This stereo SACD harks back to the beginning of the digital age, when Telarc’s stunning LP (released in 1978) caused a sensation in many an audio showroom for its unprecedented clarity and bone-crushing bass drum transients. But, unlike some audiophile releases from that era, this one actually offered some excellent music making once you got over the heady rush of the sonics. Robert Shaw’s lucid account of Stravinsky’s 1919 Firebird Suite reveals much inner detail, especially in the swirling, fluttering woodwind counterpoint of The Firebird’s Dance. Shaw also leads a pretty feisty Infernal Dance, but Telarc has since surpassed his with a spectacular rendition by Paavo Järvi and the Cincinnati Symphony.
Shaw displays real flair for orchestral color as well as his storied choral mastery in Borodin’s Prince Igor Overture and Polovtsian Dances (though the latter omits Dance No. 1). As with the Stravinsky, the Atlanta Symphony plays brilliantly throughout. Telarc’s DSD remastering of the original (50 kHz sampling rate) Soundstream recording sports greater clarity, presence, dynamic range, and spatial definition than before (but also the slight lack of warmth endemic to early digital recordings). Is it enough of a difference for you to replace your CD with this SACD? Well, unless you play it pretty often, probably not. But newcomers will definitely want this best-sounding-so-far version. [4/11/2003]
