Customer Reviews

Sibelius: Symphony No. 2, Tubin: Symphony No. 5

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

 

 

MR. HURWITZ'S REVIEW ON ARKIV.COM GAVE THIS RECORDING HIGH PRAISE, AND DESERVEDLY SO. JARVI AND HIS CINCINNATI PLAYERS ARE MORE THAN UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF THIS DECEPTIVELY DIFFICULT SYMPHONY. THE SIBELIUS #2 DOESN'T SIMPLY "PLAY ITSELF," AS SOME WOULD THINK. THE COMPOSER WAS A MASTER AT MELODY, TRUE, BUT ALSO THE TANTILIZING TREATMENT OF PART-THEMES AND NEAR DEPARTURES. HE ALMOST BORDERS ON MINIMALISM, AND WE WOULD BECOME FRUSTRATED IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE REWARDING SUN-BREAKS AND OPEN VISTAS. OUR PATIENCE IS QUENCHED WITH MUCH BREADTH AND SCOPE. AN EXCELLENT EFFORT BY A VERY PROMISING YOUNG CONDUCTOR. I STILL, HOWEVER, PREFER THE BSO/DAVIS READING FOR SHEER ROMANTICISM AND MORE RELAXED INTERIOR PACING, BUT THIS IS A SMALL QUIBBLE. THE SOUND IS SOMETHING ELSE!! AN ORCHESTRA IN MY OWN LIVING ROOM!! WITH A PAIR OF KLH SPEAKERS (12" WOOFER/MIDRANGE--5" TWEETERS) I HEARD AN EXPERTLY BALANCED ORCHESTRA, AND THE PERFECTLY PLACED MICROPHONES GAVE ME A TRUE SENSE OF SYMPHONIC DEPTH THAT JOGGED MY MEMORY OF THOSE MANY NIGHTS IN ORCHESTRA HALL, CHICAGO. WHAT A SPLENDID JOB DONE BY ALL, AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE AN SACD CD PLAYER-----YET! RUN, DON'T WALK, TO YOUR NEAREST RECORD STORE OR WEB SITE AND BUY THIS RECORD! I'LL LEAVE MY WINDOW OPEN SO I CAN HEAR YOU SHOUT---"WOW!!!!"

UPDATE: (Dec 3, 2011) I posted the review below when I first received this disc from Amazon. I have since learned that the noise I heard was caused by my SACD player, not the recording. A firmware update to my player eliminated the noise and I now enjoy this recording immensely. I have revised the star rating and title of my review. My apologies for any confusion this may have caused.

I won't repeat the comments made here and elsewhere regarding the performance. I read them and purchased this disc to add another Sibelius 2nd to my collection. I've re-read all the reviews I could find before I wrote this to make sure that I wasn't forewarned - there is severe low frequency rumble through the entire disc.

I cannot hear it when I listen to this SACD through my headphones or through my reference bookshelf monitors, but in my home theater equipped with full-range powered towers, the rumble is very noticeable and distracting.

I can only assume that none of the other people who reviewed this disc have speakers capable of reaching below 30Hz. If they did, they would surely have commented on the sound. The noise (for those that care), sounds like a large air conditioning system was running near the microphones during the recording. I put my hand gently on the speaker woofer, and even during quiet passages, it was moving and pushing air in a manner consistent with the rumbling sound.

I have tested this again and again with my 2 sound systems and it's definitely not instrumental. This is a very nice recording on my smaller 2-channel stereo system, but do not purchase this recording if you have full-range speakers or a subwoofer.