Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Stunning Recordings

Always on the lookout for well recorded popular music, I was completely surprised that Dido's newest (well 2008), Safe Trip Home, actually has minimal compression, but does seem to have the mid-range fattened up with some EQing. The drums kick nicely. If you like adult contemporary, female singers, check it out.

The current favorite of mine is a SACD by Diana Krall titled "The Girl In The Other Room" It is very well recorded, has a little bit of jazz and a little bit of blues and it will give your sub a workout. Every now and then I run across a recording that I have trouble getting out of my Oppo. This is one of them. I hope Elvis and Diana make another some day that is this good.

My favorite solo piano music is Albeniz's highly colorful Iberia, picturing in sound various aspects of his homeland. The wonderful source material led to later composers orchestrating various sections and in recently looking for a disc containing the orchestrated selections, I ran into a bit of a surprise discovery. One of my favorite CDs is the terrific Berglund recording of Smetana's Ma Vlast(My Country) with the superb Dresden State Orchestra, one of the 3 or 4 finest in Europe. This has been recommended before in group listings and as a "Stunning" selection, and those who don't have it should certainly consider it. I'd never heard Dresden's "second" orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, before, but judged by this wonderful Spanish collection it's also a virtuoso group. Colorful Albeniz, DeFalla and Ravel selections, energetically performed in fine sound.

Which Oppo player do you have?
I am trying to decide which one to buy.

Here's a new blu-ray concert that came out last month, that I haven't heard anything about yet. It's a jazz/soul band called Incognito, that I wasn't aware of until today.

My favorite right now is Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at the Radio city Hall on Blu ray. The picture is just amazing and sound quality is the best I've heard so far. Simple, 2 acoustic guitars in perfect harmony.

That is also one of my favorites. It's hard to believe that so much good sound can come from 2 people and 2 guitars.

Edit: Another one I really like is "Songs From the Heart" by Celtic Woman. (I thought it was blu-ray, but it looks like it only comes in DVD).

I'll check it out thanks.

I have several sets of the symphonies of Rachmaninoff, my favorite composer, and the performances by Eugene Ormandy with the great Philadelphia Orchestra have special authority because of the close association the composer had with Ormandy and the Philadelphia. As shown here with them studying the score at a rehearsal, Rachmaninoff's last orchestral composition, the Symphonic Dances, was dedicated to Ormandy and the Philadelphia.

These beautiful and thrilling symphonies together with the orchestral version of the Vocalise, performed with authority in fine remastered sound, are available again in a 2-disc set for about $10 shipped from Amazon sellers , and shouldn't be missed.

The Rach, would have been a great movie, not to be confused with The Rock.