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Tune Surfing The latest "own-label" site to add a download facility comes from that early music jewel, Gimell, the home of The Tallis Scholars. Since its launch Gimell has combined impeccable scholarship with technically magnificent recorded quality and, apart from an ill-judged and brief affiliation with Universal, has proved that doing what you know well is the perfect recipe for success. In keeping with Gimell's philosophy of "audiophile" sound, gimell.com offers a variety of different file formats from MP3 (at 320kbps) via CD-quality downloads in WMA format (not compatible with Macs) right up to Studio Master (a 24-bit file) and Studio Master Pro (you will need to check what kind of soundcard your PC has, or this won't work). If you are interested in lossless sound you should experiment with the various test files Gimell offers - a nice feature that saves you disappointment and unnecessary expenditure. It's worth pointing out that many recordings were made in 24-bit sound but have had to be "degraded" to 16-bit for release on CD, so here - to squash a regular mantra about downloading - the sound quality is better than the equivalent CD! I spent a weekend playing around on the site, downloading different formats and comparing them (using both a PC and a Mac) and have been very impressed with the results. The higher-quality files are offered in both WMA and FLAC formats and again I would suggest downloading a few of the test files to ensure that your computer is compatible (FLAC is playable on a Mac but you may well need to convert the file to Apple Lossless using the iTunes jukebox on a PC - it sounds a bit mad but it works).
The Tallis Scholars' latest Josquin Desprez recording - of the Missa Sine nominee and Missa Ad fugam, two Masses entirely based on canons - has been made available as a download in advance of its CD release date (something I was suggesting last month that DG experiment with). The music is not only very beautiful - especially in this wonderfully controlled performance - but also intriguing in its extreme technical virtuosity: just trying to "unpick" the various lines as the music unfurls is fascinating. The recording was made in one of Gimell's favourite venues, the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Salle, in Norfolk - a quite wonderful acoustic for polyphonic music. I downloaded it in three different formats - MP3, CD Quality and Studio Master - and put it alongside the CD. I have to admit to having been hard-pressed to differentiate between the CD Quality and Studio Master formats without wearing headphones, and even then it was far from clear-cut. But the ability to acquire music in all these different formats is wonderful - and music as sublime as this really does need to be heard with the highest-quality sound. To best appreciate lossless sound Gimell recommend a Network Music Player, a splendid device that relays the sound from your computer to your hi-fi at 24-bit quality. Gimell suggests two different players, the £1289 Transporter and the rather more manageable £189 Squeezebox (made by Logitech, which specialises in wireless networking). Again, I would suggest reading the very easy-to-understand explanation on the Gimell site before investing because certain files will not work with some of the NMPs (you will run into problems, for example, with DRM-protected iTunes files). I installed the Squeezebox on my hi-fi system downstairs (it took about five minutes and the on-screen instructions couldn't have been clearer), and it immediately connected wirelessly to my PC upstairs and using the on-screen display I could sort through the music and play it through the hi-fi. I have long believed that as soon as "convergence" is achieved (in other words all your various bits of kit start to "talk" to one another) then downloading will achieve its potential in the classical sphere - especially if you can listen in better-than-CD sound in the comfort of your listening room rather than perched in front of your PC! A quick mention of a site I've not visited in a while, MicMacMusic. A new subscription offer (¤14.99, £11.99 or $22.10) allows you unlimited access to a substantial catalogue of historic (out-of-copyright) recordings. Currently on offer are the Karajan-conducted (EMI) recording of Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Brahms violin sonatas from Isaac Stern and Alexander Zakin, Bernstein conducting his own Jeremiah Symphony, On the Town and Facsimile, Bruckner's Symphony No 8 from Eugen Jochum, a wonderful recording (that I first got to know on a Saga LP) of the Brahms Piano Quintet from the Borodin Quartet and Sviatoslav Richter, and much more besides. The downloads are offered at 320kbps, and for the price offers extraordinary value (micmacmusic.com). The Grammys have just been announced in Los Angeles. The majority of the winners are available for download, so I've dedicated the Playlist this month to the winners (and particular congratulations to Onyx and Chandos for their double wins - splendid recordings all). The one recording which saw the Classic FM Gramophone Awards and Grammys overlap (in both awards' Choral category) is Sir Simon Rattle's very fine EMI recording of the Brahms German Requiem - it can be downloaded from iTunes. In the Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) category (in any other world that would be called "concerto"), James Ehnes's magnificent triptych of 20th-century violin concertos by Barber, Korngold and Walton took the prize. You can download it at emusic.com as part of a monthly 30 tracks for £8.99 - the disc will set you back nine tracks. Warmly recommended - and I see I included it in a Download Dozen that I contributed to emusic last year. In the Best Small Ensemble Performance category, Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists' disc of Stravinsky's Apollo and Concerto in D and Prokofiev's Visions fugitives was another well deserved winner. From emusic it's one of those annoyingly extravagant discs with loads of individual tracks - great for CD but at 32 tracks quite a bite of a monthly allowance. Maybe better to download it direct from onyxclassics.com for £7.99! "Made in America" triumphed in three categories: Best Orchestral Performance, Best Classical Contemporary Composition and Best Classical Album. Featuring the Nashville Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin, the recording features three works by Joan Tower, Made in America, Tambor and her Concerto for Orchestra. £4.99 will allow you to download it from Naxos's classicsonline.com site (it's also available from emusic). That site also offers the two Chandos winners - Grechaninov's Passion Week (Best Engineered Album) and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel in English (Best Opera Recording), and Eighth Blackbird's Strange Imaginary Animals (Best Chamber Music Performance). The extraordinarily powerful and moving Neruda Songs by Peter Lieberson, sung by his late wife Lorriane Hunt Lieberson with the Boston Symphony and James Levine (Nonesuch), took the Best Classical Vocal Performance - download it from iTunes for £3.95 (though as someone comments on the site, it's shame we don't get the words). The Instrumental category was won by that magnificent pianist Garrick Ohlsson for the third volume in his Beethoven piano sonata series for Bridge Records. It contains Sonatas Nos 3 (Op 2 No 3), 9 (Op 14 No 1), 10 (Op 14 No 2) and 25 (Op 79), all played with a sureness of touch that comes from a lifetime's experience. You can download it (and the previous two volumes) from iTunes for £7.99 per album.
Tower Made in America Nashville SO / Slatkin Naxos classicsonline.com Barber. Korngold. Walton Violin Concertos Ehnes Onyx emusic.com / onyxclassics.com Stravinsky. Prokofiev String works Bashmet Onyx emusic.com / onyxclassics.com Grechaninov Passion Week Kansas City Chorale Chandos classicsonline.com/ theclassicalshop.net Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel Mackerras Chandos classicsonline.com / theclassicalshop.net Brahms German Requiem Rattle EMI apple.com/uk/itunes Various Strange Imaginary Animals eighth blackbird Cédille classicsonline.com Lieberson Neruda Songs Hunt Lieberson Nonesuch apple.com/uk/itunes Beethoven Piano Sonatas Vol 3 Ohlsson Bridge apple.com/uk/itunes James Jolly |
The Tallis Scholars: top-quality sound on their downloads |