The Absolute Sound: SACD Sampler [Hybrid SACD] [Super Audio CD - DSD]

Earle Patriarco (Performer), Brett Polegato (Performer), Henry Purcell (Composer), Carl Orff (Composer), George Frederick Handel (Composer), Bohuslav Martinu (Composer), Claude Debussy (Composer), Maurice Ravel (Composer), Joaquin Rodrigo (Composer), Sergey Prokofiev (Composer), German Traditional (Composer), Hector Berlioz (Composer), Jennifer Higdon (Composer), Carl Nielsen (Composer), Ralph Vaughan Williams (Composer), Rolf Smedvig (Conductor), Donald Runnicles (Conductor), Martin Pearlman (Conductor), Paavo Järvi (Conductor), Jesús López-Cobos (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Earle Patriarco, Brett Polegato
• Conductor: Rolf Smedvig, Donald Runnicles, Martin Pearlman, Paavo Järvi, Jesús López-Cobos
• Composer: Henry Purcell, Carl Orff, George Frederick Handel, Bohuslav Martinu, Claude Debussy, et al.
• Audio CD (January 24, 2006)
• Please Note: Requires SACD-compatible hardware
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Super Audio CD - DSD
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000CRR3Q0
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,717 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Rondeau

2. In taberna: Intaberna quando sumus (excerpt)

3. Temus est iocundum (excerpt)

4. Hornpipe

5. III. Poco allegro

6. Ibéria: Le matin d'un jour de fčte (Holiday Morning)

7. Danse générale (General Dance)

8. En Aranjuez con tu amor, for voice & piano (or guitar) (after the secon

9. Montagues & Capulets

10. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

11. Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold)

12. Movement IV

13. II. Allegro: -Presto

14. Finale: The Explorers (excerpt)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for what it is, however narrow., November 8, 2006

By 

Aceto "All knowledge is sorrow." (Meilhan Sur Garonne) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Absolute Sound: SACD Sampler [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

The Absolute Sound has been a premiere audiophile rag for decades. If you are one, you already know them. If not, then there is only a small chance their magazine will be useful to you. They have another publication for home theatre, "Perfect Vision" which has far broader appeal these days. SACD is the format for this disk. Many of them are pressed in "hybrid" for use on conventional CD players. SACD is a significant improvement on the CD, which initially promised "perfect sound forever".

Telarc is a particularly high quality label that supports SACD. They have a fine list of recordings that extends far beyond these chestnuts.

To appreciate this improvement you need to have a SACD player. So the best use of this disk is to bring it with you to different audio stores to audition their equipment. Over time it functions as a reference disk, or benchmark, as you compare different sound systems.

Because it has only bleeding hunks of well known classical music, it has little other value unless you are interested in classical music but have little experience of it. In that case it may serve as a sampler to lead you to buy complete recordings of these selections. But again you need the SACD player, which you may already have if you are a jazz or rock audiophile. Otherwise, pass it by.