User Details - akiralx

library | recommendations | wish list


Name:
  Alex Leach
Details:
  My musical interests are mainly classical.
Location:
  Melbourne. Victoria.
HiFi:
  Sony SACD player

Stax Classic earspeakers and energiser system
Email:
 
Web:
 
Posts:
  537

 
 
Reviews
Found: 71 show all

  June 17, 2014

A beautifully played account of the four Lemminkainen Legends with spacious recording to match. The opening Lemminkainen and the Maidens of the Island is brooding and deeply felt, with the bass harmonies of cello and bassoon coming through nicely in the sound mix. I usually prefer the middle ... more
  September 29, 2013

A live recording of a Helsinki PO/Kamu concert on 4 February 1982 in Osaka Festival Hall, this stereo-only single layer SACD boasts vivid, spacious, very realistic sound. The Fifth Symphony comes first and is an imaginative performance of a fairly orthodox interpretation - but is none the worse for ... more
  April 27, 2013

I enjoyed this recording, a straightforward performance well recorded. The orchestra does not sound massively sumptuous as on some RBCDs of this work but there is plenty of warmth as well as detail - many wonderful examples of the composer's fine-spun scoring emerge with remarkable clarity. I ... more
  December 13, 2012

This is more like it - after his lacklustre La Mer on the companion Debussy SACD Karajan was back on form here. The Orchestre de Paris play very well, the sound is equally good - and more importantly the performances are really very fine. The highlight is La Valse which comes first, and is ... more
  December 12, 2012

A surprisingly soft-grained and undramatic La Mer from Karajan - this can't compare to his famous 1964 DG recording, and certainly not to Haitink's superb recording made around the same time as this one (1977) and which is available on an excellent Universal SACD. The Bolero (especially) and ... more

 
 
Latest Posts

Horowitz: Historic Return to Carnegie Hall: 4 Hybrid Stereo SACD Boxset
December 1, 2015
It was actually Glenn Gould who dubbed it 'The Hysterical Return'. The difference between the two versions is of course the hash Horowitz made of the notoriously difficult skipping coda to the central movement of the Schumann Fantasie op.17 - when the LP came out the playing was immaculate; this was perhaps the first recording which made the ... more
Discussion: Holst: The Planets - Ozawa
November 17, 2015
If by modern sound you can accept RBCD then I would recommend the superbly recorded version by Dutoit in Montreal in Decca - perhaps the best performance the work has received. ... more
Discussion: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 - Karajan
November 11, 2015
No, Mahler only ever conducted M6 with the Andante/Scherzo order. ... more
Discussion: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 - Karajan
November 4, 2015
As you probably know Sir John always conducted M6 with the correct Andante/Scherzo order (a rarity at the time) but was appalled when EMI issued the LP with the order reversed. He complained and when it was reissued the order was amended, as in every subsequent CD issue - and this SACD set I assume. So in one respect despite the original LP ... more
Sibelius: The Symphonies (Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Okko Kamu)
November 3, 2015
Actually very few of Karajan's LPs included his photo, at his request. He much preferred interesting designs. ... more