198 Blu-ray / Erich Wolfgang Korngold: String Sextet op. 10, Piano Quintet op. 15
Description
How can music be brought even closer to listeners? TACET is the German recording company that experiments most sustainably with all types of sound discs. In addition to stereo CD and LP media, the audiophile label offers SACD, DVD-Audio, and Blu-ray audio with multichannel surround recordings. The Blu-ray comes into its own on the home theater system and allows the choice between two-channel and six-channel versions. It has room for around two and a half hours of music. The screen only shows the track list, so it can remain dark. But the music fills the room in an unheard-of way. [...] Jens Sommerschuh, Sächsische Zeitung Jens Sommerschuh, Sächsische Zeitung
3 reviews for 198 Blu-ray / Erich Wolfgang Korngold: String Sextet op. 10, Piano Quintet op. 15
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Classical CD Choice –
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Some may regard it as a gimmick, but there is no denying that the placing of individual instruments in each surround channel (as Tacet is wont to do) makes for a completely immersive experience for the listener. And Korngold’s emotive chamber music is here delivered with great sensitivity in Tacet’s SACD mix. Now the company has moved from SACD onto Blu-ray audio, Tacet provides the best possible advocacy for the medium.
Barry Forshaw
Sächsische Zeitung Dresden –
Right in the middle there instead of just
How can music be brought even closer to listeners? TACET is the German record company that most persistently experiments with all kinds of sound discs. In addition to stereo media CD and LP, the audiophile label offers SACD, DVD-Audio, and Blu-ray Audio with multichannel surround recordings. The Blu-ray is used on the home theater system and allows a choice between two-channel and six-channel versions. It has space for about two and a half hours of music. The screen shows only the tracklist, so it can remain dark. However, the music fills the room in an unprecedented way. Following Mozart with the wind serenade known as "Gran Partita" and Ravel including Bolero, Pavane, and Tzigane, TACET now presents the multi-award-winning cycle of Haydn's string quartets. The latest release includes the six masterpieces of Opus 76, including the so-called Emperor Quartet: The listener sits between the instruments, with the violins in front, viola and cello behind. Unless, of course, the listener turns around. Here, the customer is literally an emperor.
Jens Sommerschuh
Audiophile Audition –
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Tact previously released these two performances on a standard CD, and now they have become part of the label’s effort to furnish many of their multichannel recordings on Pure Audio Blu-ray in addition to SACD and/or DVD-Audio. Since we didn’t receive a SACD versions of this one I can’t do a comparison but I have found that usually the Blu-rays are very similar to the SACDs.
Korngold was more concentrated and complex in his abstract works than he was in his classical film scores. His lovely melodies and expressionistic-tho-tonal variety of sounds are in strong evidence in his glorious Sextet in D. He wrote it when he was only 19 and one is reminded of the early string works of the young Mendelssohn. He seems to avoid anything that is too definite, seeking an impressionistic sort of mood, almost like dreaming. The work’s Adagio movement gets quite dissonant with out-of-kilter melodies, bit the Intermezzo is a lighter, floating movement similar to Mahler’s landlers. (...)
Das Klavierquartett ist ein feines Stück Kammermusik und unterscheidet sich stark vom Sextett. Der erste Satz hat einen selbstbewussten Ton. Der zweite verwendet Variationen eines Liedes von Korngold: „Mond, so steigst du wieder auf.“ Es ist ein fantastisches Stück Nachtmusik. Die Hauptthemen des Werks erscheinen immer wieder im Laufe des Werks, nach dem Modell von Franz Liszt. Die Camerata Freden spielt mit großer Genauigkeit und Emotion.
If you haven’t experienced a Real Surround Sound release from Tacet before, you might be thrown by the special spatiality of the sounds on this disc. If your 5.1 playback system is properly set up, you should hear the two violas of the sextet at the front two channels, the two violins off the left and right sides, and the two cellos at the left and right surround speakers. The center channel just fills in but doesn’t have a specific instrument at it. For the Quintet this is changed to place the piano front and center with the viola and second violin on either side, the first violin at the left surround and the cello at the right surround. I happen to think this is an exciting way to present chamber, and it makes the listener feel like you are in the middle of the performance or rehearsal, as well as making full use of the multichannel format. It helps if your speakers are similar all the way around your system, but that is not required for an enjoyable listening experience.
John Sunier