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fuwen

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  1. fuwen

    A Musical Joke

    After many years, I found this CD, which include Musical Joke as one of the tracks!! Better still, in SACD format, under famous audiophile label harmonia mundi, yay!!
  2. Mozart had composed numerous Serenades. This particular one K. 522 in F major was funny and interesting. Mozart was writing this Serenade in F major for the audiences of the late 18th century. However, what they found amusing may need some explaining to the 20th century ears. Some of the jokes are obvious whereas others are subtle and can be obvious to the trained musicians. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/classical-music/the-musical-joke
  3. Yes!! Everybody stay safe!!
  4. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/classical-music/string-symphonies/151-string-symphonies
  5. I love two string orchestra works. One is String Sonatas composed by young Rossini, the other is String Symphonies, composed by (also young) Mendelssohn. Rossini String Sonata consists of 6 Sonatas, Decca 470447-2 double xrcd2 recorded all of them. Fim UltraHD CD recorded the original versions performed by only 4 instruments, but only recorded 5 of the 6 Sonatas. Both recordings are audiophile standard, something you can enjoy forever. My first encounter with Mendelssohn String Symphonies was a CD from Teldec, this CD recorded 5 of the 13 Symphonies. The String Symphonies were written for a larger string orchestra, and from audiophile point of view these recordings are not as hifi as the String Sonatas. The String Symphonies focus of presenting the musical ideas with the orchestra, whereas the String Sonatas’ arrangement tends to give individual instrument show off time, especially for the double bass. Strange enough after I bought the first CD of the String Symphonies, I did not go and search for the rest over the years until lately. After a search on the internet I managed to find two recording versions (seems the String Symphonies are not a hot recording repertoire). One is the complete recordings of Mendelssohn symphonies issued by Warner Classics, with recordings of the 13 String Symphonies performed by Concerto Koln, and the 5 Symphonies for Symphony Orchestra performed by Gewandhausorcheter Leipzig conducted by Kurt Masur. When I received the CDs I realised the Concerto Koln version is the one I bought under Teldec label, but now with 3 CDs completed all the 13 String Symphonies recordings. The other recording was performed by Amsterdam Sinfonietta conducted by Lev Markiz, all 13 String Symphonies recorded in one SACD!! In addition there was a String Symphony No. 8 version with woodwinds. Guess there are too many music, so this SACD does not have the CD layer, so can only be played from a SACD player. Having following SACD for so many years, I still find SACD recording format very well suited to classical music recordings, being able to present very well various instrumentation and the extend of frequencies at both ends of the sound spectrum. Recently I am also able to find fresh recordings of classical music of less popular repertoire on SACDs, so my findings on SACD on classical music recordings are likely valid. However, for those audiophiles with string liking for vocal, I guess a good red book CD recordings will still present better and richer mid range. But to me, enjoying classical performance with SACD is an enjoyment.
  6. Terra Cotta Warriors http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/chinese-classical-music/fantasia-terra-cotta-warriors/145-fantasia-terra-cotta-warriors
  7. Ever since the founders of SACD Philips and Sony gave up making high end SACD players, I have been worrying the future of this music format. After all I have been a loyal follower of SACD format since the launch and has collected tonnes of SACD recordings. My first reference SACD player Marantz SA-14 finally ran dead, and was replaced by KI Pearl Lite. The two SACD players were not of the same class, the mid range of Pearl Lite seemed less dense the the SA-14, but the extreme high and low seemed to have more details. When I started crazy on hifi I went after all the recommended audiophile discs. But after many years I am after music more than audiophile recordings already. Further more audiophile recordings many were female vocals, not a genre that I am after. Nowadays what I really enjoy are still classical music and Chinese classical. To me the SACD format best present classical recordings to the fullest potential! Especially for orchestra performance, SACD are very good in terms of sound stage, accurate positioning of instrument and details of various instrument within the large orchestra. While I thought the SACD availability was coming to an end, or at least getting scarce, I bumped into few EMI Classics SACD recordings: Jacqueline Du Pre Elgar and Delius cello concerto (2 SACDs), David Oistrakh Double and Triple concerto ( 2 SACDs), Debussy complete piano works ( 4 SACDs) and List Piano solo works (3 SACDs). Although SACD is a superior recording format, the final audio performance still very much depending on the quality of the original recordings. These SACDs collections are good in recording, and I am very happy to be able to collect whole set of works in one shot. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/hifi-corner/sacd-stories/146-sacd-stories
  8. fuwen

    XinYao

    24 years apart, this is the latest new CD release by Wen Fu “Listen till Dawn” (我听到天开始亮了). The album recorded 15 songs close to our heart that span over decades. The two that touches me most are his variation of his own original scores. 《新加坡派》to 《新加坡派2.0》(Singapore Style to Singapore Style 2.0) and 《历史考试前夕》to 《新谣历史外传》(History Exam Eve to Xin Yao History). Some of the songs collected in the album is Wen Fu written for various special occasions.《从心出发》(Start from Heart) was performed by 4 local artists (蔡健雅, 蔡淳佳, 陈伟联,潘嘉丽)and Singapore Chinese Orchestra celebrating Espanade 10 anniversary.《找回那感觉》(That Old Feeling) was for the new image launch event for Local Chinese news paper.《看电视》(Watch TV) was written in 1999 for board casting channel 8.《简爱》(SImple Love) was Wen Fu gift to Singapore independent 50 years.《自在苏州》(Easy Su Chow Province) was written for a China board casting station in 2016.《新欢会旧爱》celebrated 75 years of Broadcasting in 2011 with the three Chinese Boardcasting stations. The other group of songs in this album of Wen Fu were the theme songs for various TV series, movies and other singers he had written over the years. 《放映爱》(Love Show) was written in 2016 for a local movie of the same title. In 2015 Wen Fu wrote for a teacher singer 符杰荣 听明天在歌唱》(Listen to Tomorrow Song) in his album《唱歌给你听:梦想发光》(Songs for You). In 2013, 《《下一首歌》(The Next Song) was written for singer 玖健,and in Hong Kong singer 马浚伟 album《Cherish》the song《如愿》 (Wish). In 2015, 《人生无所谓》 (Easy Life) was the theme song for Singapore Media Corp Channel 8 TV series of the same title.《起飞》(Take Off) was a TV series with story back drop from Xin Yao and《好想告诉你》(How I Wish to Tell You) was written for this TV series, which recalled so much good memories for the generation grew up with Xin Yao. Finally, in 1999 Wen FU wrote for Hong Kong diva 张学友《她来听我的演唱会》(My Concert Lady Audience),but in this album of Wen Fu it was the version he sang during his concert in 2015, a very special interpretation of his own music live on stage. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/randomness/wen-fu-2016/147-wen-fu-2016
  9. Yes Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!!
  10. I used to collect discman but these gadgets are so old reliability will be an issue. http://fuwen.net/index.php/home/hifi-corner/24-years-of-discman
  11. Sorry for the very very late greetings. Think here has been quite quiet lately. How's your music journey? Happy 2017, cheers!
  12. All along I believe that other than the source, the headphone plays an important part in an audiophile headphone system set up. But after experiencing Perfidus, I realised the headamp could present such a wide sound stage and a three dimensional feeling of the recordings. It has lots of details in the low, mid and high range, a sweet enough mid range, accurate positioning, and yet and the same time sounds musical, and I believe it can greatly improve the musical performance of a headphone set up. If you are looking for a headphone amp, I would strongly suggest you audit the Perfidus! http://www.fuwen.net...fidious-headamp
  13. fuwen

    XinYao

    On 1 Aug 2013, one of Wen Fu's songs that was banned was boardcasted again in 3 main Singapore board casting stations. http://www.fuwen.net...-02-08-07-50-06
  14. Ordered from eBay China source instead....
  15. Is the replacement earpad for hd600/650 still available in Singapore? Used to get them from Hung's Brother but they dun sell anymore....
  16. The great Beethoven Ninth (Choral) Symphony. The first classical music with human voices added to the symphony by a well know composer. Now DG has an iPad apps that has 4 versions of the performance, details of the symphony, comments by various artists, composers and reporters, music score and animated instrument presentation. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/classical-music/beethoven-ninth/120-beethoven-ninth
  17. Mozart The Prussian Quartets, performed by Emerson Quartet Emerson Quartet moved from DG to Sony Label in 2011. They have been recording with DG since 1987. This is their first recording release under Sony. Moving ahead, the cellist David Finckel will also be leaving the quartet, and taking over the baton is cellist and conductor Paul Watkins. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/classical-music/emerson-quartet/118-emerson-quartet
  18. I had a chance to try out the Momentum and was quite please with its sonic performance. IMHO its sonic performance is approaching the HD 650, short of the airiness because being a closed headphone. Momentum is not price cheap, but Momentum is well build with good material and the details have been taken care of. If you are looking for a headphone with good sound isolation, elegant design, and yet is portable, I would say Momentum definitely worth your audition. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php/home/hifi-corner/sennheiser-momentum/117-sennheiser
  19. Every year I will not miss attending the Sound and Sight Journal Hifi exhibition organised by my old friend/teacher Mr Tham. Having stop upgrading equipment for so long, the main mission attending the show is to collect the latest CD recordings. There are always very good stuff available for grab. These few years I had been collecting old classical recordings re-issued by Hugo in their proprietary LPCD format. Some were familiar recordings to me like Carmen-Fantasie by Anne-Sophie, Rossini Overtures conducted by Karajan, my favourite Rossini Strings Sonatas performed by small strings group. Also there were recordings I had not collected like the American music performed by Menuhin and Grappelli, a strange recordings with bird calls Serenata performed by Maastricht Salon Orchestra, or Diabolus in Musica performed by Accardo which was outstanding both in performance and recording. In this year show I collected few recordings: Violin concertos played by Szeryng, Beethoven piano concertos by Karajan and Weissenberg, Overtures & Intermezzi by Karajan. Also a great recording of David Oistrakh playing The Devil's Trill. The Devil's Trill is a mono recording, but one can already feel the greatness of Oistrakh! http://www.fuwen.net...=114&Itemid=199
  20. I am not really a fan of Fong Fei Fei (凤飞飞). But like many people born in the same generation, Fong Fei Fei is a name very familiar to us. With her passed away we loss yet another familiar Chinese singer of our era. But certainly many will remember her, and the beautiful past in that generation. Fong Fei Fei's family had been very tight lip on her death news, which only release much later in 2012 after the Chinese New Year and thus a surprise to many of us. I quickly found from my CD collection some old CD recordings of hers. Although she is a good singer, her style not totally to my taste. I like only one of her late production 'Applause' (掌声响起). To me 'Applause' is a nearly perfect performance of Fong Fei Fei. The rest of her songs are cordial, but this one is certainly grand. The song started nearly with solo vocal, and ended with grand orchestra support and great climax, that will touch the performer and the audience. I once saw this so called audiophile CD of Fong Fei Fei and happily bought it. But when played back from my hifi system I found the vocal recording so harsh, definitely not doing justice to Fong Fei Fei's voice. So the CD was kept aside for a long time. After so long I listened again this time, and reached the same conclusion: could not make it. Lately after Fong Fei Fei passed away lots of CDs with her songs were released. I chose one of them and found the vocal recording so much more better! http://www.fuwen.net/index.php?option=com_...=129&Itemid=198
  21. Anne-Sophie Mutter can be said as one of the best classical violinist in the world. Other than technically perfect in playing, which is the norm nowadays for modern violinists, her playing also has a unique style of her own: colourful, different, and with great dynamics. While it is not difficult to tell the violinist based on his style of playing in the older era, where technical perfection is not present, it is quite difficult to differentiate modern soloists, as all are as technical perfect as they can be, but lack of individual character. Mutter this 4 CDs album 'Back to the Future' collected her year 2000 spring performances in New York, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. That series of performances were essentially music written in the 20th century. These music are quite different from the classical music in the romantic and classical era. Composers were trying out different musical forms and musical ideas. It is more on the effect of sound than about nice rhythm. It is about unharmonised chords and difficult rhythm. In symphonies the brass and the woodwind are taking over violins playing the main musical ideas. Music lovers who loves 20th century works, or those who attempting to try these works, I guess Mutter's will not disappoint you with her interpretation in 'Back to the Future'. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php?option=com_...=130&Itemid=196
  22. SACD is still my favourite audiophile format. This time accidentally I chanced upon this SACD recording of David Oistrakh's Beethoven violin concerto in stereo. My admirable soloist playing my favourite violin concerto in SACD format, so I straight away bought it online! This 1959 stereo concerto recording of EMI Classics was supported by French National Radio Orchestra, conducted by Andre Cluytens. CD booklet was all in Japanese, I supposed the recording was specially prepared for Japanese Audiophiles. David Oistrakh interpretation and performance of the Beethoven violin concerto without surprise was very good. He was playing with a slower tempo typical of that era. Steady performance with very warm and rich vibrato. The orchestra gave very good support to the solo violin. The recording a bit biased towards the soloist. The final chord of the third movement was decisive. http://www.fuwen.net/index.php?option=com_...=131&Itemid=197
  23. Bought this CD collection of Chinese and English pop and folk songs rearranged by our local composer Mr Poon Yew Tian. The music were performed by string quartet with piano, or harp in some arrangements. Poon's arrangement was simple and relax, which made this CD good for relax listening, for those who also grew up with these music, like chatting with a good old friend. [attachmentid=4665] [attachmentid=4666] [attachmentid=4667] http://www.fuwen.net/index.php?option=com_...=109&Itemid=194
  24. Sound Devices HX-3 http://www.fuwen.net/index.php?option=com_...id=18&Itemid=57 Headroom Total Airhead http://www.fuwen.net/index.php?option=com_...=122&Itemid=189
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