 |
| August 1, 2008 High Resolution Is Alive and Well
Mahler: Symphony No.2,
"Resurrection"
Riisager: Benzin; Archeopteryx; Til
Apollon, Lysets Gud
John Gorka: The Gypsy Life
Pamela Thorby: Garden of Early Delights
. . . Rad Bennett
Ultra Audio is part of the SoundStage! Network. |
High-resolution sound is no
longer found only on SACD and DVD-Audio. Last month I reviewed a marvelous package from
the audiophile 2L label that included a Blu-ray Disc with Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master
Audio, and uncompressed PCM tracks, all in multichannel, the latter also offering a
two-channel option. Some record producers have begun to remember that the
standard-definition DVD spec includes the ability to release two-channel 24-bit/96kHz
sound. John Mellencamp’s new album, Life, Death, Love and Freedom, includes a
hi-rez SD DVD playable on any regular DVD player, provided the player allows it. At worst,
a player will downconvert the signal to 24/48, which isn’t chopped liver. AIX Records
offers lossless and uncompressed HD downloads at its website, 
To celebrate his 80th birthday, Pierre
Boulez was invited to conduct this riveting performance before a sold-out house: the
Berlin Philharmonie. The event was well worth documenting. Boulez is stone-faced at almost
all times, using only economical gestures to lead his mammoth forces. The Chorus of the
German State Opera and the Staatskapelle Berlin respond with, respectively, precise
singing and playing that are passionate yet controlled. This might not be the greatest
version of the work ever recorded, but it has more great moments than any I remember. Some
will have you emitting a deep sigh of satisfaction at their profound beauty, while others
will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The HD camera work is expertly handled, the
camera always on the right instrument or singer at the right time, and the images are very
detailed, with true colors and excellent contrast. The audio tracks are lossless Dolby
TrueHD, absolutely as good as anything I’ve heard on SACD. All frequencies are
handled well: The bass is solid, with ideal focus and edge; the upper strings are never
strident, but sweet and airy, with a distinct analog feel; and the brass are often mellow,
while at other times have pungent bite. The balances are perfect, with just enough sound
from the surround channels to give one a feeling of space without ever calling attention
to themselves. Those of you with the proper player will probably want to visit Amazon.com
to find this HD DVD; others might want to wait for the inevitable Blu-ray edition. Whether
it uses Dolby TrueHD or uncompressed PCM, this release proves that there is life for
multichannel music recordings in formats other than SACD and DVD-Audio.
The first question one might ask, on
hearing his charming and witty score for the ballet Benzin, is why haven’t we
heard this music by Knudåge Riisager before. From the beginning trumpet call until the
finale, Benzin bubbles over with vitality and charm. Though its three performances
in 1928 received high marks from critics, Benzin was written in collaboration with
Robert Storm Petersen, a bizarre cartoonist of the day, and the audience didn’t seem
to understand the ballet. The music -- in the same realm as the satirical works of
Prokofiev, Poulenc, Milhaud, and Ibert -- is brilliantly orchestrated, with special
attention given to the percussion section. The Danish National Symphony, a world-class
ensemble, plays Benzin and the two accompanying works with flair and accuracy. The
sound is about mid-hall, which is what Da Capo engineers seem to generally favor, but all
instrumental lines are clean, the hall adding only enough ambience to warm up the sound a
bit. The balances are ideal, and the two-channel CD and SACD mixes retain just enough of
the hall reflections to retain their warmth as well; should you lack a multichannel
player, these mixes stand on their own.
Here’s another great one from AIX
Records, from which we’ve come to expect no less. Folksinger-songwriter John Gorka is
a favorite of AIX CEO and recording engineer Mark Waldrep, and it shows in the care that
has been taken with the audio and video programs here. The HD video is as clean and clear
as any I have seen, though for the moment it’s available only in SD DVD format and
needs to be upconverted, in my case by a player with the fabled Reon chipset. As usual
with an AIX release, this set provides many options. Disc 1 is a DualDisc (one side CD,
the other DVD-Audio), while disc 2 is a double-sided SD DVD: side 1 presents a linear
program with the songs, interviews with Gorka, session photos, and Gorka’s music
videos. It’s all spaced out to make a satisfying whole, with many chapter stops. Side
2 is more interactive, with bios of and information about all the musicians, the recording
studio, and a lot more. But back to the DualDisc: The program sounds splendid on the
regular CD side, but listening to the DVD-A side, with its hi-rez sound and discreet
5.1-channel mix, it’s almost as if I can touch the players -- this is aural intimacy
to the nth degree. Gorka’s mellow voice is the focus in the center channel;
I’ve seldom heard such natural-sounding vocals. Many others have noticed this set,
which was one of two recordings to recently win the International Audio Engineering
Society’s award for Best Engineering.
Longtime audiophiles will tell you, and
rightly so, that it’s not necessarily the big sounds that prove the mettle of an
audio system, but the smaller. When auditioning new loudspeakers, I always carry a
piano-and-guitar disc with me, and I now might carry this one as well. Pamela
Thorby’s Garden of Earthly Delights is largely devoted to intimate music -- by
such Renaissance composers as Van Eyck, Ortiz, Dowland, Bassano, and Fontana -- that
evokes feelings of joy and pleasure. These works are played perfectly by Thorby and Andrew
Lawrence-King, both stellar soloists who combine their virtuoso talents in ensemble
playing of the first order. Linn Records has provided sound so clear that there’s no
thought of a speaker being in the way. The CD tracks are excellent, the two-channel SACD
tracks a bit brighter and cleaner, the multichannel SACD tracks warmer and more
three-dimensional. This disc will cause a frown only if you find that your audio system is
not up to the task of reproducing it.