[DVDA][OF] Gustav Holst – The Planets, Egdon Heath, The Perfect Fool - London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn - 1973-1974/2001 (Classical/Orchestral)

foobar2000 1.3.13 / Замер динамического диапазона (DR) 1.1.1
Дата отчёта:  2021-11-27 21:52:29
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Анализ:   ? / DVDVolume
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DR         Пики         RMS           Продолжительность трека
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DR11      -1.14 дБ   -17.65 дБ      7:11 13-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR15      -5.54 дБ   -30.02 дБ      8:50 14-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR14      -1.94 дБ   -25.50 дБ      3:58 15-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR12      -1.08 дБ   -18.70 дБ      7:48 16-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR15      -1.24 дБ   -23.94 дБ      9:59 17-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR11      -1.12 дБ   -18.50 дБ      6:10 18-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR12     -18.60 дБ   -36.32 дБ      7:30 19-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR11      -6.63 дБ   -25.64 дБ      0:58 20-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR11      -3.62 дБ   -21.78 дБ      3:39 21-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR12     -14.58 дБ   -35.47 дБ      2:39 22-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR10      -1.33 дБ   -17.35 дБ      3:32 23-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
DR14      -4.57 дБ   -28.18 дБ     14:40 24-Lf-Rf 24/48000 + Ls-Rs 24/48000
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Количество треков: 12
Реальные значения DR: DR12
Частота:   48000 Гц
Каналов:   4
Разрядность:   24
Битрейт:   4608 кбит/с
Кодек:   MLP
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Анализ:   ? / DVDVolume
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DR         Пики         RMS           Продолжительность трека
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DR10      -1.14 дБ   -15.49 дБ      7:11 01-L-R 24/48000
DR15      -5.54 дБ   -27.57 дБ      8:50 02-L-R 24/48000
DR13      -1.94 дБ   -22.87 дБ      3:58 03-L-R 24/48000
DR11      -1.08 дБ   -16.22 дБ      7:48 04-L-R 24/48000
DR14      -1.24 дБ   -21.76 дБ      9:59 05-L-R 24/48000
DR10      -1.12 дБ   -16.36 дБ      6:10 06-L-R 24/48000
DR11     -18.60 дБ   -34.44 дБ      7:30 07-L-R 24/48000
DR12      -6.63 дБ   -23.63 дБ      0:58 08-L-R 24/48000
DR10      -3.62 дБ   -19.85 дБ      3:39 09-L-R 24/48000
DR13     -14.58 дБ   -33.30 дБ      2:39 10-L-R 24/48000
DR10      -1.33 дБ   -15.48 дБ      3:32 11-L-R 24/48000
DR14      -4.57 дБ   -26.42 дБ     14:40 12-L-R 24/48000
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Количество треков: 12
Реальные значения DR: DR12
Частота:   48000 Гц
Каналов:   2
Разрядность:   24
Битрейт:   2304 кбит/с
Кодек:   MLP
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This recording of The Planets, generally quite well spoken of by other reviewers, has been around a while & was once available on Quadraphonic LP. Now it is released on a double sided EMI DVD containing the same program in 4 formats. Side A will play on DVD players (but not on CD players) & contains a Quad (4ch) AC-3 encoded recording & a 2ch Linear PCM version of the identical program in 24/48. On the television screen one sees a pleasing abstract still graphic which changes colour as the successive pieces play, which one may select using the arrow keys on the remote for the DVD player. During the playing of Op.47 the quote from Thomas Hardy inscribed on the score is displayed on the screen. One can also switch back & forth between the 2 sound formats with keys on the remote. On this particular disk there is no informative text video display.
It must be said that during A/B comparisons I could not detect any improvement in the ambience, in fact any difference whatever in the ambience in the 4ch version over the 2ch version played through a Dolby PRO Logic decoder. However the 2ch version appeared to have significantly higher resolution. That is what I listen to from this side of the disk & I suggest you will do likewise. However, let there be no mistake, even my aged ears can hear a significant improvement in sound between the CD at 16/44 & the DVD at 24/48. Improved transparency, dynamic range, reduced distortion, a greater sense of ‘depth’ or what recording engineers call ‘air’.
Side B again contains 2 versions of the identical program, 1 in 24/48 MLP encoded Quad & 1 in 24/48 stereo. These are only playable on dedicated DVD-Audio players & when this is accomplished the quality of sound improves another quantum jump over side 1. The dynamic range is richer & orchestral detail so clear that following with a score becomes superfluous, most especially in the Quad version. Once you hear this, you’ll not bother to listen to any other part of the disk. The dynamic range in Mars, for instance, moves from the faintest whisper on the snare drum to the full orchestra with brass choir encompassing a greater dynamic range than I’ve ever heard from any kind of disk before! Timpani are clearly differentiated from bass drum both in location & tone. In Neptune, the chorus is securely in the back of the hall. After hearing this, no matter what your favourite performance of The Planets has been, this will certainly be your favourite recording.
Previn’s tempos at 1st seem just slightly on the brisk side, but in fact he is actually slower than Boult 1953, my reference recording. Mars is particularly strong. The rhythm is sharply precise but always gripping, the low brass are rich, the timpani pitches are clearly distinguishable & very separate from the bass drum. On too many recordings the timpani & bass drum merge into a lumpy lurching growl. (Leonard Bernstein on Sony manages to get a particularly violent effect in Mars with some gross tempo changes, particularly in the finale. At the end one has the definite feeling something has been stomped to death.) The Venus might be a tad 4square for some tastes (Karajan & the Vienna PO on an old Decca stereo recording achieve a tender sensuous sweetness here). Mercury & Jupiter go well. Boult 1953 achieves a more Elgarian grandeur in Jupiter without making the tambourines seem out of place. Although some may prefer a bit more organ, Previn’s Saturn is supreme, overwhelming; I cannot hear it without breaking down. The xylophone in Uranus is very clear without being loud & again the timpani pitches are clearly distinct. Some may prefer a bit more organ. In Neptune the balances, especially the glockenspiel, the chorus & the harps, are perfect. Some conductors omit the harps presumably because they can’t play precisely, evenly or softly enough. In some recordings (e.g. Boult’s stereo Westminster go at it with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra) you wish he’d omitted them. They sound like someone rattling dishes in the kitchen next door.
During a performance of The Planets with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Williams an incident dramatised how difficult to play are the percussion parts in Jupiter. During the movement the 3 percussionists had been jumping back & forth at the back of the orchestra grabbing 1 thing after another to make their cues. At the end of the movement 2 of the percussionists sank gratefully into their folding chairs while the 3rd set off in a dead run toward the bass drum only to fumble & drop the stick. So, the conductor held the penultimate chord for what seemed like 10 minutes while the humiliated man crawled under the music stands until he found the stick, placed himself at the drum & nodded at the conductor. Then they delivered the final coup perfectly together. The once distinguished Los Angeles Times music critic did not report this in his review because he held the music in such contempt that he skipped out on the concert early. When criticised for this, he responded with a 2 page outburst in the Sunday music supplement denouncing The Planets as an “ooze orgy” & suggesting that anyone who liked it was an illiterate imbecile fit only to watch Spielberg movies — this from a man who had recently sat still all the way through a performance of Lucia di Lammermoor! It was his last appearance in the paper.
The Perfect Fool has never sounded so good. Egdon Heath comes off especially well in the higher resolution sound. The silences between the notes seem much deeper, the individual instruments so clear & real. The 1st time I played it, I had to hear it a 2nd time straight through
~ Paul Shoemaker