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SACD

Angela Hewitt – Piano Music by Emmanuel Chabrier (2006) [SACD / Hyperion – SACDA67515]

adminMay 23, 2025 7 Views

Title: Angela Hewitt – Piano Music by Emmanuel Chabrier (2006)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Angela Hewitt, renowned for her masterful Bach, Chopin, Couperin, Messiaen, and Ravel recordings on Hyperion, brings her technical polish and expressive depth to Emmanuel Chabrier’s keyboard works in a 2004 release, delivering colorful, idiomatic performances of late nineteenth-century miniatures. While Chabrier’s music ranges from sophisticated pieces like Aubade, Habanera, and Bourrée fantasque to the charming posthumous Ballabile, Caprice, and Feuillet d’album, the Dix pièces pittoresques and earlier Impromptu and Ronde champêtre often lean toward trite, superficial salon fare with occasional hints of Ravel-like innovation. Hewitt’s sensitivity and skill elevate these works, making them sound more compelling than their sometimes shallow nature might warrant, though her choice of repertoire may not thrill fans as much as her usual selections. Hyperion’s sublime recording quality perfectly showcases Hewitt’s brilliance and panache, cementing her status as a leading interpreter despite the mixed appeal of Chabrier’s compositions.

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1 min read

SACD

Angela Hewitt – Jean-Philippe Rameau: Keyboard Suites (2008) [SACD / Hyperion – SACDA67597]

adminMay 23, 2025 8 Views

Title: Angela Hewitt – Jean-Philippe Rameau: Keyboard Suites (2008)
Genre: Classical
Format: DSF DSD64

Hyperion’s January Record of the Month features Baroque legend Angela Hewitt performing three of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s keyboard suites, showcasing the eighteenth-century French composer’s blend of intellectualism, passion, and tenderness on a Fazioli piano. Rameau, once a traveling violinist and provincial organist before becoming Compositeur du Cabinet du Roi, crafted some sixty keyboard works, including courtly dances like the Tambourin and programmatic pieces like Les sauvages, which Hewitt plays with crisp clarity, delicate ornamentation, and a vibrant, harpsichord-like tone. Her renditions, from the noble Courante in the A minor Suite to the tender Les Triolets and vivid Le Rappel des oiseaux, balance Parisian elegance with rhythmic vitality, making the piano feel perfectly suited to Rameau’s music. Critics praise Hewitt’s refined technique, meticulous ornamentation, and expressive touch, noting that her performances, backed by Hyperion’s vivid engineering, rival historic recordings like Marcelle Meyer’s 1953 cycle, establishing this disc as a must-have for Baroque enthusiasts.

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1 min read

SACD

Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala – Puccini: La Boheme (1999) [Reissue 2003] [SACD / Decca – 470 624-2]

adminMay 23, 2025 8 Views

Title: Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala – Puccini: La Boheme (1999) [Reissue 2003]
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Decca’s new recording of La Bohème with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, joins iconic performances by Tebaldi and Bergonzi (1950s) and Freni and Pavarotti (1970s), delivering a standout interpretation for the new millennium. Chailly’s sensitive phrasing and brisk yet unhurried tempos, paired with the La Scala Orchestra and Chorus’s innate feel for Puccini, create a compelling performance, enhanced by Francesco Degrada’s 1988 critical edition with subtle, polished changes like Alagna’s romantic E at Act One’s close. Gheorghiu and Alagna, a real-life couple, bring heartfelt synergy to Mimì and Rodolfo, with Gheorghiu’s dark, skillful voice shining in “Mi chiamano Mimì” and Alagna’s boyish charm peaking in “Che gelida manina.” Simon Keenlyside’s ardent Marcello and Anna Scano’s sparkling Musetta, alongside vivid portrayals by the other Bohemians and Alfredo Mariotti’s lively Benoit and Alcindoro, add depth, making this Bohème a highly recommended, near-perfect addition to the opera’s discography.

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2 min read

SACD

Andrew Cyrille Quintet – Ode To The Living Tree (1995) [Japan 2017] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-244]

adminMay 23, 2025 8 Views

Title: Andrew Cyrille Quintet – Ode To The Living Tree (1995) [Japan 2017]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

In December 1994, drummer Andrew Cyrille, joined by David Murray on tenor sax and bass clarinet, Oliver Lake on alto sax, Adegoke Steve Colson on electric piano, and Fred Hopkins on bass, recorded Ode to the Living Tree in a Dakar studio during a Senegal visit, marking the first jazz session ever recorded there. Featuring original compositions by Cyrille, Murray, and Colson, alongside John Coltrane’s “Acknowledgement” and “Resolution” from A Love Supreme and “Mr. P.C.,” the quintet delivers melodic inside/outside post-bop in the Coltrane/McLean/Lateef tradition. Highlights include the lyrical ballad “So That Life Can Endure…P.S. With Love,” Murray’s moody “Dakar Darkness,” and Colson’s Brazilian-tinged “Midnight Samba,” with the group’s cohesive and passionate performance making this historic album a standout in Cyrille’s catalog.

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1 min read

SACD

Andre Kostelanetz – Plays Music Of Villa-Lobos & Conducts Music From Spain (1974) [Reissue 2017] [SACD / Vocalion – CDLK 4594]

adminMay 23, 2025 8 Views

Title: Andre Kostelanetz – Plays Music Of Villa-Lobos & Conducts Music From Spain (1974) [Reissue 2017]
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This Andre Kostelanet’sz SACD, beginning with colorful orchestral works by Portuguese-born Villa-Lobos. We have orchestral excerpts from the opera Magdalena and several other lovely pieces. Of particular interest is the imaginative Little Train of the Caipira with its colorful description of a little train chugging through the mountains. This is richly orchestrated, and engineers have separated instruments among the four channels very effectively. Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 is truncated and it is unfortunate they didn’t perform it with a soprano—after all, Marni Nixon was on the scene. The remainder is music of Spain featuring Maralin Nixon in several works, and the two short pieces by Pablo Casals are welcome. Audio is outstanding on this issue. Both LP from 1974, were to all intents and purposes demonstration discs, designed to show off quadraphonic sound.

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1 min read

SACD

Andrea Pozza Trio – Sweet Lorraine (2005) [Japan 2018] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-271]

adminMay 23, 2025 6 Views

Title: Andrea Pozza Trio – Sweet Lorraine (2005) [Japan 2018]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Italian pianist Andrea Pozza, influenced by Wynton Kelly, Hampton Hawes, and Red Garland, showcases his lyrical and sophisticated straight-ahead jazz style on a 2005 Venus Records debut album, reissued as a deluxe gate-fold edition. Recorded with bassist Luciano Milanese and drummer Stefano Bagnoli, this piano trio album features well-known standards, introducing Pozza’s talent to Japanese audiences who now regard him as a top Italian jazz pianist. Highlights include a swinging “Yesterdays,” a lyrical “Sweet Lorraine” with a notable Milanese solo, and a dreamy solo rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s “Orson.” Pozza’s gift for ballads shines in Duke Ellington’s “All Too Soon,” using extensive sustain pedal, while he delivers a brisk “Poor Butterfly” without its verse, making this a strong and thrilling album recommended for jazz enthusiasts.

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1 min read

SACD

Andrea Castelfranato – Anxanum (2019) [SACD / Fonè – SACD204]

adminMay 23, 2025 8 Views

Title: Andrea Castelfranato – Anxanum (2019)
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Anxanum, an album from Italian Fonè Records, features guitarist Andrea Castelfranato performing 13 tracks, including his original compositions and songs inspired by Sting, Pino Daniele, Al DiMeola, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney, played on acoustic and nylon string guitars in fingerstyle. Recorded in the acoustically remarkable ancient cellar of Palazzo di Scoto di Semifonte in Certaldo Alto, Giulio Cesare Ricci used Neumann valve microphones and DSD with dCS AD/DA converters, capturing unedited performances. Track 9, “Mediterranean Sundance,” is a standout for its exceptional guitar work, making Anxanum a reference for DSD and audiophile recording enthusiasts.

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1 min read

Blu-ray Audio

Sigmund Groven & Iver Kleive – harmOrgan (2011) [Blu-ray Video / BDMV / 16.3 GB / 2L-077-SABD]

adminMay 22, 2025 32 Views

Album title: harmOrgan
Performer: Sigmund Groven, harmonica; Iver Kleive, organ
Genre: Classical
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Uranienborg Church, Norway
Release date: December 2010
Recording date: September 2010
Original source: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 01:18:36 + 00:03:42
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 4000 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 12883 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit
Size: 16,3 GB

HARMONICA AND ORGAN – AN UNUSUAL DUO. The world’s smallest and the world’s largest musical instrument; “David and Goliath” together in stunning baroque pieces and Norwegian folk music.

Watch the music video on YouTube and VIMEO

Sigmund Groven and Iver Kleive have collaborated for more than 30 years and have built a repertoire consisting mainly of baroque pieces and Norwegian music, most of which they have composed and arranged themselves. Even though they have chosen very different instruments, and are also quite different personalities in many ways, they have a fundamental musical rapport and understanding and also have many other things in common. They both originate from musical families; born and raised in Telemark, a region of Norway rich in folk-music, they have always had an open mind and taken keen interest in various contemporary and popular musical styles and idioms. They left Norway to study, and their mentors were the best possible role models: In Munich Iver came under the guidance of organist Franz Lehrndorfer and legendary choirmaster, conductor, and organist Karl Richter, whereas Sigmund had the great fortune to study in England with his boyhood idol, the equally legendary Tommy Reilly, one of the great pioneers of serious harmonica-playing.

“In the right hands the harmonica can be an instrument of great beauty and sophistication. Sigmund Groven, like Tommy Reilly and Larry Adler before him, makes full use of the wide range and tonal expressions that the harmonica is capable of. His musicianship is superb, and he now unquestionably reigns supreme as one of the finest exponents of the harmonica in the world.” – Sir George Martin

2l.no – 2L-077-SABD

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2 min read

Blu-ray Audio

Ensemble 96 – KIND (2010) [Blu-ray Video / BDMV / 8.45 GB / 2L-076-SABD]

adminMay 22, 2025 29 Views

Album title: KIND
Performer: Ensemble 96; Kjetil Almenning, conductor; Nidaros String Quartet
Genre: Classical, folk
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Uranienborg Church, Norway
Release date: November 2010
Recording date: January 2010
Original source: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 00:44:46
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 4000 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.0 / 192 kHz / 12285 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit
Size: 8,45 GB

A collection of traditional and modern choral pieces from Norway performed by Grammy nominated Ensemble 96.

The word KIND embraces concepts of childlikeness and childishness in different languages, as well as suggesting friendliness and consolation. The project’s subtitle was “about children, for adults”. In keeping with Ensemble 96’s main focus, KIND presents modern Norwegian and Nordic choral music. Per Nørgård and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi are already considered classics by a rapidly increasing audience, while Marcus Paus represents a younger generation of Norwegian composers with a growing interest in the choral medium. The more recent works on the disc set texts all of which have a certain melancholy, fear or unrest linked to childhood. The folk songs are a brave attempt to offer consolation in a remorseless world.

The Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi first wrote the music to “Die Stimme des Kindes” without words. After some time he came across Nikolaus Lenau’s poem in which Mäntyjärvi found moods and textures that corresponded with his own ideas. The piece sounds like an idyllic lullaby, yet it is also melancholic and dramatic. An uneasy adult finds consolation in the innocent sleep and gentle smile of a child.

Like many other artists the Danish composer Per Nørgård found inspiration in the work of the schizophrenic writer Adolf Wölfli whose life and works are a magnificent testimony to human spiritual life. Combined with Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem about spring the three movements of “Wie ein Kind” present a powerful encounter with childhood memories. Some of them are pleasant to recall, others less so.

There is surprisingly little music for choir and string quartet. Ensemble 96 therefore decided to commission Marcus Paus to write a work for that particular constellation. In “The Stolen Child” the Norwegian composer has created a fairytale using simple, yet at the same time complex, means. Through its playful interaction with Yeats’ poem the work takes us far afield to where the fairies lure the little child away from all the world’s grief.

Frank Havrøy has arranged several traditional Norwegian lullabies for choir. These timeless folk songs speak directly to us, and Havrøy’s elegant arrangements give them an extra dimension.

Ensemble 96 is regarded one of the top chamber choirs in the world. Their Immortal NYSTEDT was nominated for the 49th American GRAMMY Awards as “Best Choral Performance” and “Best Surround Sound Album” in 2006.

2l.no – 2L-076-SABD

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3 min read

Blu-ray Audio

Nordic Voices, Berit Opheim Versto – Lasse Thoresen: Himmelkvad (2012) [Blu-ray Video / BDMV / 12.9 GB / 2L-075-SABD]

adminMay 22, 2025 24 Views

Album title: Himmelkvad
Composer: Lasse Thoresen (b.1949)
Performer: Nordic Voices, Berit Opheim Versto
Genre: Classical, Choral
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Sofienberg Church, Norway
Release date: February 2012
Recording date: June and October 2010
Original source: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 01:12:49
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 3000 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: Norwegian DTS-HD MA 5.0 / 192 kHz / 11597 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: Norwegian LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit
Size: 12,9 GB

The Nordic Council Music Prize 2010 was awarded to the Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen. His “Opus 42” represents a true renewal of Nordic vocal music. This strikingly beautiful piece reveals the common denominators in ancient and ultra-modern sounds, drawing our attention to the similarities between Scandinavian folk traditions and the music we might find in, say, the Middle East or India. Lasse Thoresen not only uses folk sounds to spice up art music, he also integrates its finely tuned microtonality, spectral overtones, harmonies and rhythms into the contemporary, modernist project in a truly pioneering manner. A project like this depends upon close collaboration with skilled musicians who are willing to take risks. Thoresen found them in the vocal ensemble Nordic Voices and folk singer Berit Opheim Versto.

Artistic creativity, versatility and technical precision are the main elements that make up NORDIC VOICES. The six-voice a cappella group was formed in 1996 and comprises graduates from the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Norwegian Academy of Opera, who, in addition to their singing backgrounds, have a broad range of experience from choral conducting to teacher training and composition. It is perhaps this range of interests that leads them to explore a wider than usual spectrum of musical expression, from plainchant to new works commissioned from leading Norwegian composers; from the most sacred of religious texts to the definitely profane. Nordic Voices are an unusual blend of sophisticated music-making and stylish performance, more often than not with more than a dash of humour.

2l.no – 2L-075-SABD

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2 min read