Pentatone Classics SACD

[fuwen 0]

Just bought 20 Pentatone Label classical SACDs from New Disc village. Oh! I think my wallet cannot breathe already. Ernest is selling at a very good price. For those classical and SACD fan do go down and have a look. He did not order a lot. I think Grammophone is also selling the Pentatone label. Total catalogue about 40 titles, I think.

 

I got to know Pentatone label via Towerrecords.com usa site. Unfortunately they are bankrupt already, and so sad I guess we will lose the local towerrecords shop soon and there goes another good place for classical CDs.

[cmk 0]

fuwen, any specific artists or music to recommend on this label?

[fuwen 0]

Hi! cmk, how to answer this question? It will take some time for me to gone through all the 20 SACDs. So far I would say the recordings are good and of course in SACD mode is very good. Generally recording are quite smooth, not sure they used tube mike or not. Quote from the CD booklet:

 

'Polyhymnia specialises in high-end recordings of .......most of Polyhymnia's recording equipment is built or substantially modified in-house .....emphasis is placed on the quality of the analogue signal path .... was founded in 1998 as a management buy-out by key personnel of the former Philips Classics Recording Center ....'

 

I am not familiar with most of the artist. I still live in the 70s generation artists like Karajan, Abbado, Bohn, Heifetz, Ritcher, Mutter etc. Many of the Pentatone recordings are done recently in 2002, 2003 but they also have a series of remastered recordings.

 

However there are some familar artists(to me) in the Pentatone label like ASMINT Sir Neville Marriner, Osawa(Tshaikovsky sym no. 6) etc.

 

Many of the titles are not the commonly recorded ones like some of the Haydn early symphonies, Mozart

Youth Symphonies (7a, 12, 18 ..) and some unfamilar composers.

 

Generally I will buy those recordings I do not have, and if my pocket still OK then I will buy the familar ones (some of those I bought include Tchaikovsky String Serenade, Dorvak Sym 9, Beethoven Piano Sonatas).

 

I also bought some recordings by the pianist Mari Kodama, according to Ernest of New Disc Village many of his customers order hers. I have heard her Beethoven Sonatas, not bad.

 

 

[cmk 0]

Thanks, will keep a lookout for this label.

[fuwen 0]

Hi! cmk, if you like Stravinsky the you can try the 'Paavo Jarvi Stravinsky' by the Pentatone. This one stands out after listening to the Pentatones so far. Very intesting pieces with lots of instruments solos. I think good for testing system set-up.

 

Suite from the Soldier's Tale

Concerto in E-flat 'Dumbarton oaks

Concerto for string orchestra (in D)

Ragtime for 11 instruments

Petit Choral

 

The CD cover is in bright red colour.

 

[cmk 0]

Ok, will go for it. Thanks.

[cmk 0]

fuwen

Tried to get the Stravinsky, but couldn't, its out of stock.

Instead I got the Mozart and Felix Mendelsonn Violin concertos and Tchaikovsky Serenades and they were fantastic. Extraordinarily well recorded on SACD. Also picked up the Beethoven 5 & 7 symphony by Kleiber.

[fuwen 0]

Yes, Pentatone recordings are very smooth and easy to listen for long duration. The Kleiber Beethovens is a good buy, u got the SACD version? In fact Kleiber has very little recordings as he is a very 'picky' person, only good recording/performance to his standard then will release the records. And in fact there are about only 5 titles from him. You will not be wrong to get his recordings. Some the recordings may not be fantastic but the performance is unequal. He is able to make the orchestra to play in a very sincere and energitic way. His other recordings include Schubert symphonies (DG), Dvorak Piano concerto with Ritcher (EMI), Brahms Sym 4(DG) and I believe a Verdi. He is a very interesting conductor!

[cmk 0]

If you go the website, there is a writeup on how Pentatone was setup. These guys are quadraphonic supporters, dating back to the Decca/Philips days. Cool. For these SACDs, the surround version is certainly much better than the stereo version. I get good soundstage layering and hall reverb on my HT setup.

 

Yes, the Beethoven is the SACD hybrid version. I think its only a little behind the LP, nice to listen to it without the ticks and pops. The last and only time(so far) I went to the durian for the Tokyo PO concert, they were performing Beethoven's 5th. Quite disappointing acoustics - too much absorption. Went home and played Kleiber's version on LP. Now that really put a smile on my face and tears in my eyes.

[fuwen 0]

I mentioned that Towerrecords USA went bankkrupt but it seems they are still running business like normal. The US website still updates and improves and I am wondering did I read my info wrongly somewhere. If anyone awares what is happening please enlighten!