By James Norris
Program
Adams: The Chairman Dances
Hindemith: Nobilissima visione
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 ‘Leningrad’
Shostakovich was on his way to a football game when it was announced that Russia had been invaded by the German army in 1941. Instead of attending the match, he went immediately to the nearest recruiting office to sign up to fight in the Russian army. He was refused and had to settle for being a volunteer fire-fighter while the bombs rained down. This terrifying experience was the catalyst for the writing of the 7th Symphony ‘Leningrad’.
At least that was what the official Soviet state said.
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‘The Headset for the Smart Generation’
Before Bluetooth-hating, headphone enthusiasts go running for the hills, take a look at these gorgeous headphones from Parrot.
I was watching Leo Laporte’s CES coverage on his Twit Network and the Parrot rep was talking up the company’s new Philippe Starck designed Zik headphones. If they sound as good as they look?
The first company that can make wireless work in headphones will make a killing. Some early reports from CES is that Parrot may have cracked it.
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When our writer Andy Fawcett suggested a Recommended New Releases (RNR) post nearly two years ago, little did I know it would morph into one of our most popular recurring posts. As such, we felt the natural progression was to institute the recording equivalent of our very popular Star Component moniker. Thus, the Audiophilia Star Recordings of the Year is born. We have Star Components, now Star Recordings.
The staff of Audiophilia listened to hundreds of new recordings this year and published reviews of almost 60 of them for inclusion into RNR. The staff whittled the 60 down to six we thought worthy of our Star moniker. The only caveat, one choice each! Damn! There were so many incredible recordings this year. If you hunt through 2010 and 2011 RNR, you’ll find a treasure trove of recordings from which to build or add to you collection.
The images (in no particular order) link to our affiliate, Amazon.
Congratulations to all the nominees and a special congratulations to the six winners. The nominating staff member’s name appears under the image.
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by Anthony Kershaw
This came in the post today. I put it on as accompaniment to the writing of an equipment review. I’d get to the CD review at a later date.
No such luck. The musicality and sheer brilliance that came flooding out of the speakers was immediate in the form of the unknown to me, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Ist Violin Sonata. I stopped writing and sat back. I don’t even like Saint-Saëns!
The violinist in question? The fabulous Joshua Bell. Along with equally amazing Hilary Hahn, these two make the male/female tag team of top American fiddlers. This release will add to the Bell mystique.
Here, you’ll find impeccable musicianship, flawless tuning, ultimate control, and the glorious tones and colour palatte he pulls from his 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius. Bell is sensitively and ably accompanied by his friend from his days at Indiana University — the wonderful Jeremy Denk. Great liner notes by Denk, too.
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I first met Michael Goodman at the 2011 Toronto Audio Show. Goodman is Managing Director of CEntrance, maker of the DACport USB Headphone Amp I reviewed last year. I was so impressed with the kit that that I wanted to meet the guys behind the gear. I dropped by their booth at the Toronto Show and had a very pleasant conversation. It seems exciting thing were afoot for the twelve year old company. Among the new offerings is the concept of the ‘Audiophile Desktop’. As such, CEntrance are offering a system that should transform your computer setup into a high end gem.
The ‘Audiophile Desktop’ Bundle package contains ‘MasterClass 2504′ near field speakers and ‘DACmini PX’ amplifier/DAC and is being shown and demonstrated at THE Show in Las Vegas — a high end show that runs concurrently with this week’s CES.
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Former Stereophile writer and all around great guy, Jonathan Scull now runs Scull Communications. The company does the PR for Australian company DEQX. Longtime readers will know of our affinity for all the things DEQX — two of our writers use its room calibration products in their reference systems. Scull passed on the news of the new DEQX HDP-4 processor, which will be in full demo mode at this week’s CES.
From the feedback, our readers very much enjoy the DEQX reviews and questions always follow regarding the unique topology and technology. As such, I thought our readers would like a heads up about the new kit, upcoming demos and rooms at CES.
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You might say 0 times 0 is still 0. But, there is good news for vinyl fans. Sales are up over 39% in 2011 according to statistics just released by Nielsen Soundscan. Vinyl sales in the US topped 3.9 million in 2011, a 39.3 percent gain over 2010.
Audiophiles have never fallen out of love with the LP and it looks like much of the resurgence is due to indie bands and the like — many of the new releases are on MP3, CD and LP with some only available on vinyl. Who said that ‘youth is wasted on the young’?
And when venerable classical label Deutsche Gramophone (basically, the gold standard in classical music) releases the latest recording from its No. 1 star Gustavo Dudamel on LP you know things are on the up for us. This is spectacular news for both music lovers and hardcore audiophiles. Rejoice!
A graphic from Digital Music News.
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