Chopin Fantasie Impromptu, Opus 66

Jax 2, I'm sure you are too careful to make the mistake, but lest my comments about my purchase of the Kissin Impromptus 4, it is NOT in Vol 2. It is in a newer/different release.

BTW, I'm still puzzled about the gain differential as well as any sonic differences in general between MC SACD's 2 channel sound played back on a Redbook player vs a regular CD vs a Hybrid CD. I really think something is going on there. Be interesting if someone would feed back on this. I'm too lazy to start a new thread.

Newbee, do you have acces to the liner notes to tell me the recording engineer on the Kissin? If it's who I think it is, I might have an interesting story about the recording that might shed light on its sound.

Very strange about the Hewitt recording. I have other recordings by her on SACD, maybe I'll give them a listen on both layers this weekend.

Reprince, The recording engineer was Leszek Wojcik on the Kissin Chopin Vol 1. It was recorded in 1993 in Carnegie Hall. (Hard to believe Kissin has been around that long!)

Obviously I've been surprised by Jax2's comments, at least the degree to which he has found the recording defficient, especially the gain issue. The rest I can ascribe to different audio systems and sonic preferences, if they exist.

Please post if you do have the opportunity to hear a MC SACD disc played back on a Redbook CD player. In other 2 channel SACD's with a Redbook layer that I've heard on my Redbook CD players I can charge any 'differences' I've thought I've heard to my imagination.

Funny thing about audio, even though neither Kissin nor Hewlett are ever likely to be my favorites in Chopin, I'm buying two more CD's just to resolve some audio issues and find out if I'm missing something, performance wise. Go figure! :-)

My favorite Chopin interpreter has been Moravec, particularly his recordings on the old Connoisseur Society label. Some of his work was released on CD by VAI, but I’m not sure if this Impromptu was in those collections.

On the Kissin, it's not the same engineer, but I’ll tell the story anyway. I got the chance to hear the master tape of a Kissin recording at Carnegie made by Tim Martyn for RCA (I got Tim to bring his console and some of his master tapes to an NJAS meeting at my home last year). For that recording he used a pair of spaced omnis out in the hall, and a three (I believe—might have been a stereo pair) mic array over the piano to add presence. Since we were listening to the master tape and had the mixing console, we were able to cut out either of the microphone feeds and listen to just the omnis or the array over the piano. I would say that from your description the recording engineer for the Kissin probably had more of the close-up mics in the mix, while the omnis alone sounded closer to your description of the Hewitt recording (though it sounded about as realistic and balanced as anything I've ever heard in a concert hall—Tim’s observation was that Carnegie's acoustics are good enough that you really didn’t need anything more than the omnis, and I think that was the consensus in the club after our listening). So I think you’re right about the different recording styles, though keep in mind that a recording engineer might have used a number of styles to put the performance on tape, but the producer and the artist have a bigger say in the mix from the mics and the sound of the resulting finished product.

Interesting experience. That must have been fun! Wish I'd been there.

I suspect we (audio equipment enthusiasts) could all benefit from a greater understanding of the various recording practices of recording engineers and how those practices translate into the sound we are hearing from our systems.

Re Moravec - I have two VAIA CD's, his Nocturnes on NONESUCH, and Four Scherzi on Dorian. No Impromptus that I could find. I share you opinion of Moravec's Chopin - I usually buy anything I can find by Moravec, but there is so little, especially when compared to his huge talent.

Since you mentioned a great talent, FWIW, I think one of the most, not exactly underrated, but at least most overlooked performer of all of Chopin's solo piano music when recommendations are being made, is Ashkenazy. Hearing his performances juxtaposed to Kissin's (in general) illustrates how far Kissin has to go before he is entitled to all of the acclaim he seems to have generated. IMHO - I'm not a Chopin specialist. Unfortunately I've found the CD's are a bit bright and not as agreeable as his performances. Thats why I didn't mention them to Jax2. I could also say about as much about Biret's Chopin, (as well as her Brahms and Rachmaninoff). Excellent overall performances on less than optimum recordings by Naxos - but on the cheap for people who want to explore.

I'll look forward to your comments on formats if you get the chance. Jax2 has offered to burn and send me a copy of his SACD and I'm going to take him up on it. It might be interesting to compare notes.