balance of voices and orchestra. I’m told that this is the only opera recording that Philips considered for Quad treatment. As good as it is, that’s too bad.

Steve March Tormé: Tormé Sings Tormé
AIX 83042, DVD and DualDisc. Contains Dolby Digital 5.1, MLP high-resolution 5.1, and PCM 24-bit/96kHz mixes.

Steve March Tormé is the son of Mel Tormé. He grew up, however, with his stepdad, Hal March, the famous game-show host. In the 1970s, under the name Steve March, he released an LP, Lucky. Though Lucky was in more of a pop-rock vein than the music of March’s father, critics loved it and found it promising. About 15 years before Mel’s death, Steve got to know him better. He learned to sing jazz as Mel had and put out several exciting CDs on the Frozen Rope label, one of which includes a dynamic father-son duet. Now here is his latest, a DVD-Audio recording of songs in Mel’s style. It’s appealing from beginning to end, as March Tormé sails through such upbeat numbers as "Sweet Georgia Brown," which has some amazing scat singing near the end, and croons slower ballads, such as "The Folks Who Live on the Hill." He’s in superb voice in both veins, and is backed by ten first-rate musicians who remind me of the Marty Paich Dektette. Producer Mark Waldrep has recorded everyone in MLP lossless sound that is the next best thing to being there. As usual with AIX releases, there are many extras, including the complete sessions in widescreen video and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, as well as rare footage of Mel Tormé onstage and in interview. You can spend a lot of quality time listening and viewing the first three sides of the set, then take the CD side with you in the car -- or, as I did, rip it to your iPod for on-the-go enjoyment. Overall, this is a most successful effort.

 ...Rad Bennett
radb@ultraaudio.com

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