Silver Solstice (W/Dvd)

Paul Winter & Friends (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 6, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Living Music
• ASIN: B000BVZ57Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,080 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For the last 25 years Paul Winter has been performing winter solstice shows in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. By and large, this is where he has stretched his music, working with virtuoso players from across the musical spectrum, but especially world music. Irish piper Davey Spillane and singer Nóirín ní Riain, Armenian percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Brazilian guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, and the Russian Dmitri Pokrovsky Singers join the Winter Consort in songs that tap a different spirit in the winter season. The cathedral facilitates an embracing aura so that Spillane's uilleann pipe lament on "Dawnwalker" segues into Tuncboyaciyan's mournful hymn, "Before It's Too Late," as if they were the same piece. Perhaps a lament taps the same spirit in any language or culture, be it Irish or Armenian. Besides all the global themes, there's quintessential Consort classical-folk-jazz like the Winter-penned "Harvest Faire," where his soprano dances in the cathedral eaves amidst Spillane's pipes and the Balkan-based rhythms. Most of Silver Solstice is drawn from the 2004 performance, but there are some previously recorded renditions here, and several songs had previous incarnations on the limited-edition release of Solstice Gems. So to longtime Winter fans, this may seem like a glorified greatest-hits collection. But that limited-edition release is now out of print, making Silver Solstice the definitive document of this annual event. In addition to the two main discs, there is also a DVD-Audio disc with 5.1 surround mixes that puts you in the middle of the cathedral. --John Diliberto

Product Description

Since 1980, the Grammy (R) Award-winning Paul Winter Consort has celebrated the Winter Solstice, the seasonal rite of passage, with a musical feast from the cornucopia of cultures and creatures of the world, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. To commemorate their 25th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration, Living Music has released a new box-set entitled Silver Solstice, featuring the Consort and a host of special guests. Silver Solstice presents the entire performance of the 25th celebration, plus 10 tracks from previous years' solstice events totaling 142 minutes of music. The package includes 2 stereo CDs, and also a Surround Sound option on one bonus DVD-Audio disc - the first time Paul Winter's music has been recorded in 5.1 Surround Sound. The goal was to put the listener onstage in the middle of the musicians in the center of the world's largest Gothic cathedral. Winter says the audiophile recordings may be "the best presentation of our music ever."

Silver Solstice embraces the musical traditions of many cultures, and includes voices from what Winter calls "the greater symphony of the Earth" - whale, wolf and uirapurú (the musical wren of the Amazon rainforest.) During four decades of travel in 48 countries of the world, Winter has evolved an extended community of kindred players, and the Solstice Celebration in New York has become their annual reunion. This embrace of diversity is, for Winter, the hallmark of the solstice tradition. Silver Solstice reflects this eclecticism, with special guests including gospel singer Theresa Thomason, Brazilian diva Luciana Souza, sean nos (old style) Celtic singer Noirin Ni Riain, Armenian singer and percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Brazilian guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, Irish Uillean piper Davy Spillane, Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart, mbira master Chris Berry, and the nine-voice Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble from Russia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Winter: Silver Solstice -- in surround sound, December 31, 2005

By 

Robert Auld (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silver Solstice (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)

I was surprised (though I suppose I should not be) by the reviewer who panned this album because he was expecting a video DVD of the concert and only got the music with still photos from the DVD disc. This is probably a symptom of the record industry's failure to market a single surround sound music format that everyone can understand. So, let's make this clear, the bonus DVD with this album is a DVD-AUDIO title that gives you high definition surround sound. And, if you have a surround sound system set up to play it properly, it sounds magnificent.

I have heard Paul Winter's Winter Solstice concerts in New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine several times over the years. The immense spaces of this cathedral (literally, the world's largest gothic-style church), combined with Paul Winter's inspired use of the acoustics for his music always makes for an impressive experience. While Winter has recorded in the cathedral before (several tracks of the album Canyon, for example), the recordings have always been in regular two channel stereo, which cannot really convey the experience of actually being in the space itself. When I heard that this latest album contained a surround mix, I was eager to see how Paul and his engineer Dixon Van Winkle had coped with the challenges inherent in recording in this huge space. For one thing, a recording is a different experience than a live concert; just trying to duplicate the church acoustics would not likely be satisfactory for someone listening at home, and there are all sorts of decisions to make about balances, tonal quality, how much of the church acoustics to include without smothering the direct sound of the instruments, etc.

I am happy to report that Dixon Van Winkle has done a brilliant job on this project; it is simply the best surround sound mix I have yet heard. You have the sense of really being there, but the balances are always close to ideal (something very hard to achieve in a live concert). Interestingly, it is the quiet, subtle moments that seem to benefit most from the surround mix (such as the beginning of "Belly of the Whale", where you sense the sea washing around you as the whales are heard singing from behind)--the listener is drawn in to the experience to a degree that ordinary stereo cannot achieve.

Ultimately, the success of any music album rises or falls on the music. If you like Paul Winter's music, you will like this CD plus DVD-Audio set very much. If you are not familiar with his music but like great surround sound, you could do worse than to check this title out. And if you can't stand Paul Winter's music--well, bah, humbug to you too!

Highly recommended.

3.0 out of 5 stars Silver Solstice, January 31, 2012

By 

Morton Eostein - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silver Solstice (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)

Music was very good. "DVD" suggests video. At end of DVD music were some mediocre still pictures of the Cathedral. Bonus DVD not much of a bonus.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, January 27, 2010

By 

Nelle Mercer "Nelle" (Finger Lakes Area, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Silver Solstice (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)

My son and I drove to the Cathedral of St John the Divine to one of the solstice performances that make up this CD. I purchased the CD the next year when it came out.We have played it every year since, with fond memories of our real solstice experience in NYC. Paul Winter is an amazing musician! I highly recommend this.