Puccini’s ‘Turandot’ in 24/96: simply stunning!

[Russell_L]

Hi-res opera lovers, rejoice! Decca has started making more of its legendary opera catalog available in wonderful 24/96 remasterings, among them one of the greatest opera recordings of all time for both performance and sound quality: Puccini’s ‘Turandot’, recorded in 1972 with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, and Montserrat Caballe, Zubin Mehta conducting. I got the download from ProStudioMasters yesterday (it’s not yet available on HDtracks), and the sound is simply sensational. This was always a favorite demo recording since its LP days, though I found the CD release pretty harsh and strident (no surprise there!). The new 24/96 ameliorates all of that, leaving us with simply resplendent and sumptuous sound quality, effortless in its dynamics, breadth, and depth. I haven’t heard it this good since my old LPs and reel-to-reels! The performance can hardly be bettered, especially with Sutherland and Pavarotti in their glorious prime. Incidentally, I spot-checked several of the tracks in Audacity, where substantial high-frequency content up to the 48kHz limit was evident. Great job, Decca!

 

Russell

 

P.S. Other new Decca operas in 24/96 include Donizetti’s ‘La Fille du Regiment’ (Sutherland/Pavarotti), Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’ (Fischer-Dieskau, Suliotis), and Verdi's ‘Rigoletto’ (Sutherland/Pavarotti). (The Solti ‘Ring’ and Britten’s ‘Peter Grimes’ were released in 24/96 some time ago.)

[jhwalker]

Hi-res opera lovers, rejoice! Decca has started making more of its legendary opera catalog available in wonderful 24/96 remasterings, among them one of the greatest opera recordings of all time for both performance and sound quality: Puccini’s ‘Turandot’, recorded in 1972 with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, and Montserrat Caballe, Zubin Mehta conducting. I got the download from ProStudioMasters yesterday (it’s not yet available on HDtracks), and the sound is simply sensational. This was always a favorite demo recording since its LP days, though I found the CD release pretty harsh and strident (no surprise there!). The new 24/96 ameliorates all of that, leaving us with simply resplendent and sumptuous sound quality, effortless in its dynamics, breadth, and depth. I haven’t heard it this good since my old LPs and reel-to-reels! The performance can hardly be bettered, especially with Sutherland and Pavarotti in their glorious prime. Incidentally, I spot-checked several of the tracks in Audacity, where substantial high-frequency content up to the 48kHz limit was evident. Great job, Decca!

 

Russell

 

P.S. Other new Decca operas in 24/96 include Donizetti’s ‘La Fille du Regiment’ (Sutherland/Pavarotti), Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’ (Fischer-Dieskau, Suliotis), and Verdi's ‘Rigoletto’ (Sutherland/Pavarotti). (The Solti ‘Ring’ and Britten’s ‘Peter Grimes’ were released in 24/96 some time ago.)

 

Yep, loved this one. I know "Fille" is also available at ProStudio Masters, but where did you see "Macbeth"?

[Russell_L]

Yep, loved this one. I know "Fille" is also available at ProStudio Masters, but where did you see "Macbeth"?

 

It's at HDtracks:

 

Verdi: Macbeth | HDtracks - The World's Greatest-Sounding Music Downloads

[jhwalker]

It's at HDtracks:

 

Verdi: Macbeth | HDtracks - The World's Greatest-Sounding Music Downloads

 

Thank you! Now I have to ask: do you like this performance? My gold standard is the Leinsdorf with Warren and Rysanek, which I've practically memorized but I'd love to hear this one if it's good.

[ecwl]

This post is driving me nuts. I have not bought any Hi-Res duplicates of music that I already own on CDs, regardless how much I like the performance. Not even Solti's Ring. But a better version of Pavarotti's Turandot may take me down a very dangerous path...

[Russell_L]

Thank you! Now I have to ask: do you like this performance? My gold standard is the Leinsdorf with Warren and Rysanek, which I've practically memorized but I'd love to hear this one if it's good.

 

Sorry, John--I've never heard this performance. I also know and like the Warren/Rysanek/Leinsdorf, but the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired (at least on the CD I have). Suliotis can be a very exciting singer, but I'm not a big fan of Fischer-Dieskau in Italian opera. Still, I might give it a try....

 

Russell

[Russell_L]

This post is driving me nuts. I have not bought any Hi-Res duplicates of music that I already own on CDs, regardless how much I like the performance. Not even Solti's Ring. But a better version of Pavarotti's Turandot may take me down a very dangerous path...

 

Well, it's always been a practice of mine to find the best-sounding versions of recordings that I love, even if it means double-dipping (or more!). And while I've often found that the latest remastering of a favorite recording doesn't always have markedly better sound than a previous incarnation, in this case, I think it does. It's really the best I've heard it sound.

 

Russell

[woodford]

Sorry, John--I've never heard this performance. I also know and like the Warren/Rysanek/Leinsdorf, but the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired (at least on the CD I have). Suliotis can be a very exciting singer, but I'm not a big fan of Fischer-Dieskau in Italian opera. Still, I might give it a try....

 

Russell

 

i agree about the leinsdorf, which also has Jerome Hines as Banquo, a singer who should have recorded much more than he did, and Bergonzi as a very elegant Macduff.

 

and i totally agree about DFD in italian opera.

[Kal Rubinson]

and i totally agree about DFD in italian opera.

I, too, but he is not as bad an many. Hearing him in an Italian opera with an all-German cast, he seems to be the only one trying to sing Italian. The others often sound like a Sid Caesar skit.

[woodford]

I, too, but he is not as bad an many. Hearing him in an Italian opera with an all-German cast, he seems to be the only one trying to sing Italian. The others often sound like a Sid Caesar skit.

 

a while back i listened to the Scala Rigoletto on DGG (Scotto, Bergonzi) and was pleasantly surprised. rumor is it was supposed to be Bastianini, who may have shown up for the sessions "indisposed." there's a roughly contemporaneous recording w/ Scotto, Krause, & Bastianini on Ricordi. great singing, but the sound is variable, and at least on the version I had, tape speed was too fast, and consequently pitch was too high.

[jhwalker]

I, too, but he is not as bad an many. Hearing him in an Italian opera with an all-German cast, he seems to be the only one trying to sing Italian. The others often sound like a Sid Caesar skit.

 

LOL

 

Yes, DFD worked very hard at pronouncing words correctly in all the languages - even his English is pretty good. You certainly know it's a German singing, but not as bad as many others I've heard

 

FWIW, I've been told my "accent" is good in German and Italian, but absolutely atrocious in French; apparently, I have no "ear" for French at all.

[jhwalker]

Sorry, John--I've never heard this performance. I also know and like the Warren/Rysanek/Leinsdorf, but the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired (at least on the CD I have). Suliotis can be a very exciting singer, but I'm not a big fan of Fischer-Dieskau in Italian opera. Still, I might give it a try....

 

Russell

 

FWIW, I listened to the samples available and decided not to purchase. The Warren / Rysanek performance is just too strong in my ear.

 

This is one of my favorite operas, though - a really powerful baritone role I've always wanted to sing - so I'm always looking for great recordings

[woodford]

prostudiomasters also has the Sutherland/Pavarotti Lucia and L'Elisir recordings, and Freni/Pavarotti Butterfly.

 

none of these is at HDTracks yet- curious.

[Russell_L]

prostudiomasters also has the Sutherland/Pavarotti Lucia and L'Elisir recordings, and Freni/Pavarotti Butterfly.

 

none of these is at HDTracks yet- curious.

 

Yep--noticed those last night (in addition to the S/P 'Beatrice di Tenda' and 'La Favorita' with Cossotto), which were apparently just added. I suppose we''ll see them all on HDtracks sooner or later, but since they are the same price at ProStudio Masters, and with PSM's' current 10%-off promo going on, PSM's obviously the way to go right now. I'll be getting 'Lucia', 'L'Elisir', and possibly 'Butterfly'.

 

BTW, evidently all of the Pavarotti stuff is in the pipeline for hi-res (download & Blu-ray Audio): see this recent Stereophile interview with the classical VP at Universal:

 

Universal Music Group's Blu-ray/Hi-Res Initiative | Stereophile.com

 

Here are the relevant quotes:

 

"I do intend, by the end of the year, to put out some full-length operas on Blu-ray. We just remastered the Pavarotti catalog in 24/96 in our newly acquired Abbey Road studios. We've got his great recordings with Karajan, and the great La Bohème, Turandot, and Madama Butterfly from the late 1960s and early 1970s." and "I want everything that's on Blu-ray to be at HDTracks."

 

Russell

[woodford]

listened to this last night, and the sound is very good, more defined in the low end, and you're better able to hear distinct parts in some of the more complicated parts of the score, such as the finale to the first act (from non piangere, liu on). very occasionally, Luciano sounds almost too distinct, like he's not in the same space with the orchestra.

 

also, re the german baritone discussion, Tom Krause does an excellent job as Ping, although i'm not sure i'd want to hear him sing Di Luna).

 

I will probably add both Butterfly and Lucia.

 

btw, when will we see HD versions of the RCA Living Stereo operas, Butterfly, Boheme, Turandot, and Traviata, all of which we released on SACD?

[ecwl]

I made the leap and got Turandot 24/96. I found A/B'ing my CD (1984 transfer?) and the new 24/96 difficult because the 24/96 is a couple? of dB louder. But through my headphones and my main stereo, using the opening of Act 1 and Nessun Dorma to compare the two versions yielded subtle but clear improvements. I never found the CD version to be "harsh" but definitely the 24/96 version is "smoother" in the sense that the vocals and instruments were slightly more natural sounding. And I also agree in the more complex passages, there seemed to be slightly more details. I'm not noticing any differences in low-end definition though. But overall, it does sound like they are "remastering" this new 24/96 version from the same master tape? Other than overall volume differences, I'm not really noticing any changes to volume balances of the vocals vs orchestral parts or alterations in EQ.

 

The interesting thing though is that when A/B'ing short passages, the difference seems subtle but when I'm sitting down to listen to the whole thing, perhaps my memory of the CD version is playing tricks on me, the 24/96 does seem to be quite a bit more enjoyable. Definitely no regrets spending money on the 24/96. Although I doubt I'll rush out to replace everything I own with their equivalent hi-res versions. Thanks for the tips guys!

[ecwl]

I forgot to mention that the digital booklet is not as good as the original CD's booklet. Less content. Not sure how many of you care about stuff like that...

[newworld]

Sorry to bring back this old thread, but am I the only one who finds the loud passages clipping? In the CD version clipping is non-existent. I've tested the tracks on headphones and different system configurations.

[chrille]

Sorry to bring back this old thread, but am I the only one who finds the loud passages clipping? In the CD version clipping is non-existent. I've tested the tracks on headphones and different system configurations.

No, I have also noticed a bit of overload,clipping from the downloaded version compared to the LP set,which I suppose was slightly compressed.

Especially via Hugo which digs out every little fault and multimic problem with this very good for its age but not SOTA recording by modern standards.

I just noticed that the German site Highresaudio has got a new Turandot from the same conductor, Zubin Mehta. I love both Tosca and Turandot and I am tempted to hear if it beats this old analogue classic which is still after all these years very good performance wise but shows its age here and there.

[Russell_L]

I've listened to this with 3 different DACs and 2 different systems and haven't noticed any clipping or overload, at least not anything obvious or audible (as with, say, many Living Stereo releases), with my copy.

[rah50]

I forgot to mention that the digital booklet is not as good as the original CD's booklet. Less content. Not sure how many of you care about stuff like that...

 

Thanks! I hadn't seen this thread and was wondering about how some of these releases sounded. Also, had forgotten about ProStudioMasters.

 

FWIW, for those interested in new works, Higdon's Cold Mountain is currently being recorded here at Santa Fe Opera by Pentatone. Quite a good new work.

[newworld]

I've listened to this with 3 different DACs and 2 different systems and haven't noticed any clipping or overload, at least not anything obvious or audible (as with, say, many Living Stereo releases), with my copy.

 

Try the end of the chorus in track "gloria gloria vincitore". I think overload is not correct word when describing what I'm hearing. There are numerous other places too. I really don't hear this on CD. I was rather disappointed as it became very distracting.

[newworld]

Sorry. Overload IS the correct word.