Customer Reviews

Divertimenti [Hybrid SACD] [Includes Blu-Ray Disc]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a 2 disc set from 2L Called "Divertimenti". The first disc is an
SACD Hybrid that features 69:00 mins. of works by Britten, Bacewicz, Bjorklund, and Bartok. All works for String Orchestra. The recordings are
done in DXD or Digital Extreme Definition.The SACD disc is the usual Three layers DSD Stereo, DSD Surround and regular CD Stereo. On the second disc which is a Blu-Ray Disc, the same works are featured available in Linear PCM 24bit/192khz,both Stereo and 5.1Surround, dts-hd MA 5.1 Surround,24bit/192 and Dolby TrueHD24bit/192, 5.1 Surround, and Dolby Digital 48khz,5.1 Surround and The perfomers are the Trondheim Soloists. The only Video on the second disc is the menu guide, this disc is being refered to as the first
release of a purely music only Blu-Ray disc. I suspect that the performances are all first rate, as all these works are a real showcase for any string orchestra.

Tonal quality is first rate, especially through my Panasonic BD-50 blu ray player.
By comparison even better than the SACD disc through my Linn Unidisk player.
However, the surround mix (while very involving) places you in the middle of the orchestra, which I do not like.
From the booklet it seems this was deliberate- I wonder why then 2L don't use this mixing in their other SACD's?
Their normal 5.1 SACD's are also of prime quality (think BIS, Linn and HM quality) and make you feel in the second row which I prefer...

The ultimate Blu-Ray showoff disc. Impressive use of Blu-Rays advanced audio abilities. Sure to be a classic Blu-Ray disc. They're out of print and new ones are incredibly expensive. I was able to snag one used.

I had very high hopes for this release, based in large part on the number of reviews I'd read on amazon and elsewhere. And being a surround sound addict, I was anxious to hear how the various divertimenti presented here would sound in a multi-channel format. But one of the main reasons I bought this double disc was its inclusion of Bela Bartok's "Divertimento for Strings."

Alas, this is not my favorite performance of the Bartok piece, which is among his most accessible works and which has become something of a classic in the modern classical repertoire. It's impeccably recorded, of course, and the surround mix is quite balanced and appealing without being over the top. However, my preferred recording remains that of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which to my ears is far more energetic.

Still, this release has its great moments, and IMHO the greatest of them is the3 "Carmina" by Terje Bjorklund. It's an absolutely gorgeous performance. The Britten and Bacewicz pieces included here ("Simple Symphony" and "Concerto for String Orchestra," respectively) also are quite good.

So: Yes, I would recommend this to surround fans hungry for classical in the multi-channel format. As for the Bartok ... in my opinion, you can't have too many versions of his "Divertimento" anyway.

This recording is like no other, however, you have to be able to reproduce the sound to appreciate it. I can hear a definite difference with this compared to other CD's over my PS3, Pioneer elite receiver and Paradigm Speakers. Love it.
Cons: Music selection
Pros: Sound and recording quality

You get both a Blu-ray and an SACD disc of the same material! An audiophile may find this useful for comparison, or you can give one away, they're both equally amazing. Superb recordings of exc performances.

The Divertimenti disc is an excellent demo to compare and contrast the various encoding processes and decide what works best in your system. The inclusion of so many various encodings of the same recordings is only part of what makes this disc great. The recordings are superb and the music selection is entertaining. This is something you can listen multiple times to get to know the music and really decide what the best approach is on your system.

''''''' '''''' '''' ''''''' ' ''''''.' '''' Onkyo 906 ' Chario Pegasus '''' '''''' ''''''''''.'''''' '''' ' '''''''' ''''''' ''' ''' ''''' blu-ray.