Thread: Top Ten SACDs

Posts: 7

Post by JustPlainNuts October 6, 2007 (1 of 7)
I don't know if anyone has started a thred like this or not, so I thought I would.

What do you think are the top 10 must have SACDs to have in one's library?

Post by Peter October 6, 2007 (2 of 7)
JustPlainNuts said:

I don't know if anyone has started a thred like this or not, so I thought I would.

What do you think are the top 10 must have SACDs to have in one's library?

Select "Top Sellers" and you'll get a good idea.

Post by Julien October 6, 2007 (3 of 7)
I think this is fun actually. But in that case for me there are three aspects that I have to consider. On this site we don't rate the music because it's pointless. Now if I write such a list, it has to be SACDs that not only are the best sounding I've heard, but also that combine some of the best performances I've heard (on this matter there is room for improvement in SACD world, but it's getting better and better thanks to the efforts of many companies), and music I love to listen to.

IMO, globaly speaking I would say Pentatone is the most constant in terms of percentage of great recordings. A few of the old Philips RQR released by Pentatone are not that good soundwise (very few), but I can almost say soundwise you can buy any of the Pentatone (Polyhymnia) made recordings and it will be among the best you've heard, stereo and multichannel. I always find the balance to be near perfect, the distance too, never too close or too far. That's impressive.
I've been recently very impressed with some releases by Hyperion and Chandos, breathtaking recordings.
Bis and Channel Classics, of course, are up there too, and quite a few of their recordings are simply among the best I've heard. Though with both occasionally I've had a few issues with high frequency noise, or close miking (Bis), or a bit of "inconsistency" but only compared to Pentatone's outstanding consistency. Just to say that the worst Pentatone recording I've heard is better than the worst of any other company I've heard.
And of course many other labels have some of the best recordings out there, but there are many, and thank you everyone.

I've always been thinking of having such a thread but it is too complicated to judge, trying to be objective or even subjective too. If I am obbjective, a big half of the best SACDs will most likely be split between the above quoted, but few of those companies have my favorite musics or artists. If I am subjective, the companies I admire most will not be represented that much.

So I will do one category A with the best recordings I've ever heard, and that I want to mention (if the playing is too bad I however won't mention the disc just for the recording quality), and another B with the ones I really like as the best performances I've heard of music I love and that happens to be recorded to the highest level. I hope everyone's following me.

Post by Julien October 6, 2007 (4 of 7)
Now here are my winners, the best sounding SACDs I've ever heard, and this is for the stereo part only (with no order, and it do doesn't have to be the number ten):


List A (best recordings I've ever heard):

Piano solo recordings:
PHILIPS - Schubert - Mitsuko Uchida (beautiful hall sound and distance)
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON - Prokoviev/Ravel - Argerich/Pletnev (maybe the most beautiful piano sound I've heard on disc)
AVIE - Liszt - Markus Groh (the piano is in my room ! And I just can't stop the sonata once I've started)

Orchestral music:
PENTATONE - Shostakovich 1 & 6 - Jurowsky
PENTATONE - Mozart Clarinet - Marriner (best hall sound reproduction I've heard in stereo)
PENTATONE - Russian violin concertos - Fischer
PENTATONE - Tchaikovsky concerto - Fischer (incredible dynamics)
CHANNEL CLASSICS - Mahler 2 - Ivan Fischer
BIS - Liszt piano concertos - Arnaldo Cohen
HYPERION - Shostakovich piano concertos - Hamelin (best piano concerto sound I've heard on disc)
CHANDOS - Vaughan Williams Pastoral Symphony - Hickox (magnificent recording)
HARMONIA MUNDI - Dvorak - Queyras (one of the most natural sounding orchestral recordings I've heard)
HARMONIA MUNDI - Faure - Requiem
HARMONIA MUNDI - Bach Actus Tragicus - Junghänel
HARMONIA MUNDI - Bach Mass in B minor - Junghänel
SONY - Vivaldi Late Concertos - Carmignola

Chamber music:
SONY - Appalachian Journey - Ma, O'Connor, Meyer, Krauss, Taylor (flawless recording, perfect clean, pure and rich sound quality)
ASV - Beethoven string quartets - The Lindsays
ISOMIKE - Beethoven, Stravinsky etc - The Fry Street Quartet

And two old analogue recordings:
DECCA - Schubert Schumann Debussy - Rostropovich, Britten (1969 ! And I've never heard a cello sound as live)
PENTATONE RQR - Schumann Schubert - Elly Ameling (most beautiful voice recording I've heard)

Post by JustPlainNuts October 6, 2007 (5 of 7)
I like your approach Julien. I think sound quality is the most important aspect or we would all be listening to CDs instead of SACDs. Performance is important also because if the performance has no heart or is very poor then it doesn't really matter how good the sound quality is.

Does anyone have a top pick for Bach organ recordings?

Post by flyingdutchman October 6, 2007 (6 of 7)
JustPlainNuts said:

I like your approach Julien. I think sound quality is the most important aspect or we would all be listening to CDs instead of SACDs. Performance is important also because if the performance has no heart or is very poor then it doesn't really matter how good the sound quality is.

Does anyone have a top pick for Bach organ recordings?

I still listen to CDs. Some of them have excellent sound quality.

Post by Beagle October 6, 2007 (7 of 7)
I confess: my first thought was 'Oh dear, not THIS again...' but then I learned a few things looking at Julien's list. My first thought was, we could use a thread called My Disc of the Month (one per user). My second thought involves more work by zeus, but he is rather brilliant at this sort of thing: a space in My Library for numeric rating of disc, i.e. "1" for Best Ever, etc. Anyone else interested in a floating Top Ten from each user with a library listing?

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