Now here’s a surround-sound SACD that actually lives up to its potential. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it originally was recorded in surround, or that Philips, the co-developer/promoter of SACD, not surprisingly decided to produce this from the beginning in DSD (Direct Stream Digital, the technology underlying SACD) as a “native” source. Or maybe–and most likely–the engineers simply took considerable care in digital processing and mastering. But either way, this hybrid disc is a winner.
The soundstage is suitably broad but not too deep with a surround (rear) effect that both limits echo and reverberation and reduces the sense of the enveloping sonic overkill that afflicts many surround-sound discs. True, you still get a lot of the orchestral detail in the rear channels, so it would be difficult to say that this disc has achieved what many consider a sort of surround-sound “holy grail”–that is, capturing only “ambient” sound in the rear channels. The surround mix offers a balanced representation of the orchestra with the winds set firmly in the center, strings appropriately placed, and percussion vividly placed in the rear of the orchestra, certainly more so than can be perceived in the two-channel CD track. Threatening this equilibrium is the brass, which is highlighted a bit too brightly in the big climactic moments of both symphonies. But that is hardly a complaint in such excellent and vivacious performances (a summary of which can be found by typing Q3626 in Search Reviews).
