Zinman/Zurich Tonhalle - Another great M2 in SACD

[sperlsco]

My goodness, what am I to do when I want to listen to a great M2 in SACD?  I have fine stereo ones from Slatkin, Ozawa, and Litton.  And for multi-channel, I can choose from great ones by Fischer, MTT, Kobayashi and now Zinman. 

Let me start at the end (since it just finished).  This is an absolutely toe curling, eye watering finish.  The bells ring clearly, and the high and low tam-tams are clearly audible (although not as big as in Fisher).  The organ may not be as big as in the MTT, but it is ample.  When it first comes in, its low end sends an exciting pulse through your body (helped by a little rubato(?) leading into its opening).  The finale has wonderful solo and chorus singing throughout (Anna Larsson is superb as always – and especially in the Urlicht).  In addition to the better organ, the other place where Zinman improves upon Fisher is in the consistency of the brass.  Although the Zurich brass is never overpowering, it is very well balanced and I never have the feeling of wanting more (a minor problem in a couple of parts of Fisher’s finale for me).  Zinman has a rather brisk March of the Souls (but not Ozawa-fast), and it is wonderfully played. One part that sounded strange was the immediate aftermath of the percussion section crescendo which precedes the March.  This section sounded like it was missing something.  I’ll have to revisit it on my next listening to determine what didn’t sound right.  .   

Zinman conducts a slightly (but not too) slow Andante followed by a fairly brisk Scherzo;  timings are II – 10:32, III. 10:10.  Although my preference is for the reverse, it is done convincingly.  I noticed some excellent clarity and texture to the music making throughout.  Perhaps there was a little less vibrato in the strings that allowed these textures to flow through. 

I did not enjoy the opening movement as much as I should have.  I discovered that my two year old had fiddled with the knobs on my subwoofer – thereby eliminating the low-end until I fixed it.  I’ll have to revisit this movement later in the week.  Once I fixed this, the sound filled out beautifully.  This is wonderful three-dimensional sound.  The bells at the end seemed to come from all around me.  The solo singing was placed wide left and wide right, making for a nice combination at times. 

To sum up – a strong recommendation!


Scott

[Ben]

Sounds like another very interesting M2.  I haven't heard much of the Zinman/Zurich recordings, but your description of this M2 intrigues me.  Weird how you think the MTT organ is bigger than this Zinman organ; I thought the MTT organ could've been much bigger, and is nearly inaudible to me much of the time.  Perhaps you meant the Fischer organ?  (I haven't heard that recording yet)

Is Zinman's Scherzo as fast as Boulez'?

Ben

[John Kim]

Scott,

Thanks for your head-up report.

Don't you find the sound on the Kobayashi/CPO/Exton M2 a bit strange? For one thing, whenever a big climax is coming the dynamic range seems to be compressed. Also, some details are lost in the loud passages.

John,

[barry guerrero]

It doesn't surprise me that this is yet another really good M2 recording. I look forward to hearing it.

[Psanquin]

I am disappointed with the SACD layer. The sound is amazingly poor. First I thought it could be my setting’s fault but I ruled it out after checking the system with the excellent Fischer 2 SACD.

Then I listened to the stereo layer and the improvement was miraculous.

I agree with most of sperisco’s comments. The Finale is really outstanding, and the first movement the less successful one.

[sperlsco]

I am disappointed with the SACD layer. The sound is amazingly poor. First I thought it could be my setting’s fault but I ruled it out after checking the system with the excellent Fischer 2 SACD.

Then I listened to the stereo layer and the improvement was miraculous.

I agree with most of sperisco’s comments. The Finale is really outstanding, and the first movement the less successful one.

You may be on to something here.  I had a chance to re-listen to the first movement last night, this time ensuring that my 2 year old son's button-pushing, knob-turning fetish was not adversely affecting the sound.  The first movement still sounded rather flat and two-dimensional eventhough the lower frequencies were "reinstated".  It is especially bad in the louder, more complicated passages.  The softer passages seemed to have very good ambiance and clarity.  So it's as if the ambiance and air is sucked out as the music gets louder.  I didn't listen to the rest of the symphony again because I really wanted to finally listen to the Zinman M1.  The difference in sound was night/day.  The multi-channel sound in the M1 just leaps out of my stereo speakers and sounds very realistic (oh yeah, I like the performance very much, too).  I'll have to go through the entire M2 again to see if the sound really improves in the later movements as I originally thought.   

[Psanquin]

Thanks for revisiting the SACD sperlsco and for your interesting input. My wife is halfway pregnant with our first son, so you make me preview a new kind of listening adversity!! 

Nice to know that the sound in Zinman 1 is much better.

[sperlsco]

My wife is halfway pregnant

I'm not a doctor, but I thought that it was preferrable to be fully pregnant.    

Anyways, congratulations! 

[Psanquin]

Thanks sperlsco 

Halfway through pregnancy I meant  Hit is ebident that English his not mi first Lenguage 

[barry guerrero]

.    .      .    otherwise, you'd get just half a son.   

[Psanquin]

Moi gracioso lambon do carallo   

[sperlsco]

Weird how you think the MTT organ is bigger than this Zinman organ; I thought the MTT organ could've been much bigger, and is nearly inaudible to me much of the time.  Perhaps you meant the Fischer organ?  (I haven't heard that recording yet)
Ben

I listened to the finale of the MTT M2 again.  You are right. The organ is decent, and no better.  Perhaps I was remembering the Lennie/DG recording, which MTT emulates to some extent.  I do like just about everything else about the MTT finale though.  So to correct my prior mistatement, the Zinman organ is much better than either the Fischer or MTT.  That's ONE detail I now have correct.    

[barry guerrero]

I really like the bells at the ending of this Zinman M2. They're very realistic sounding bells. They may be played a little bit too quickly (too many bongs), but I think that's better than being too sparsely interspersed. I also think that the organ is also very natural sounding. All in all, it's a very strong ending.

Barry

[sbugala]

I'm glad to hear good things so far about this Zinman M2.  A couple minor questions though:

1) Is he going to release this cycle sequentially? So far, it seems that might be the case. 

2) Any chance we can cajole Zinman into including the nuclear hammerblows in his new version?  If it fit on two discs, they could always have a bonus track with the electronically enhanced hammerblows. 

[barry guerrero]

The third symphony gets released next. After that, I don't know. I'm told by a very reliable source that Zinman will NOT be doing the electronically enhanced hammerstrokes in M6 in his upcoming Zurich release. Too bad - they're lots of fun.