1人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2016/05/11

Let me start by stating loud and clear that this Universal Japan’s reissue of the 1961 Decca recording of Ernest Ansermet conducting music by Manuel de Falla, is indeed worth every penny of its steep price. To hear a performance of this caliber, recorded with such vividness and transferred to SACD with such care is, sorry for the cliche, simply priceless.

For what it matters, this is the second SACD reincarnation, the first one being Esoteric ’s now uber-expensive reissue. I’ll say though that Universal’s version sounds more natural against Esoteric’s somewhat metallic and rougher tone. Still, whatever the version, tape hiss is barely discernible, while soundstaging and dynamic range reach state of the art reproduction.

Not to be neglected, most of the merit deservedly goes to Ansermet and L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, playing what is undoubtedly lighthearted fare from Falla. But while ”The Three Cornered Hat” and excerpts from ”La Vida Breve” could be characterized as tourist postcards from Spain, they offer the perfect setting to showcase the precision of the strings’ pizzicato, or the dynamic control of the percussion, which does not overwhelm the rest of the orchestra, a problem that plagues many modern performances. And Ansermet’s sense of pace drives the rhythm with such a natural flow, that it could induce one to assume this to be a performance by a Spanish ensemble.

For anyone with a bias against analog technical standards, this disc should prove that they could produce recordings in 1961 that sound on par with the best that high-resolution has to offer over 50 years later.

1人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2016/05/11

My primary temptation here was simply a high-resolution version of the Bartok piano sonata. Thus my surprise and delight not just with Miyuji Kaneko’s incredible performance, but also with a viscerally realistic piano recording, possibly one of the best I’ve heard.

The recital opens with Beethoven’s Pathetique, which to a jaded listener such as myself, is an invitation to use the skip button on the remote control. I’m glad I didn’t, for Kaneko kept me fully engaged until the last chord. Nevertheless, it is the Bartok that stands out the most, not just the sonata but also assorted pieces from his Mikrokosmos, Romanian Folk Dances, Suite for Children’s and 10 Easy Pieces, which by the way, don’t sound that easy at all. Throughout the selection, Kaneko strikes a perfect balance between Bartok’s percussive attack and bouncy rhythms. Bach’s Suite no. 5 is also included, with an amazing clarity of inner and outer voices. Actually, I have to say that in Kaneko’s hands, the contrast between Bach and Bartok reveals a lot of unexpected similarities, regardless of the centuries between both composers.

But a lot of the credit should go as well to the Exton recording team, which presents the piano in full bloom and in a perfectly balanced soundstage. An engaging complement to Kaneko’s virtuosity.

0人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2016/01/17

I don’t usually like to go out on a limb like this, but Acoustic Revive’s disc of Vladimir Tropp playing Robert Schumann may very well be one of the greatest piano recordings I have ever heard.

Mind you that I’ve sampled the Symphonic Etudes by the likes of Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Nelson Freire, Maurizio Pollini, and the list goes on. But Tropp’s flawless articulation and bouncy rhythms leaves them all behind. Not to be neglected, the Fantasiestucke and Traumerei are rendered with a level of lyricism that finally does justice to the old cliche of making the piano sing.

The icing on the cake however is the brilliant recording by the Acoustic Revive engineers. While many piano recordings suffer from a muffled tone in quiet passages, the sound here sparkles even during the softest moments. The overtones, the transients, the spaciousness, they are all there in absolute detail. And the use of different recording techniques for each piece is never a distracting factor, actually quite the contrary. Both the one point microphone system for the Fantasiestucke and the Philips system for the Etudes, seem to have been carefully chosen to complement the characteristics of each selection. Traumerei in turn, is given three versions, each with a different mic arrangement, affording the listener a wonderful glimpse into distinct acoustic perspectives.

In the end, while this disc is hard to find, this is that rare instance where the rewards are truly worth the hefty price of admission.

0人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2016/01/17

For those unfamiliar with Prokofiev’s violin sonatas, these harrowing works display none of the populist language found in his Classical Symphony or Romeo ＆ Juliet. Rather, they have more in common with the piano sonatas, displaying the composer’s unique ability to juxtapose deceptively simple melodies with dissonant harmonic progressions, specially on the more accessible 2nd sonata.

And this thrilling 2012 release from Sony Japan certainly does them justice, courtesy of Fumiaki Miura, a fearless young violinist who doesn’t mind leaving a little blood on the the strings, aided by the more seasoned Itamar Golan, who is not afraid of making the piano an equal partner rather than a supporting character. It’s an in-your-face performance that would make old Sergei proud. Likewise, the on-stage perspective of the recording places the violin front and center, surrounded by a wide piano. It should be noted that Golan plays a Yamaha piano with a surprisingly full-bodied sound, from the very deep bass all the way to the sparkling treble, perfectly complementing Miura’s equally powerful string tone.

All in all, Sony Japan should be commended for allowing a promising young virtuoso to debut with these works. Had it been one of the usual major classical companies, or even Sony International, we would probably be getting Miura playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons instead.