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DVD-Audiobahn New DVD-Audio music releases and talk about the latest players. |
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DVD-Audiobahn New DVD-Audio music releases and talk about the latest players. |
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As the last couple of years have gone by, I've begun to feel more and more that the 9 discs I have from the 16-or-so-disc catalogue of DVD-Audios on the Nishimura label may represent the greatest set of classical music audio engineering on disc in the last 30 years. This is all the more remarkable because the sample rate on all these discs is only 48kHz - not 96kHz, and certainly not 192kHz. To me, it's as if the great recordings of the golden-age past on RCA Living Stereo or Mercury Living Presence or Command Classics have been updated to modern stereo and surround technology.
Unfortunately, the supply of these discs has just about dried up from standard outlets and distributors, but I received four additional Nishimura discs last week, and here are some of my short impressions and listening notes so far:
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, Shostakovich Symphony No. 1. Franz Vorraber, piano, Würzburg Philharmonic, Daniel Klajner, conductor. Nishimura DVDA-007.
The engineering here is just outstanding. Sometimes people wonder what listeners who tout minimally microphoned recordings think that we're hearing. This recording provides the answer: the sound just moves up and down and across the stage in a way that multiple microphoned recordings just can't match. Multiple microphoning tends to compartmentalize recorded sound and stifle its natural progress in space. As I listen to the organic rightness of the sound picture on this Nishimura disc, I just
shake my head in awe! As for the performances, they were recorded in concert, and the Rachmaninoff is serviceable rather than inspired - try to imagine how the concerto would sound if Wilhelm Kempff were the soloist (!) and that might give you some idea of how this performance sounds. As for the Shostakovich, I have to admit that I'm not an admirer of this composer and do not have the depth of experience with this symphony I would need to confidently make a pronouncement on the quality of this performance. But the orchestra's alertness and LIVING quality, its hair-raising contrasts of dynamics, and Klajner's conveying of the music's spirit all seem to me pretty overwhelming, especially in view of the integrity and achievement of the engineer.
Bach 15 2-Part Inventions, Schumann Fantasy Pieces Op. 12, Chopin 2 Etudes, Liszt Gnomenreigen. Franz Vorraber, piano. Nishimra DVDA-004.
Vorraber figures in a lot of the Nishimura catalog, and as I said above, I would call him a competent, serviceable pianist, rather than an inspired one. Here, despite the wonderfully transparent solo piano sound quality which Tatsuo Nishimura has obtained, Vorraber is just not on my wavelength as an interpreter. The best I can say about the Inventions is that they're generally clean mostly steady, but the accentuation is just wrong as far as I'm concerned. Accents frequently appear on weak beats in a way that suggests a Friedrich Gulda jazz piece rather than a Bach Invention. Add to this the grandiose over-inflation of dynamics, and I just want to run the other way! And the Liszt Etude contains instances of that kind of stuttering, spastic rubato that I can't stand. Did I mention that the engineering was exceptional?
"Fireworks of Classic" (short orchestral arrangements of music by various composers). Czech Chamber Philharmonic, Klaus Linkel, conductor. Nishimura DVDA-009.
Maybe the best way to think of this disc is to recall those old Hollywood Bowl Symphony recordings on Capitol, with titles like "Nocturnes Under the Stars". In other words, these are all arrangements of famous classics which may bring a smile to your face if you in the right kind of mood. Some of the arrangements (such as Mozart's Rondo alla Turca) are both inventive and funky at the same time. Alas, this is the only Nishimura disc I have where Nishimura seems to have miscalculated on the engineering: recorded in Simon and Jude's Church, Prague, the sound has an overabundance of reverberation. As always, the sound quality has integrity and realism, but the apparently vast space of the venue itself just doesn't seem to be suitable for optimal presentation of the musicians.
Bach Organ Works. Bernhard Leonardy, Silbermann Organ at the Marmoutier Cloister. Nishimura DVDA-011.
The repertoire here does not include the big, blockbuster "Toccata and Fugue" type works, rather, it includes works such as the Prelude and Fugue in F, BWV 534, and the Partita on "Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig". I can't imagine that the engineering on an organ solo recording can get much better than this. As I was listening, I was thinking that this is a mighty fine organ sound on this recording, and then I read on the booklet "This recording features the sound of the 1709-built Silbermann organ [at Marmoutier Cloister], the only exant example that has ever been modernized". OK, so maybe it's not an "authentic" sound - but it sure sounds great to my ears!
Of the Nishimura DVD-Audios I've previously written about, I would like to recommend in particular the following (if you can find them):
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 2 ("Lobgesang"). Soloists, Chorus, Anhaltische Philharmonie, Dessau, Marcus R. Bosch, conductor. Nishimura DVDA-005.
No other large-force soloist/chorus/orchestra recording can hold a candle to this one, IMHO!
Mozart, Liszt, Sibelius - various works. Franz Vorraber, piano, Southwest German Chamber Orchestra, Vladislav Czarnecki, conductor. Nishimura DVDA-006.
Similar to the Rachmaninoff/Shostakovich disc above in its mastery of the solo piano / orchestral acoustic. Vorraber plays better here than in the two releases discussed above.
"The Acoustic of the Leipzig Gewandhaus" (Mozart, Boccherini, Mendelssohn). Leipzig Chamber Orchestra, Morten Schuldt-Jensen, conductor. Nishimura DVDA-013.
I have never attended a concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, but on the basis of this recording, I feel as if I know exactly what it's like to be there - there's just no higher praise!
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Topic - Rear Guard Review: Four More Nishimura DVD-Audios - Chris from Lafayette 13:39:46 08/16/09 (2)
- RE: Rear Guard Review: Four More Nishimura DVD-Audios - barondla 18:20:10 08/16/09 (1)
- They were never that widely distributed - Chris from Lafayette 18:34:21 08/16/09 (0)
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