The Importance of Maria Callas
For non-operaphiles who cannot imagine that the twitterings of a soprano could ever be as important as the revolutionary rock of The Beatles, some history is in order. Maria Callas (1923–1977) was, arguably, the most important and controversial operatic soprano of the 20th century. Her voice was/is like no other on record: deep and soul-shaking on bottom, somewhat occluded but increasingly fiery as it ascends the scale, and emotionally and viscerally searing on top.
Anything but conventionally beautiful, Callas' instrument was commanded by a supreme…
The Complete Callas Remastered Release Schedule
September 23:
Complete Box Set + Pure 1-CD Compilation
Bellini: I Puritani (1953)
Bellini: La Sonnambula (1957)
Bellini: Norma (1954)
Bizet: Carmen (1964)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (1953)
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (1952)
Puccini: La bohème (1956)
Puccini: Tosca (1953)
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (1955)
Puccini: Manon Lescaut (1957)
Verdi: Aida (1955)
Verdi: Rigoletto (1955)
Verdi: Il Trovatore (1956)
Puccini Arias (1954)
Verdi Arias I (1958)
Mad Scenes (1958)…
It may be just a subway ride away from the biggest Apple, but to some inveterate Manhattanites, an audio show in Brooklyn sounds like it's from another planet. In reality, the third New York Audio Show, which opens to the public on Friday, September 26 at 2pm and continues through Sunday, September 28 at 5pm, takes place at the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, just a short distance across the East River from Manhattan.
No matter how you parse it, the show's line-up is looking quite good. At press time, the show's sponsor, the UK's Chester Group, predicted 45 exhibit rooms, including a "…
Bruckner: Symphony 9
Claudio Abbado, Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Deutsche Grammophon 479 3441 (CD, 48/24 download from HDTracks). 2014. Georg Obermayer, prod., ed.; Urs Dürr, Toine Mertens, engs. DDD. TT: 63:09
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
This performance of Bruckner's last, all-but-finished composition was recorded at the last concert conducted by Claudio Abbado. It is a fitting final statement by an interpreter of unparalleled sensitivity, intelligence, and taste.
The Ninth is no serene work, and Abbado's earlier recording, with the Vienna Philharmonic, is a…
Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, "If you work in either journalism or politics . . . you will be flogged for being right and flogged for being wrong." I was reminded of Thompson's words when I read a forum post on our website. "Why is Stereophile way behind the other magazines?" asked "rs350z," explaining that, among things, he objected to Stereophile's supporting its reviews with measurements. "why waste the ink on doing measurements on each product reviewed," he wrote, with a disregard for capital letters. "There is no need to. I don't care if the distortion is 0.00005 or 0.00007, nor do i…
Some among us remember a time when audio was divided into rival interests. On the left side of the pond was the New World, where left-brainers believed that vanishing harmonic distortion meant that "all amplifiers sound the same," and that good loudspeakers are a high-fidelity audio system's most important components. Across the waves, so-called flat-earthers claimed that the most important part of the playback chain was the turntable. (Of secondary importance were the tonearm and cartridge, followed by the preamp and amplifier. Loudspeakers were deemed relatively unimportant.) In the 1980s,…
The NAIT 5si sells for under a thousand quid in the Mother Country, $1895 on the left side of the pond, so I figured I should switch to the similarly priced (and British-designed) KEF LS50 speakers ($1499.99/pair) for most of my listening. When it comes to speakers, I am totally new-world/left-brain. I believe that we audiophiles should start building our systems with precisely the right loudspeaker—the one that locks in to our room, makes us happy, and plays the most recordings well. I have a small listening room (13' long by 12' wide by 9' high) that lets all of my speakers play without…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Integrated line amplifier. Analog inputs: 2 pairs DIN/RCA, 2 pairs RCA. Audio outputs: HDD (RCA pair), 170mV, sourced from 470 ohms. Headphone outputs: ¼" (6.35mm) jack. Maximum output power: 60Wpc into 8 ohms (17.8dBW), 90Wpc into 4 ohms (16.5dBW). Input level: suitable for 2V sources (0.5–5.0V). Input sensitivity: 170mV. Power requirements: 100/115/230V, 50/60Hz.
Dimensions: 16.9" (432mm) W by 2.75" (70mm) H by 12.3" (314mm) D. Weight: 14.1 lbs (6.4kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 372940.
Price: $1895. Approximate number of dealers…
In the March 2010 issue I reviewed Dynaudio's Excite X12 bookshelf speaker ($1200/pair), then the least expensive speaker in Dynaudio's line. It mightily impressed me, and I wrote that it had "become my new benchmark for speakers costing under $2000/pair." Despite the many newer, competing bookshelf speakers costing somewhere between $1000 and $2000/pair that have visited my listening room since then, my enthusiasm for the Excite X12 has not waned—I've used it as a reference against which to compare all of those of those models. So when Dynaudio USA's Michael Manousselis contacted…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, ported, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (26mm) silk-dome tweeter, 5.7" (145mm) magnesium-silicate polymer-cone woofer. Frequency response: 50Hz–23kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 85dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 8 ohms. IEC power handling: >150W.
Dimensions: 6.7" (170mm) W by 11.2" (285mm) H by 10" (255mm) D. Weight: 14.3 lbs (6.5kg).
Finishes: Rosewood, Walnut real-wood veneers; Satin Black or White lacquers.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 03777754/55.
Price: $1500/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 63.
Manufacturer:…
