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jdaniel said:
All you have to do is listen.
The ultimate winning argument: "I heard it myself!"
Said famously one person who reported a raccoon greeting her from under a fir tree, in polite academic English, on her way to the outhouse just past the midnight hour.
And you, you heard Furtwaengler's thoughts from beyond the grave.
I'll take that as incontrovertible evidence and, humbled, indeed opt out of the discussion.
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Post by rousslan December 23, 2011 (22 of 37)
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For me, this set has the best sound. I have possessed this version five times : 2 times on LP including the DMM mastering, the EMI CD, the Gebhardt CD and the pristine.
These new sacd are wonderful even if expensive.
This is the best ring cycle (for me, absolutely subjective).
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rousslan said:
For me, this set has the best sound. I have possessed this version five times : 2 times on LP including the DMM mastering, the EMI CD, the Gebhardt CD and the pristine.
These new sacd are wonderful even if expensive.
This is the best ring cycle (for me, absolutely subjective).
I concur with rousslan: this EMI SACD set is easily the best representation of the best available sources. I am surprised it sounds as good as it does compared to the earlier CD incarnation as well as the Gebhardt version sourced from LPs.
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Post by jdaniel February 15, 2012 (24 of 37)
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If only the strings were able to play the music, esp. the fiendishly-difficult, delicate divisi arpeggiations as heard during the "Rainbow Bridge" and "Magic Fire" music. No incandescence. I deal-breaker for me. Glad to see Furt represented on SACD though.
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I should add this set to my collection the instant EMI releases it in the west.
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Will someone compare the sound quality of this set to Keilberth's 1955 set on Testament? Mono does not bother me so long as it's got the clarity and dynamic range and good frequency extension
Thanks
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petrushka1975 said:
Will someone compare the sound quality of this set to Keilberth's 1955 set on Testament? Mono does not bother me so long as it's got the clarity and dynamic range and good frequency extension Thanks
I have the Testament CD and LP releases of the 1955 Keilberth Ring, and find the LP to be superior. However, there was a gouge in one side of the Walkure, and I am afraid my stylus may have been damaged. So I stopped there until I can do some checking of the equipment.
I liked the LP of Furtwängler's Rai Ring ever so slightly better than the SACD, but only by a hair.
As to the performances, both are magnificent. I have done A/B comparisons by recording both to my music server and toggling back and forth between them. Keilberth has the advantages of better orchestra and the stereo recording, but Furtwängler was recorded under closer to studio conditions in the radio station.
One should not discount the rapport that existed between Furtwängler and the Italians. He didn't get on well all the time conducting outside of Germany. His 1943 excursion to Sweden was very unhappy for him and them. His conducting style was too intuitive for the Swedes, who wanted clear signals. The Italians seem to have liked communicating with him by ESP rather than by the baton. This would have been just as true for his Milan Ring as for his Rome one.
However, if the Keilberth came out in SACD I am sure it would blow everybody out of the water.
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I read that the Furtwangler SACD reissue was remastered from different (better) sources than what was used for the original EMI CD release, and that pleased me as a lot has been said about how those CDs didn't sound too great. I have not come across any complaints about the sound quality of the SACDs and that's encouraging too.
Do you have the Gebhardt CD release and how does that compare?
The Keilberth set is magnificent in both performance and sound and I agree that it would be quite unbeatable if it ever came out on SACD.
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petrushka1975 said:
Do you have the Gebhardt CD release and how does that compare?
Yes, I made the mistake of getting the Gebhardt release of the RAI Ring only a month before the SACD release was announced. The only advantage to that arrangement is that I am able to answer your question. The Gebhardt is a well-mastered CD set, and uses the common technique of boosting the low frequencies to avoid cut-off of note decay and ambient sound. Unfortunately what you get as a result is more sound of musicians bumping music stands and the like (no problem from the audience, however) rather than more musicality. The SACD does not have to resort to such measures and so the sound wave is realistic from top to bottom.
I gave the Gebhardt away and can't recheck, but my impressions were strong at the time and I am comfortable with my conclusions: the Gebhardt is as good as CD will get, but the SACD is a big step up.
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