Australian HiFi — May-June 2017

SUPER FIDELITY

By Audiophile Audition

Beethoven | Symphony Nos 5 & 7 | Pittsburgh SO/Manfred Honeck | Ref. Rec. MC SACD FR-718

Nielsen | Maskarade | Danish SO & Chor/Michael Schonwandt | Dacapo MC SACD 6.220641-42

Yes | Fragile | CD & Audio-Only MC Blu-ray Atlantic/Panegyric GYRBD50009

Gordon Getty | Match Girl, Prayer, Poor Peter, Joan | PentaTone MC SACD PTC 5186 480

Jerry Garcia/David Grisman | Acoustic Disc (1991) | MFSL 2015 stereo-only SACD

Shadow of Sirius | Blu-ray audio-only w 5.1 DTS-HDMA (24/96) and 2.0 PCM Naxos NBD0048

Yes has been scrounging around to reissue bits

of their past recordings, including some which

have never been available before. This is the

fourth in a series of remixed and expanded

Yes Classics. Steven Wilson did the original

multi-track studio masters and supervised the

mix for 5.1 surround. There is also a new

two-channel stereo mix by Wilson plus six

additional tracks and four more newly-mixed

The composer, Gordon Getty, was the fourth

child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and studied

with Louise Caselotti, who had been Maria

Callas’ voice teacher. This SACD of his works

features magnificent soloists including Nikolai

Schukoff, Melody Moore and Lester Lynch plus

the talented Münchner Rundfunkorchester and

Chor des Bayerischen. It’s a wonderful disc, with

the chorus and orchestra performing Getty’s

Jerry Garcia, cofounder of The Grateful Dead,

was a hero to his adoring fans and a part of his

mojo was his appreciation for diverse musical

genres. Here he plays with mandolin virtuoso

David Grisman (along with Jim Kerwin on bass

and Joe Craven on percussion) in a weird alchemy

of acoustic bluegrass and Southern folk blues,

playing songs that includeThe Thrill Is Gone, Two

Soldiers, Dawg Waltz, Rockin Chair, Walking Boss

Carl Nielsen’s comic opus Maskarade made its

first appearance in 1906 to ravishing success,

and that success continues today, its status

essentially solidified as Denmark’s national

opera. It is an energetic and tuneful piece,

though the plot is not easy to follow so a

libretto is essential, and a review beforehand

helps greatly. This is the second SACD release

of the opera and the excellence of the cast, all

Ever since fate came knocking at the door

of Carlos Kleiber’s Musikverein back in the

early seventies, and with the subsequent

recording that took the musical world by

storm, conductors have had to tread carefully

when daring to couple Beethoven’s Fifth

and Seventh Symphonies. Everyone will

compare this recording with the Kleiber

as the benchmark... and rightfully so, as

This is a fine recording from the innovative

University of Texas Wind Ensemble featuring flute

soloist Marianne Gedigian, who was a regular

performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra

for over a decade, including several seasons as

Acting Principal Flute under Seiji Ozawa. The three

works were conceived to give the concert listener

a surround sound experience in a live space,

re-created on this recording in lovely 5.1 DTS-HD

surround. Steven Bryant’s Concerto for Wind Ensemble

places three groups of players around the audience

while Joel Puckett’s Shadow of Sirius envelops the

audience with a spatial arrangement of flutists. In

the second movement of John Mackey’s Kingfishers

Catch Fire antiphonal trumpets are staged behind the

audience to conjure up this magnificent bird flying

triumphantly into the sunlight. Audiophiles and

lovers of contemporary music will like this disc.

Honeck played under Kleiber in the violin section

in the Vienna Philharmonic. Honeck also takes the

period advances into consideration (generally quick

tempos), but is not hesitant to use expressive devices

found in ages past. Even against the formidable

competition already in the catalogue, this release,

with its illuminating and brilliant surround sound,

takes pride of place among the best available: an

audiophile’s delight.

of whom are completely delightful and engaging,

plus the radiant playing of the DNSO under Michael

Schonwandt, along with sound quality that is both

state-of-the-art and wonderfully balanced, mean

that this recording, spread over two discs, is the

one to own unless you are a Nielsen completist and

want all versions on various media. But do enjoy

this marvellous opera if you don’t know it, and

audiophiles will have nothing to gripe about either.

from the multi-track. The Blu-ray audio-only disc has

an unbelievable variety of mixes, rehearsal takes, early

mixes, two alternate takes, a 192/24 flat transfer from

the original stereo master tapes of the original album,

and even a full-album needle drop from an original

UK LP pressing, plus US promotion singles. Although

the BD includes nine numbers in 96/24 DTS-HD, the

DVD-Audio of Fragile released in 2002 [Elektra/ Rhino

R978249] has slightly better surround sonics.

compositions and text from works by Hans Christian

Andersen, William Butler Yeats, and a Cantata with

words by Getty. This is one of the most dramatic

and involving recordings I have heard in a long

time. The orchestra, chorus and soloists are precise

and appropriately dramatic and the recording is

amazing in its emotional wallop and dynamic range.

One of the finest recordings I’ve heard this year.

Recommended!

and Friend of the Devil. Garcia’s creaky vocals fit

the pieces, his guitar solos are deft and assured

and Grisman plays with virtuosic intensity: They

transform the material. The SACD sound glows:

flawless is the tonality of mandolin and the guitar

sound is crisp and detailed. This was a very good

album in 1991, but re-mixed using Mobile Fidelity

Sound Labs’ updated Gain 2 System technology, it

is unforgettable. http://www.audaud.com

64 Australian Hi-Fi