| Review by jdaniel@jps.net August 21, 2004 (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
| A milestone for me: this it the first surround SACD in which I've been able to compare to the original release, a favorite for years. Biber was the first of those "other" Baroque composers who tweaked my interest. His music is quirky, melodious and dramatic by turns, and in Missa Salisburgensis, everything including the kitchen sink in employed in this grand Mass--large trumpets and drums in the back of the church, small choral and instrumental groups to the center and sides, large choral forces in the front, and, of course, organ. Goebel/McCreesh and Co. made a grand noise in 2 channel to say the least, but in multi-channel, everything just makes more sense logistically and artistically. The mass opens with distant trumpets in the back, then...a full-on assault from massed choirs, organ and orchestra. In surround, one can still hear trumpet interjections coming from the back at this point. Very exciting. Throughout the Mass, Biber alternates the big sections with smaller intimate moments with wonderful delicate melodies; antiphonal effects, unnoticed in 2 chan, delight the ear in surround. No gimmickry here--ensembles originate in the room as they are placed in pictures and descriptions in the performance notes, so I don't suspect "artificial" processing took place after the fact. Another excellent demo SACD for surround enthusiasts, and I look forward to more from these forces--McCreesh's Handel's Messiah on the way! (SACD layer is in DG's typical 44.1/24bit PCM, still better than redbook.)
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