Lewis Lipnick
GEORGE LLOYD: Symphony 5
George Lloyd, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Albany Records Troy 022-2 (CD only). Tony Faulkner, eng.; Martin Compton, prod. DDD. TT: 56:28 One of my colleagues in the National Symphony, Edward Skidmore, discovered this recording, for which I shall remain forever grateful. This five-movement symphonic masterpiece (completed in 1947) comes from the pen of a seriously underrated 20th-century composer. Faintly reminiscent of Vaughan-Williams's pastoral style, with a hint of Richard Strauss's rich orchestral scoring, the Fifth stands as one of the…
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Richard Lehnert
SHIRLEY HORN: You Won't Forget Me
Shirley Horn, voice, piano; Charles Ables, bass; Steve Williams, drums. With: Miles Davis, trumpet; Buck Hill, trumpet; Branford Marsalis, tenor saxophone; Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Toots Thielmans, harmonica, guitar; Buster Williams, bass; Billy Hart, drums
Verve Digital 847 482-2 (CD only). Richard Seidel, Joel Siegel, prods.; David Baker, eng. DDD. TT: 71:13 Amazing singing---guts, heart, and brains all the way down---quintessential jazz conversation that feels like someone crawled upside your heart to deliver intimate…
SHIRLEY HORN: You Won't Forget Me
Shirley Horn, voice, piano; Charles Ables, bass; Steve Williams, drums. With: Miles Davis, trumpet; Buck Hill, trumpet; Branford Marsalis, tenor saxophone; Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Toots Thielmans, harmonica, guitar; Buster Williams, bass; Billy Hart, drums
Verve Digital 847 482-2 (CD only). Richard Seidel, Joel Siegel, prods.; David Baker, eng. DDD. TT: 71:13 Amazing singing---guts, heart, and brains all the way down---quintessential jazz conversation that feels like someone crawled upside your heart to deliver intimate…
Barbara Jahn
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony 11, "The Year 1905"
James DePreist, Helsinki Philharmonic
Delos D/CD 3080 (CD only). John Eargle, eng.; Adam Stern, prod. DDD. TT: 68:17 This performance was my "Building a Library" choice when considering the available recordings of this poignant work (Vol.13 No.4). But rarely, in writing these articles, have I found a recording to be as superlative as a performance (or vice versa) as is this one. Both parameters heighten the forbidding and obsessive story it tells, demanding of its audience the same intense concentration it requires of its…
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony 11, "The Year 1905"
James DePreist, Helsinki Philharmonic
Delos D/CD 3080 (CD only). John Eargle, eng.; Adam Stern, prod. DDD. TT: 68:17 This performance was my "Building a Library" choice when considering the available recordings of this poignant work (Vol.13 No.4). But rarely, in writing these articles, have I found a recording to be as superlative as a performance (or vice versa) as is this one. Both parameters heighten the forbidding and obsessive story it tells, demanding of its audience the same intense concentration it requires of its…
Robert Hesson
CHOPIN: 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzi
Earl Wild, piano
Chesky CD 44 (CD only). Ed Thompson, eng.; Michael Rolland Davis, prod. DDD. TT: 69:19 As a Chopin interpreter, Earl Wild has only one peer that I know of, and that is the late, magnificent Josef Hofmann. If I went on for another thousand words, I could not devise higher praise than that. It seems almost incredible that we could have a pianist of this stature and tradition captured in the finest recorded sound I have ever heard. The task of choosing recordings that meet the highest standards of both performance and…
CHOPIN: 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzi
Earl Wild, piano
Chesky CD 44 (CD only). Ed Thompson, eng.; Michael Rolland Davis, prod. DDD. TT: 69:19 As a Chopin interpreter, Earl Wild has only one peer that I know of, and that is the late, magnificent Josef Hofmann. If I went on for another thousand words, I could not devise higher praise than that. It seems almost incredible that we could have a pianist of this stature and tradition captured in the finest recorded sound I have ever heard. The task of choosing recordings that meet the highest standards of both performance and…
Corey Greenberg
I could see Richard sitting there at the keyboard with his herbal tea and Tipparillos, giggling and stabbing the air with his fingers as he finally figured a way to thwart my using The Sun Sessions in this year's "Records To Die For." WHY WHY WHY? Why did they have to be stereo? Given that "Sound Quality" is merely a tool for the optimal transmission of the musical event, does the mere fact that a recording is monaural render it handicapped in its ability to deliver the goods? Is our esteemed Music Editor, a man I would proudly take a bullet in the ear for, ACTUALLY…
I could see Richard sitting there at the keyboard with his herbal tea and Tipparillos, giggling and stabbing the air with his fingers as he finally figured a way to thwart my using The Sun Sessions in this year's "Records To Die For." WHY WHY WHY? Why did they have to be stereo? Given that "Sound Quality" is merely a tool for the optimal transmission of the musical event, does the mere fact that a recording is monaural render it handicapped in its ability to deliver the goods? Is our esteemed Music Editor, a man I would proudly take a bullet in the ear for, ACTUALLY…
Robert Deutsch
BERNSTEIN: Candide
Jerry Hadley, Candide; June Anderson, Cunegonde; Adolph Green, Dr. Pangloss/Martin; Christa Ludwig, Old Lady; Nicolai Gedda, Governor/Vanderdendur; Della Jones, Paquette; Kurt Ollman, Maximilian/Captain; others. London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein
Deutsche Grammophon 429 734-2 (2 CDs only). Gregor Zielinsky, eng.; Hans Weber, prod. DDD. TT: 1:51:32. As fate (aka the God of Record Reviewers) would have it, I received the new Candide just a couple of days after the missive from RL requesting the "Recommended…
BERNSTEIN: Candide
Jerry Hadley, Candide; June Anderson, Cunegonde; Adolph Green, Dr. Pangloss/Martin; Christa Ludwig, Old Lady; Nicolai Gedda, Governor/Vanderdendur; Della Jones, Paquette; Kurt Ollman, Maximilian/Captain; others. London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein
Deutsche Grammophon 429 734-2 (2 CDs only). Gregor Zielinsky, eng.; Hans Weber, prod. DDD. TT: 1:51:32. As fate (aka the God of Record Reviewers) would have it, I received the new Candide just a couple of days after the missive from RL requesting the "Recommended…
Martin Colloms
LAURIE ANDERSON: Strange Angels
Warner Bros. 25900-2 (CD). Eric Liljestrand, eng.; Laurie Anderson, Rona Baran, prods. ADD. TT: 46:03
Point One, I just like it; it grows on you. Point Two, it has great range and variety. Point Three, it has humor and life. Confident and expressive, Anderson's creative quality stands out from the crowd.
LAURIE ANDERSON: Strange Angels
Warner Bros. 25900-2 (CD). Eric Liljestrand, eng.; Laurie Anderson, Rona Baran, prods. ADD. TT: 46:03
Point One, I just like it; it grows on you. Point Two, it has great range and variety. Point Three, it has humor and life. Confident and expressive, Anderson's creative quality stands out from the crowd.
As regards fidelity, that is also very good, with a wide frequency and dynamic range, excellent transients and localization, and fine timing. It is a valuable tool for testing equipment, yet still gives great pleasure after…
Arnis Balgalvis
SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON: Keep It To Ourselves
Alligator AL4787 (LP), ALCD 4878 (CD). Ivar Rosenberg, eng.; Karl Emil Knudsen, prod. AAA/A?D. TT: 51:36
This is a U-R-There recording if ever there was one. I don't know what rivets me more: the absolutely compelling performance or the outstanding sonic presentation. If this doesn't transport Sonny Boy into your listening room and give you frequent glimpses of reality, I don't know what will. The harmonica is simply a part of this remarkable artist, and you are sure to be part of the rapt audience. Despite some…
SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON: Keep It To Ourselves
Alligator AL4787 (LP), ALCD 4878 (CD). Ivar Rosenberg, eng.; Karl Emil Knudsen, prod. AAA/A?D. TT: 51:36
This is a U-R-There recording if ever there was one. I don't know what rivets me more: the absolutely compelling performance or the outstanding sonic presentation. If this doesn't transport Sonny Boy into your listening room and give you frequent glimpses of reality, I don't know what will. The harmonica is simply a part of this remarkable artist, and you are sure to be part of the rapt audience. Despite some…
Twelve years ago, loudspeaker manufacturer NHT launched its model 3.3, a floorstanding, full-range design that Corey Greenberg summed up in the March 1994 Stereophile as doing "everything I want a He-Man reference loudspeaker to do...I find myself without a single area of performance I've heard bettered by any other speaker." The NHT 3.3 basically combined a high-performance monitor with a sideways-firing subwoofer in the same enclosure, and when I first saw NHT's Evolution T6 system at the 2002 CEDIA convention, I was reminded of the classic 3.3, but a 3.3 updated for the needs of home…
Both dual-mono pink noise and the bass guitar track on Editor's Choice were appropriately reproduced as narrow, stable, centrally placed images. The speaker displayed only slight changes in treble balance with changes in listener ear height. However, on pink noise, sideways head movements off the tweeter axis in both directions resulted in the accentuation of some mid-treble frequencies (more so on the midrange side). This speaker will have problems with hard, reflective sidewalls.
Even with the slight mid-treble emphasis, string tone was smooth and extended at both extremes on the T6,…