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Discussion: Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra - Ozawa

Posts: 7

Post by DSD July 7, 2009 (1 of 7)
A superbly realistic and totally enjoyable DSD recording from Philips. I got this SACD several months ago from yourmusic.com as I couldn't pass up the price of only $6.95 coupled with the excellent review here from Amazon.

After listening to this DSD recorded SACD by Seiji Ozawa conducting the Saito Kinen Orchestra many times compared to my Hungarian Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony on an analog RCA Living Stereo SACD, I decided this is the one I like best and sold the Reiner version. I highly recommend this SACD, I will not be doing a formal review as it would erase the wonderful Amazon review, so just this short note instead.

Happy listening,
Teresa

Post by canonical July 7, 2009 (2 of 7)
DSD said:

A superbly realistic and totally enjoyable DSD recording from Philips.

I don't have the Philips version ... but I did recently receive the Telarc version with Paavo Jarvi [ courtesy Concord mega sale :) ]

Bartok, Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra - Järvi

... and I must say that I was really, really impressed with the sound of the Telarc SACD (also DSD), and with the performance of the Cincinnati Symphony. Would be interesting to compare them!?

Post by sunnydaler July 7, 2009 (3 of 7)
Sacdlab(google 'sacdlab ozawa') provides mp3 samples of this disc.

Well, sorry but I don't quite like this manipulated and personal approach.
I don't consider Reiner as top choice but I won't trade Reiner (or Kocsis) for Ozawa.

Post by canonical July 7, 2009 (4 of 7)
sunnydaler said:

Sa___ab(google 'sa___b ozawa') provides mp3 samples of this disc.

rofl - that's an obvious Chinese bootleg pirate site ... but what's really funny about it, other than their outright blatant copying of every label's content is that they completely botch the process, and still want to charge money for it. Basically, they can't break the SACD encryption, so they seem to take the analogue audio out, and then re-digitise it ... and want to sell it as a DVD-Audio download.

P.S. bissie ... that's why I wouldn't put source files for sale up on the internet without DRM ... the bootlegger's don't even have to rip it ... they can just buy it once, and then offer it for sale. Makes it tooooo easy.

Post by DSD July 7, 2009 (5 of 7)
canonical said:

I don't have the Philips version ... but I did recently receive the Telarc version with Paavo Jarvi [ courtesy Concord mega sale :) ]

Bartok, Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra - Järvi

... and I must say that I was really, really impressed with the sound of the Telarc SACD (also DSD), and with the performance of the Cincinnati Symphony. Would be interesting to compare them!?

Colin I used to have Paavo Jarvi's version on Telarc SACD and I didn't like the sound especially the strident string tone in the Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, however I thought the Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra sounded fine but it was not enough for me to keep the SACD. This is the second DSD recorded Telarc I received in which part of the SACD had "digital" sounding string tone. The other one was Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 - Paavo Järvi my review /showreviews/4317#4544 What ever Telarc did on these two SACDs I hope they never do again.

Paavo Jarvi is my favorite modern conductor but he has released a few performances I don't care for, he seems to be either fantastic or lukewarm.

I have owned five SACDs of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, in the order purchased:

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Miraculous Mandarin - Boulez
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra etc. - Reiner
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra etc. - Zoltan Kocsis
Bartok, Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra - Järvi
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra - Ozawa

I like the Ozawa so much I am through experimenting with Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, for me this is the one. The SACD starts off with a Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta that IMHO blows the Reiner right out of the water. However I had to give up the wonderful Hungarian Sketches when I sold the Reiner.

Perhaps it's what sunnydaler call's Ozawa's "personal approach" that makes it more enjoyable for me than the other versions. Also this SACD and a few other of Philips last DSD recorded SACDs makes me very sad that Universal quit releasing SACDs.

Post by Claude July 8, 2009 (6 of 7)
canonical said:

P.S. bissie ... that's why I wouldn't put source files for sale up on the internet without DRM ... the bootlegger's don't even have to rip it ... they can just buy it once, and then offer it for sale. Makes it tooooo easy.

But most record labels have concluded that DRM makes them lose more customers than it deters pirates.

I wouldn't buy DRM-protected files, if it's not guaranteed that I can play them on multiple PC, or after the download store has closed.

Post by canonical July 8, 2009 (7 of 7)
Claude said:

But most record labels have concluded that DRM makes them lose more customers than it deters pirates.

I wouldn't buy DRM-protected files, if it's not guaranteed that I can play them on multiple PC, or after the download store has closed.

Perhaps. But the hi-rez world is a very different beast, I think, to the world you refer to:

* In the normal world, the record companies have to compete in a world where people are perfectly happy to download bootleg low-rez mp3 files, and where a large number of people are seeking a relatively small number of tracks (whatever is popular this month), so it is very easy to find what you want. The record companies have to compete on: ease of access.

* In the hi-rez world, by contrast, a small number of people are seeking a very large number of different files, and they only want them in high-resolution, and they don't want them if there is any uncertainty as to what happened to the file, or as to how it was produced, or if it got distorted by being ripped etc. What is ultimately important is quality and branding: not just ease of access.

HAVING said all that .... just imagine if sa-cd.net existed for hi-rez downloads ... it could so easily evolve into basically an informal swap club ... X says they like recording A, and Y says they like recording B, they start chatting and swap the downloads via private BitTorrent. That's not going to happen if the content is on SACD ... but it will happen if the content is made available as downloads without DRM. If it was my content, and it was hi-rez, there is no way I would ever release it without DRM.

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