About musicality:
Deutsche Grammophone has released all of the Beethoven symphonies with Abado and the Berlin Philharmonics. The recordings are just as horrible as the performance of most of the sympnonies are breathtaking. Abado and the Berliners form a synergy which has not been heard since the days of the Chicago Symphony with Fritz Reiner. I've just finished, listening to Abado's rendering of the 7th. From an audiophile point of view the rendering was just terrible: The soundstage was completely truncated in width and depth and the window to the orchestra was far more removed and veiled than usual. DG at its (more often than not) worst!
The performance however was breathtaking, intelligent, unusual in its tempi, dynamics and phrasing. It took a conscious effort to stop fretting about the system sounding so awful, but when that was achieved,we got carried away by Abado's interpretation of this old war horse and its MUSICALITY. So it seems, its not only the system, its also the performers. If both are right, its a bit of heaven on earth. Just my two cents worth.
Deutsche Grammophone has released all of the Beethoven symphonies with Abado and the Berlin Philharmonics. The recordings are just as horrible as the performance of most of the sympnonies are breathtaking. Abado and the Berliners form a synergy which has not been heard since the days of the Chicago Symphony with Fritz Reiner. I've just finished, listening to Abado's rendering of the 7th. From an audiophile point of view the rendering was just terrible: The soundstage was completely truncated in width and depth and the window to the orchestra was far more removed and veiled than usual. DG at its (more often than not) worst!
The performance however was breathtaking, intelligent, unusual in its tempi, dynamics and phrasing. It took a conscious effort to stop fretting about the system sounding so awful, but when that was achieved,we got carried away by Abado's interpretation of this old war horse and its MUSICALITY. So it seems, its not only the system, its also the performers. If both are right, its a bit of heaven on earth. Just my two cents worth.