Thread: Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra sign deal with Deutsche Grammophon

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Post by Chris April 9, 2015 (1 of 15)
I am not sure if this is good news or bad news?
The so far one and only BSO LIVE title released was something that certainly whetted my appetite for more from this orchestra and conductor.
The Wagner Tannhäuser Vorspiel and Sibelius' 2nd are so good that I have played them a lot since downloading the album.
But I fear that this DGG deal might mean that DGG will bring their own engineers to record in Boston.
Yes I know DGG made some of their most realistic recordings anywhere,right there in Boston in the 70s. And some of them are now being re-released on SACD by Pentatone.
But I seriously doubt DGG's current engineers can equal the absolutely excellent live sound captured by the in house team in Boston for the first release with Nelsons.
It seems the new venture will concentrate on symphonies by Schostakowich together with some less often recorded works by him.
Lets hope DG won't spoil the party with bad sound now that we know what can be achieved at Symphony Hall LIVE in stunningly realistic pcm 24/96 by those who know the Hall intimately.

Post by SteelyTom April 9, 2015 (2 of 15)
Speaking of DG's good track record in Symphony Hall, there's this SHM-SACD:
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Ozawa

Post by terence April 9, 2015 (3 of 15)
Will the DG recordings be made live?

Post by SteelyTom April 9, 2015 (4 of 15)
terence said:

Will the DG recordings be made live?

Yes.

Post by akiralx April 9, 2015 (5 of 15)
Chris said:


But I seriously doubt DGG's current engineers can equal the absolutely excellent live sound captured by the in house team in Boston for the first release with Nelsons.

Why do you doubt that? DG have in the past done great work in Boston - I was listening to the wonderful BSO/Abbado Debussy Nocturnes only this morning...

Post by tailspn April 10, 2015 (6 of 15)
Chris said:

Lets hope DG won't spoil the party with bad sound now that we know what can be achieved at Symphony Hall LIVE in stunningly realistic pcm 24/96 by those who know the Hall intimately.

Hi Chris,

I believe you'll find the DGG deal is more a distribution deal than anything else. Labels, especially the big ones, no longer have in-house engineering and production staffs. They all hire in independent production companies, of which most of those are made up of previous downsized label staff.

Look for Shawn Murphy to contribute his considerable recording experience, particularly his many recordings made in Symphony Hall over the last 20+ years, to the existing team.

The funny thing is, DGG funded the construction of a acoustically treated control and adjoining machine room in the cellar of Symphony Hall 25+ years ago, before my time. In fact, my office used to be in the machine room (a euphemism for a closet) next to the control room, and I had to move my desk and stuff out to make way for visiting production crews and their equipment from many labels. Even Shawn's Sony projects!

That control room was used by SoundMirror for the Levine period, but more occupied as a break and R&R room for BSO employees, and a changing room for large outside productions renting the hall. Now its come full circle, and DGG will have its name on the soundproof door again!

Post by SteelyTom April 10, 2015 (7 of 15)
I wonder if BSO Classics will continue to release material outside the purview of DG's Shostakovich project. And are the BSO's SACDs a thing of the past?

Post by Chris April 15, 2015 (8 of 15)
tailspn said:

Hi Chris,

I believe you'll find the DGG deal is more a distribution deal than anything else. Labels, especially the big ones, no longer have in-house engineering and production staffs. They all hire in independent production companies, of which most of those are made up of previous downsized label staff.

Look for Shawn Murphy to contribute his considerable recording experience, particularly his many recordings made in Symphony Hall over the last 20+ years, to the existing team.

Thanks Tom,
what you say sounds much better than what I feared.
I hope we will get many more hi res releases from this source.
Judging from the recent Wagner/Sibelius album,the BSO sounds like one of the very best orchestras in the USA,maybe even the world to me.
I don't necessarily subscribe to the notion that just because a conductor was brought up behind the "Iron Curtain",he will do Schostakovich's music better than one who wasn't.
But I'd certainly love to hear especially the Suites to be included in the deal with DGG,played by this wonderful orchestra and hopefully recorded as realistically as that first album with Nelsons was.
Cheers Chris still in the tropics and on super-slow wi fi connections.

Post by hiredfox April 17, 2015 (9 of 15)
I had hoped that this headline would elicit a response from Tom and it did and it was pleasing although not reassuring to read his take on the situation. LSO Live has demonstrated how in-house own labels can succeed using sub-contracted recording companies, in fact so much so that both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and The Mariinsky Orchestra have plugged into that expertise and followed similar pathways.

Surely with Sound Mirror on their doorstep, the greatest recording company in SACD and with people like Tom to hand the stage was set for Boston Symphony Orchestra to follow exactly the successful model that those other three great orchestras have adopted. They even have some of their own in-house recent experience of BSO Live DSD recording projects so why oh why go to DGG and their inferior PCM approach to 'high-res' recording, a company that has never used DSD and arguably have nothing even remotely new or exciting to bring to this corner of the music globe?

An opportunity squandered or the chance for a rethink? A bit of both it seems so come on Tom and Sound Mirror "get in there" and bang a few heads together to find a better outcome for all SACD aficionados.

Post by SteelyTom April 17, 2015 (10 of 15)
hiredfox said:

They even have some of their own in-house recent experience of BSO Live DSD recording projects so why oh why go to DGG and their inferior PCM approach to 'high-res' recording, a company that has never used DSD and arguably have nothing even remotely new or exciting to bring to this corner of the music globe?

Yup.

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