Tag: Sir Colin Davis

SACD

Sir Colin Davis, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks – Tchaikovsky & Dvorak: Serenades for Strings (1988) [Japan 2017] [SACD / Esoteric Company – ESSD-90179]

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Sir Colin Davis, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks - Tchaikovsky & Dvorak: Serenades for Strings (1988) [Japan 2017]

Title: Sir Colin Davis, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks – Tchaikovsky & Dvorak: Serenades for Strings (1988) [Japan 2017]
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Sir Colin Davis conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for performances of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade For Strings in C major and Dvorak’s Serenade For Strings in E major. This reissue series of classical music masterpieces by Esoteric has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound. This series marks the first hybrid SACD release of historical recording selections that have been mainstays of the catalog since their initial release.

These performances are among the two or three best currently available of this familiar music. Colin Davis gets superb, finely colored playing from his Bavarian string section, with excellent, balanced ensemble. Not merely satisfied to present yet another recording of these thrice-familiar masterpieces, Davis gets inside the music in every phrase, seeing it in a clear, classical way, wholly consistent with both composers intentions. The Romantic flame is still there, but burning with a tight, jem-like fire which lights up form, motific development, and inner lines in a natural, balanced way. This should satisfy both classicist and Romantic in a way many other performances cannot. Fellow Brit Neville Marriner recorded equally fine performances of these pieces, but Davis’s somewhat larger string ensemble, especially when it’s so well recorded, has its points, too. This is another great recording which should stay in the active catalog.

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SACD

Sir Colin Davis, Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields – Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1970) [Reissue 2016] [SACD / PentaTone – PTC 5186 230]

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Sir Colin Davis, Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields - Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1970) [Reissue 2016]

Title: Sir Colin Davis, Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields – Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1970) [Reissue 2016]
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

When Henry Purcell wrote his one and only opera “Dido and Aeneas” in the second half of the seventeenth century, there was no existing opera tradition in England. With a libretto based on Virgil’s Aeneid and its music stylistically close to and derived from the typically English ‘Masque’ form, Purcell created a monumental baroque opera. On this 1970 multi-channel Philips Classics recording, Dido is interpreted by soprano Josephine Veasey. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the John Alldis choir are conducted by Sir Colin Davis. The recording has been remastered in 2015 and is now re-released in Pentatones’s Remastered Classics series, which finally gives it the chance to expose its magnificent sound quality.

In 2016, multichannel recording is regarded by classical listeners as state of the art, and some of the finest recordings available have been released in the hybrid SACD format. In 1970, quadraphonic recording was the most advanced technology, and Philips was one of the leading labels developing the process, as shown by this historic recording of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. This early English opera may not seem like a practical demonstration piece for showing off the depth, wide frequency range, and clarity of Philips’ quadraphonic recording, or, for that matter, PentaTone’s multichannel remastering, considering the rather monochrome sound of strings and continuo. However, Colin Davis and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields delivered with extraordinary energy and precision, and the cast – featuring Josephine Veasey as Dido, John Shirley-Quirk as Aeneas, and Helen Donath as Belinda – sang with crisp diction, beautiful tone, and powerful presence. The spaciousness of the recording is most evident whenever the John Alldis Choir enters with its vigorous choruses, and the dramatic contrasts with the soloists highlight the effectiveness of the innovative microphone placement. Newcomers to this opera may skip ahead to Dido’s famous aria, When I am laid in earth, but because the opera runs less than an hour, the recording deserves a full hearing to reveal its excellence as a performance and as an important artifact from the early days of audiophile sound. Highly recommended.

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SACD

Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra – Beethoven: Fidelio (2006) [SACD / LSO Live – LSO0593]

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Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra - Beethoven: Fidelio (2006)

Title: Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra – Beethoven: Fidelio (2006)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Best of 2007 Classical CDs ‘This thrilling performance was given in the Barbican last May when Sir Colin excelled himself in the power & nobility of his interpretation, with the LSO in terrific form, & the American soprano Christine Brewer sang with gleaming white-hot tone as Leonore. The final paean of joy at liberation is overwhelming. 1st-class recording quality.

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