|
 Music
B | Recording B
| Extras N/A
artists Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Orchestra at
Temple Square
label Telarc International (SACD-60579)
2001 | Choir & Orchestra (faith and devotional hymns)
Hybrid
multi-channel
| play time 75:01
Multi-channel & stereo SACD
(6-channel & 2-channel
original DSD
recording),
CD hybrid layer (stereo PCM)
Summary: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the
Orchestra at Temple Square performed 17 great hymns of faith and devotion
in the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City in February 2001. Among them
is Battle Hymn of the Republic (track 12), undoubtedly a favorite
for many. The album contains mostly traditional hymn tunes,
including a couple from Germany and Ireland (translated and sung in
English). If you're into faith and devotional hymns, you should
consider The Sound of Glory.
Recording: The multi-channel DSD recording
does a fine job of defining the acoustic space of the Mormon Tabernacle.
This recording delightfully captures the choir's performance in a
transparent manner, including the occasional solos on selected
tracks. But the orchestral accompaniment seems far too laid back, to
the point of sounding almost muddy. The orchestra lacked definition and
detail. And the organ seems lost at times. In all fairness, I've
never been to the Mormon Tabernacle, so I can't really say for sure how
much of my observations should be attributed to the recording or whether it is a limitation
of the acoustic environment. Compared to mass-market recording
techniques, this recording is fine. I am being more critical with
this title since most Telarc audiophile recordings far exceed
anything that the mass-market has to offer. The surround
channels in the multi-channel DSD recording were successfully used only
for capturing the acoustic space of the Mormon Tabernacle, and therefore
do not draw
attention to themselves.
Tracks: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty;
Lead, Kindly Light; Arise, O God, and Shine; All Things Bright and
Beautiful; Sweet Hour of Prayer; The Lord Is My Shepherd; The King of Love
My Shepherd Is; All Creatures of Our God and King; Take Time to Be Holy;
The Spirit of God Like A Fire Is Burning; Simple Gifts; Battle Hymn of the
Republic; Abide with Me, 'This Eventide; Sing Praise to Him; Come, Thou
Fount of Every Blessing; I Need Thee Every Hour; Love Devine, All Loves
Excelling
Extras: 36-page booklet (4 pages about the
artists/conductors, 16 pages of lyrics, the rest describes the
SACD format, multi-channel audio, and this particular recording)
Compatibility notes: This
hybrid
multi-channel SACD contains high resolution 6-channel and 2-channel
audio tracks that are compatible with multi-channel and stereo SACD
players. Additionally, a hybrid audio CD layer allows play back in
conventional audio CD players and CD-ROM drives. For more
information, read these SACD
compatibility notes.
SACD released November 2001 | reviewed
4/29/2002
List $19.99 | online $19.99 | order from Telarc
for $19.99, Amazon.com
for $20.98
Let us know what you think about this SACD review, write to us at Editor@TimeForDVD.com.
Stay
current with the world of Super Audio CD, sign
up for our free e-Newsletter.
Send this review to a friend: click
here and an e-mail will automatically be composed for you with the link
to this page. Just put your friends' e-mail address and click on the
"send" button.
Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony ES
SCD-C555ES Super Audio CD 5-disc
player, Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
| 
United We Stand
