There are plenty of recordings of Beethoven's symphonies already! But this new recording occupies a unique place amongst them.

The stereo version of this SACD is the first recording of the symphonies to use TACET's own 'Tube Only' technique. Devotees of this recording technique consider the resulting audio effect to be particularly homogeneous and, despite all its brilliance, not cold.
The surround sound version in this SACD had to be made because there was no existing recording of the symphonies in TACET's Real Surround Sound. And this is music which cries out for the true Surround Sound experience. Beethoven extending horizons again!

This pioneering recording procedure was developed in 1999 by TACET and has undergone subsequent improvement. The guiding principle is always the score itself. 30 of these issues are now available, and they all confirm how excitingly new and moving we can find familiar works. The listener's reaction to this type of recording is precisely not 'I know this already'.

The uniqueness of these Beethoven recordings is thus partly a result of the different conceptions and aspects of the recording technique, but also derives from the intelligent and highly musical interpretation of this grandiose music. Both versions - stereo and surround - 'overflow with music'. Wojciech Rajski and the Polish Chamber Philharmonia demonstrate that their performances together are always 'in the forefront'.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Performers:
Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra
Wojciech Rajski, Conductor


Track Listing:
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major op. 55
1. Allegro con brio
2. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai
3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4. Finale. Allegro molto - Poco andante - Presto
Symphony No. 4 in B flat major op. 60
5. Adagio - Allegro vivace
6. Adagio
7. Allegro molto e vivace - un poco meno allegro
8. Allegro ma non troppo


Total playing time: 79:05

After strong recommendations for the previous Auryn/Imai Mozart string quintets recording (Audiophile Highlight in Stereo, klassik-heute recommendation, nomination for ICMA) and lots of praise for the previously released version of this recording there is not much to add, except maybe that once again TACET Real Surround Sound musically reaches far beyond normal stereo. Every magical detail of the interaction between Matthias Lingenfelder, Jens Oppermann, Stewart Eaton und Andreas Arndt becomes clear. This ambitious multichannel recording is no high tech version of stereo, for many listeners it is equal to a live concert.An outstanding career spanning three decades has made the Auryn Quartet one of the most sought-after and respected ensembles performing around the globe. The Quartet has not changed its personnel over this long period, and continues with its fresh and pioneering approach to all genres of music. On this release, they present Mozart’s String Quartet in G major KV 387 and his String Quartet in D minor KV 421.

Mozart’s string quartets are among the best of the genre, and are equal to his more famous quartets in every way. These works have been recorded in their entirety for this release by the Auryn Quartet, with Nobuko Imai joining. Auryn Quartet is Matthias Linenfelder, Jens Oppermann, Stewart Eaton, and Andreas Arndt. They believe recording these works is the summit of chamber music repertoire.

It is well-known that musicians very often sit in a circle in Tacet’s recordings. With this layout, they don't just hear each other, they can also see each other. This means that the musical exchanges between the musicians are simpler and better. And it is easier to achieve a natural-sounding recording, not only in Tacet Real SS but also in stereo. But is it even possible for an orchestral recording? And without a conductor? We were intrigued by the question and so decided to pursue it. The answer? It does indeed work - in fact very well! At the very least, a layout like this expresses the equality of all the participants. The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra puts down a spicy performance of two of Mozart's bubbliest symphonies: the "Prague" and the "Linz". The musicians of the NPhO and to Gordan Nikolic took on this successful venture with great enthusiasm, and the result pays dividends!

MOZART Serenade in Bb, K 361 “Gran Partita”. Fantasia in f, K 608 • Stuttgart Winds • TACET 209 (Blu-ray audio: 57:20)

This Blu-ray disc comes in surround sound, so I’ll confess that I listened to it using my HD television with its sound bar rather than on my high-end stereo system. It’s a remarkable performance of a favorite work, which I and many others first heard on an old LP conducted by Otto Klemperer. Some readers might also remember the critic B. H. Haggin’s surprise that anything conducted by Klemperer, whom he usually disliked, could be so graceful. Haggin attributed it to the band. Perhaps it is a piece that in professional hands can’t go too wrong. Here everything seems right, including the recorded sound in stereo. There is grace abounding, and beautifully etched phrases and balance among the players, each of whom is profiled in the ample notes. The fetching opening with its prominent clarinet and oboe parts couldn’t be more touching, and the energy of the whole performance is equally appealing. I have a stack of recordings of this work, including those conducted by Mackerras, and others played by groups such as the Sixth Floor Orchestra. I’d recommend this delightful new disc, though, to anyone, especially to those with surround sound systems.

FANFARE: Michael Ullman

Following on from the first two releases, volume 3 concludes the complete set of Mozart string quintets on this release. Once again they are palyed by the Auryn Quartet with Nobuko Imai, viola. ''The Auryn Quartet and Nobuko Imai again fully convince with one much elaborated and at the same time very natural Mozart. Their music making is supported by the outstanding recording quality and gives us a stunning opportunity to rediscover these incomprehensibly not so popular works under the best possible conditions. (Pizzicato)

The string quartet offers countless possibilities of interplay between the different instruments. If you add a fifth person to the mix, in this case the viola player, Nobuko Imai, with the Auryn Quartet, then it not only gives the whole sound a comparatively orchestral quality but also considerably increases the methods at the composer's disposal. These are just two reasons why Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's combination of 2 violins, 2 violas, and a cello have become so well-loved. In this release many ingenious, refined and playful themes, the whole inexhaustible richness of Mozart's ideas are realized even more clearly.

String quartets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart without historical performance practice - is that even possible nowadays? -Of course it is! At the same time, there is probably no serious classical musician who has entirely escaped its influence in some shape or form. We are not just talking about diligence in choosing "urtext editions" or in the choice of instrument. The changes creep into the smallest details of phrasing which people simply can't do as they used to, even subconsciously. This is borne by listening to many performances. Of course the Auryn Quartet is also subject to these influences. If, despite this, their performances seem conventional, then it's deceptive as their playing style is no longer conventional when seen in the light of modern performance practice. They refer back to a playing style that could be termed "historical" in a wholly different way, namely that of a musical generation that has now died out. Their role models and teachers were the Amadeus Quartet and the Guarnieri Quartet. The members of the Auryn Quartet were musically "socialized" in a different era to younger musicians and they choose not to discard the aesthetic sensibilities acquired in their youth as though they were just old-fashioned garments. They love the beautiful "old" string sound and keep this tradition alive, but with the diligence expected of today's musicians. The result is timelessly beautiful music.

Here the young Abegg Trio, already respected thanks to excellent recordings, presents it's masterpiece: The three musicians manage to create a musical balance which respects Mozart's intention; and this on a modern grand piano. The pianist Gerrit Zitterbart proves his mettle as a high-grade Mozart pianist [...]. And in this musical delicacy with dynamically bright variety and clear, unadorned recording, which sounds utterly natural, this new production overshadows the older one by the Beaux-Arts Trio [...]. a benchmark production." (stereoplay)

During the past years, the DVD Audio D154 "More Power and Ideas - For Your Surround System" has helped countless listeners optimize their systems for maximum 5.1 enjoyment. + The concept of this project can be summed up in one sentence: Test your system without measuring devices - only by listening. + Re-issued on Blu-ray disc.

RAVEL La Valse. Ma mère l’Oye: Suite . Tzigane. 1 Boléro. Pavane pour une infante défunte • Carlo Rizzi, cond; Netherlands PO; 1 Gordon Nikoli? (vn) • TACET 207 (SACD: 63:10)


This is a true audiophile release. The CD booklet contains detailed notes and diagrams indicating where all the instruments sit in relation to the listener, when heard through six speakers. The lineup differs from one piece to the next. For example, in Ma mère l’Oye the violas are positioned directly behind you, whereas in Tzigane they move further to your left and the double basses take over the central position. For Boléro the positioning of the many solo instruments is intricately plotted. I certainly hope a critic with six speakers is able review the disc: I would be interested to hear how the surround sound strikes him or her. I only have an old-fashioned (high end) stereo system.


Tacet call their sound “sensuous and subtle” and for once the reality lives up to the hype, for even in stereo this disc sounds very smooth. Perhaps the violins don’t have the strength they need to dominate in the mix (at moments when they need to, of course), but that may also be because this is not balanced quite like a traditional concert hall set up. In stereo every solo instrument, especially woodwind, has genuine presence, while parts of La Valse practically turn into a bass drum concerto.


The Netherlands Philharmonic is a fine and disciplined orchestra, while Rizzi brings the pliancy he shows as an opera accompanist to the French orchestral repertoire. His tempos for La Valse and Boléro sound just right to me: the former elastic enough to conjure up the Viennese spirit, the latter keeping up momentum without pushing forward à la Charles Munch—although Rizzi does finish the piece a touch faster than he began. In Tzigane the double basses may be behind you, but Nikoli??s gypsy fiddle is very much in your face; he dashes off the long opening solo with élan. The sound quality pays dividends everywhere, from the mysterious swirling sonorities that usher in La Valse to the blossoming climax of “Le jardin férique,” the fifth and final movement of Ma mère l’Oye . (The lower strings are beautifully warm in this movement.) Rizzi only gives us the orchestral suite, not the complete ballet.


While these performances may not match the excitement of Reiner, the elegance of Monteux or Dutoit, or the precision of Boulez, they are by no means second tier. Besides, there is always something to be said for sound that is sensuous and subtle.


FANFARE: Phillip Scott

• Maurice Ravel's music needs no introduction. A sampling of orchestral works, including Valse and the famous Boléro. • Carlo Rizzi leads the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra • One of the first set of 5 Blu-ray audio discs from TACET. • The Blu-ray audio disc was mastered in 24 bit / 96 kHz resolution, both in stereo and in TACET Real 5.1 Standard Surround Sound. • The Blu-ray disc joins the TACET assortment as the fifth sound carrier alongside CD, LP, DVD audio and SACD.

The project Mare Balticum aims to present the medieval musical heritage of the Baltic Sea region in the 12th-15th centuries. It consists of four musical programmes, prepared in great detail, and employing the newest musicological, philological, historical and organological research. Each of these programmes presents the local character of a different coastal region of Balticum, its specific historical and cultural situation, its most important saints and rulers, and the Christian roots of the relevant country. They provide an insight into the local literature and musical repertories of medieval Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Poland; both Latin and the vernacular are represented, as well as the diversity of historical musical instruments used in those regions at the time. The project as a whole, however, aims to show something of the strong political and cultural connections between those medieval countries, their development over time, and the similarities between them, all of which are essential to our understanding of the common identity and history of Balticum, as is reflected to us through its centuries of music. (Agnieszka Budzinska-Bennett) As special guest we welcome Benjamin Bagby.

CHOPIN Ballade No. 4 in f, op. 52; Nocturne in c#, op. 27/1; Nocturne in f?, op. 48/2; Barcarolle in F#, op. 60; Impromptus: No. 1 in Ab, op. 29; No. 2 in F#, op. 36; No. 3 in G?, op. 51; No. 4 in c#, op. 66 “Fantasie-Impromptu”; Prelude in c#, op. 45; Scherzo No. 4 in E, op. 54; Grande Valse Brillante in a, op. 34/2 • Evgeni Koroliov (pn) • TACET 202 (79:46)

Ever since I first became acquainted with Evgeni Koroliov’s playing—initially of Bach and Handel and later of Prokofiev and Mozart—the pianist has always intrigued me. Perhaps it is his always interesting and always unique way of approaching the classics, but perhaps even more so, it is his engaging way of communicating through the music he chooses. And for any pianist, Chopin must always be of at least some interest, so brilliantly did the composer write for the instrument and so heartfelt is his music. From the opening of the F-Minor Ballade I could already tell that something was different here. Koroliov sees this as a story being told in the moment—a story to which he seemingly does not yet know the ending—rather than the recreation of one already told. His loose way with the rhythm initially bothered me, but when I saw how he was approaching the piece, in an almost improvisatory way, the effect became magical. The contrasts in sections were rather less jarring than in some performances: there is much more fluidity to his pacing, an almost inevitability to the succession from one section to another. Most remarkable here, though, is the way which Koroliov not only makes the piano sing, but also speak—the way he approaches each melodic line, it is almost as though the subtle changes in color, in dynamics, in slight adjustments of tempo are mimicking a protagonist’s voice. The nocturnes are similar in approach, yet different as well: the moods within the works are less varied, but they still feel improvisatory. Koroliov does not speak through them; their message must be sung. And sing they do in the pianist’s capable hands. The impromptus found in the middle of the recital are a breath of fresh air and amazingly, the way Koroliov handles them, these pieces sound the least improvisatory of all. There is an almost classical sense of pacing here: The pieces sound anew in their remarkable sense of stability in each individual moment, suggesting a knowledge of exactly where one is and to where one is going. The E-Major Scherzo brings us full circle and reveals yet a different side of both composer and performer. The mood is lighter and airier, yet the tension of the story is still there. Koroliov’s passagework sparkles, the rapid staccato chords bounce, and the middle section’s melancholic melody is simple in effect, yet aptly heart-wrenching. This is some of the finest Chopin playing that I’ve come across in years. It is not Rubinstein’s way, nor Pollini’s; Koroliov finds a way all his own. And the more one listens to him, the more convinced one becomes that this is the way this music should be played. What more can I say? Grab it and enjoy!

FANFARE: Scott Noriega

Although this 2006 Schubert four-hand program might be difficult to source as a physical CD, it is now easily obtainable via digital download. I have rarely heard such grand, grounded, and deeply considered performances of these two major Schubert masterpieces.

Too many younger duos impose tricky phrasings and fancy rubatos throughout the F minor Fantasia, whereas Evgeni Koroliov and Ljupka Hadžigeorgieva allow the opening section to seemingly play itself, with the climaxes and soft moments carefully scaled and the embellishments perfectly placed. The Largo conveys a rare buoyancy by virtue of the duo’s seamlessly matched trills and triplet chords. They take time over the Scherzo and slightly relax the pace in the Trio section; as a result, the imitative writing gains a lovely conversational lilt. Likewise, the players keep the fugal finale’s foreground and background material in clear perspective, so that the music sounds weighty yet never cluttered or clangorous. You don’t get the Perahia/Lupu edition’s moments of otherworldly intimacy and harmonic pointing, yet Koroliov/Hadžigeorgieva are no less distinctive.

Comparable textural organization and deftly effected transitions characterize this duo’s remarkable synchronicity in the Grand Duo’s first movement, both technically and musically. They appropriately feel the long second-movement Andante in two long beats to the bar, and, more importantly, let the music sing. The Scherzo often comes off as clunky when pianists fall into the trap of accenting most downbeats. Here, however, the triplet patterns fall into long lines that effortlessly move over the barlines. It’s easy to turn the note-packed Finale into a bloated Hungarian Dance that just won’t end. Yet through intelligent balances, subtle animation, and variety of articulation, the Koroliov/Hadžigeorgieva duo brilliantly reveals the movement’s symphonic scope and truly “grand” aspirations.

My home sound system loves Tacet’s resplendent engineering, by the way! No Schubert lover nor piano duo maven should miss this most gratifying release.

– ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

Total playing time: 65'15