Telarc CD-80526-SA

This CD was recorded in memory of the well known Astor Piazzolla. It's recorded in stereo and the recording quality is very good. The bandoneon, the leading instrument in tango music, is recorded in a way so you can almost hear the valves clicking. If you love tango this could be your favorite disc.

Pentatone 5186 004

Pentatone, the former Philips recording studio, is specialized in SA-CD recordings. This Mahler is recorded the surround way in the Amsterdam Royal Concert Hall. So the acoustic atmosphere of that famous hall can be transposed to your living room. The Mahler symphony is played with enthousiasm in the orchestra and that's what you hear.

Pentatone 5186 108

The various concertos are played by the famous "I Musici" orchestra with flute soloist Severino Gazzelloni. Although this is a surround recording one can hear that it is recorded in a small hall. It's a copy of an original quadro recording made by Philips in the 70's. So the 5th channel (center) is missing. Or, better, it's not missing at all. A very nice recording.

Pentatone 5186 009

This surround disc is recorded in 2002 in an Amsterdam church. It holds the "Serenade for Strings" and the "Souvenir de Florence".

The music is played by the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra being a group of musicians from the big Concertgebouw Orchestra. Tchaikovsky is played the European way (not the Russian way). Having said that the registration is one of those fine jewels where music and ambience both are of ultimate quality.

Verve 589 595-2

This is a stereo SA-CD with Stan Getz, the Gilberto family and Antonio Jobim. It was originally recorded on tape in 1963. Verve has done a wonderful job transferring this wonderful Brazilian-American music to SA-CD. The sound is fresh as if it was recorded yesterday. A wonderful recording with the original flat voice of Astrid Gilberto and the swinging tenor saxophone of Stan Getz.

Chesky SACD340

This surround disc was recorded by David Chesky in a church in New York. Monty Alexander plays the piano and is accompanied by bass and drums. The music is from the Tony Bennett songbook and the atmosphere is like we're in the 50's or 60's. One of the nice things of Chesky recordings is that it is never "close miked" and no reverberation is added (apart from the acoustics of the place where the music is recorded). So you almost experience the music as if you're in that church by yourself. Not too far away from the players. Nice old fashioned music.

Hyperion SACDA 67108

This eightteens century music is not the kind of Barock you would expect from the King's Consort. Both composers lived and worked in Spain and Italy and the music has a clear relationship with other Italian works from that time.

The choir and soloists are recorded in a very nice way, not too close and the ambiance of the chapel adds to the emotion you will experience with this music. That music is based on the sacred story of Christ being crusified.

It's not Bach, but also very beautiful!

Pentatone 5186 001

These beautiful violin concertos by Mozart and Mendelssohn are wonderfully recorded in surround technique by the Pentatone studio. And there's also a Rondo written by Franz Schubert on the disc.

The performance by the Chamber Orchestra from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with Vesko Eschkenazy playing the solo violin pieces is nearly perfect. That violin is an old one built by Guarneri del Gesu in 1738.

Columbia 064935 9

This performance of Miles Davis was originally recorded by Columbia in 1959. The conversion to stereo SA-CD is done in a good way. This disc might outperform the former long play record.

This is Miles Davis in his early years. His trumpet solos are accompanied by some well known musicians like John Coltrane and Bill Evans. This is jazz the old fashioned way. No keyboards or bass guitars. And no microphone inside the trumpet. If you love jazz this could become a favorite of yours.