What Hirez Discs Have You Purchased Recently? - Page 78

OK, for those of you looking for ELP's Brain Salad Surgery in Hi-Rez, this is where you buy it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brain-Salad-Surgery-Palmer-Emerson/dp/B0017M8XS6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1268482959&sr=8-2

11.99 pounds  is roughly 24.00.  It cost me 36.00 when it first came out.  Yes, it is SACD, not DVD-A.  Shipping from UK to US was about 8.00 via airmail.

It is more expensive to purchase it via Amazon USA (37.00).  That is not uncommon with many imports.

BTW, I also have the BSS DVD-A.  The SACD version blows it away!  The only reason I keep the DVD-A version is for the bonus track- Lucky Man.  That sounds totally unbelievable!

Jean-Pierre Ferland -- Jaune DVD-A
Miles Davis -- In A Silent Way SACD (US Version with MC mix)
Kenny Loggins -- Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow SACD
Mark O'Connor -- In Full Swing SACD

Sorry to be slightly off topic...

I'm hoping someone here has the Telarc/Zander/Philharmonia Mahler 9th Symphony and can confirm the packaging.  I purchased one used and it came in a 2 disc case with the third disc just kind of stuffed in the back.  My Mahler 6th from Zander/Telarc is not packaged this way.  It is in a 3 disc case.  I find it very hard to believe Telarc actually did this.  Can anyone confirm how it was actually packaged?

Thanks

Jaco Pastorius Big Band--The Word is Out
Diana Krall--When I look in your eyes and The Look of Love
Sam Yahel, Mike Moreno, Ari Hoenig and Seamus Blake--Jazz Side of the Moon: The Music of Pink Floyd

Any thoughts on this.
http://www.rhino.com/shop/product/chicago-chicago-transit-authority-dvd-quadraphonic?cmpid=EMC-RN040610

Quad sound CTA, CHICAGO'S first alum.

Can't answer your question, Tony...but that looks like a lot of fun.

This will be my next purchase. I bought this album (in stereo of course) for my brother's birthday circa 1971(?). I had to hunt down a few more empty soda bottles to take back to the store to finance the last $1 or so. As I recall it was about $4.75 back then.

This is a really good album and I can't believe I don't own it in any form. That's about to change.

Edit: Ordered the CTA-DTS and the three new King Crimson DVD-A's.
Edited by gene c - 4/6/10 at 7:53pm

Which disc are you talking about that was the soda bottle-financed album back in the day, Gene??

Oop's, sorry. Chicago Transit Authority. Being a double album it was a little more than I had to spend at the time (I was about 11 years old then).

I remember what a big deal it was to get that huge 4 LP Chicago Live set that came out soon after. 

It had that cool picture of old Carnegie Hall in it.  That hung on my bedroom wall for quite awhile. 

Still have it.  Along with my LP of of that first Chicago album. 

My wife would love for me to get rid of my LP collection...

What an interesting, diverse week.  I picked up:

Pink - I'm Not Dead ($2 Dual Disc at a garage sale)

Bach Collegium Japan (directed by Masaaki Suzuki) - J.S. Bach Contatas, Vol. 41
($1 SACD at a library book sale)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (DVD-A on-the-way from a fellow HTF member!) 

I got the Mofi, The Band's Rock Of Ages SA-CD.  It sounds good but doesn't seem as fiery as the LP I wore out....tapes age. Maybe my memory is sentimental? It's a very decent disc at very least.

 Santana Shaman DVD-A

If anyone has one ore more of the Claudio Abbado Beethoven symphony cycle DVD-As, please sprechen Sie (Austin Powers subtitle:  speak up!).  My ongoing Mahler cycle (and that little barb in Ken Russell's Mahler about his work being "re-orchestrated Beethoven") has rightfully moved me to get all LVB's symphonies instead of just the same ol' 5 and 9.  I'm deciding which to get, preferably high rez, and those Abbados are on the candidate list.

 

Rachael:  Nice to know that MoFi continues to do "very decent" work.

 

PaulDA:  I was "suckered" by the Michelle Branch tune I dig, "Game Of Love," and bought the Supernatural DVD-A.  Overall I'm not impressed.  Too many Clive Davis superstar pairings of "hot" artists du jour with Carlos, not enough solid songwriting.  Do tell re Shaman, which is on my list of discs to get with hopes of it being a better album.

I have 4 of the 5 Abbado discs on DVD-A (the fifth disc, with the Ninth, is very hard to find for a reasonable price--I paid under 15$ for each of the 4 I own--some used for as little as 2.99$--but I've never found the last disc for anything under 70$).

 

Game of Love is on Shaman and sounds fine.  Shaman has more collaborations with lesser known artists (though a few are quite famous--Seal being one) and has, to me, a more Latino groove.  I quite like it.
 

The Band - Cahoots

Lou Donaldson - Here 'Tis

Grant Green - Idle Moments

 

 

I stand corrected--I had my Santana esses confused:  Shaman is the one I have (with the IMO weak "side 2") and Supernatural is the more commercially successful album on my "to buy" list.

 

 

 

"Annnd theeeeeeeen?!??"   

 

What do you think of them, especially compared to other LVB symphonic recordings in general and other high rez releases (if you have any others of LVB symphonies?) in particular?  How's Claudio as an LVB interpreter?  I've watched nearly all of the Euroarts DVDs of his Mahler concerts and find his readings perfectly fine but not stunning or revelatory.  SQ?  Mix?  These are not new recordings, right?  So they were re-mixed for surround DVD-A release, yesh?

I confess to not having given them a proper listen.  SQ (from the few samples I've played) has been quite nice.  I'm an avid amateur enthusiast of classical music (meaning I enjoy it enough to buy a fair amount of it and subscribe to the Montreal Symphony every season but I'm not knowledgeable enough about who is a good or bad or mediocre interpreter of a particular composer--it is only in the last few years that I've managed to identify specific composers and periods I prefer over others).  I don't have many different interpretations of the same composition in my collection (I have nearly 200 classical discs--over 100 of them SACD/DVD-A--but very few that are of the same composition).  This is my long-winded way of saying I'm not qualified enough to say more than "I like version A better than version B" or "Version A and Version B each bring something different, and pleasant, to the table".  In a few more years, I believe I'll be equipped to properly answer your question regarding interpretations.  For now, I can only say it sounds quite good (in the portions I have sampled).  Sorry I could not be of more help.

 

If it helps to situate my opinion (amateur though it is), I prefer Beethoven to Mozart; mid-19th to mid-20th century is the period I most prefer; in that period my favourite composers tend to be Russian and English, followed by Central European (think old Austro-Hungarian Empire) and Scandinavian and then the rest (a recent interest of mine has been early 20th century American composers like Barber).  I find Baroque music pleasantly diverting, but early 20th century music more interesting and fulfilling. These distinctions are the fruit of the past few years (five or so) of attending concerts and collecting music.  Now that I have a good idea of what I like, I will probably devote some effort at developing an ear for various interpretations.  Here's hoping I don't go deaf before I get a chance to truly appreciate the nuances of my collection.
 

Thanks for taking the time to type up a substantive response, Paul.  I think my having been a "band geek" starting in middle school helps, but I can still definitely relate to elements of your first paragraph regarding comparing interpretations.  No apologies necessary.

 

Aha!  I was watching Newbury's listing on Amazon and it dropped back down to $5.99 from $9.99 recently so of course:  I bought Ben Zander's Mahler 6 with the Philharmonia.  Two SA-CDs plus the 80-minute lecture CD, packed in a "chubby" jewel case, for $5.99!  My Mahler cycle continues.

 

Plus, inspired by the BD release of Spartacus, finally Three Choral Suites, the Telarc SA-CD of newly arranged performances of the Miklos Rozsa scores from Quo Vadis, Ben-Hur and King Of Kings.  Have heard many good things about this one and am looking forward to blasting the "Parade Of the Charioteers."

Great disc and great piece.
 

Buddy Guy - DJ Play My Blues SACD

I added some Tilson-Thomas Mahler.  I had the 3rd and added 2nd(!), 4th 7th and 9th.

Dylan, Blood on the Tracks

Finally got an RCA, Saint-Saens 3rd Symphony.

That's the Living Stereo, right?  That's a really good disc in the series, probably my favorite.  Debussy's La Mer is also on the disc and is excellent.

Indeed--even casual listening reveals impressive choral work and a pleasingly "aggressive" surround mix.

 

Do tell, John, after some listening.  What do you think of them?  I wasn't as reduced to tearful awe as I should have been given how much I love the work by hearing MTT and the SFSO do the M2 at Davies a couple months ago.  So i wasn't planning to get any of these SA-CDs given their somewhat mixed reviews.  Maybe the 7 in addition to the Bernstein DG.

Also, if anyone picks up the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Mojo Blu-ray album, please chime in here.

Paul, the 2nd and 3rd are the only ones I've listened to closely, but I think they are both great.  My only complaint is that there is some kind of weird rumble at the hall, as far as I can tell.  I have no idea what it is, but it is quite noticeable at times.

Thx, John.  Do you have any other M2s or M3s you can compare the SFSOs favorably or not so favorably to?  How are the liner notes--anything remarkable (essay about the work and/or MTT's interpretation?)?

Oh Hey look, it's Lee.