What luck! Thank you for this probing essay and especially for the Volkov and Eötvös recordings. As luck would have it I am doing this piece in Slovenia in May with the Slovenian RTV Orchestra (on a program with Leroux, Harvey and Castellarnau), so I am very grateful to read/hear this extra insight into the piece. Hopefully there will be another recording of the work to add to your collection later this year.
And I absolutely can’t wait for other installments in this series. Such intense focus in English on her amazing work is long overdue. Thank you!
Huge thanks for this Simon. My first encounter with her work was at HCMF a few years ago with Chroma which was performed at the Town Hall. I remember it vividly. Looking forward to rest of series.
Simon,
Many thanks for these recordings of the Saunders piece.
I take it that the UK performances were sourced from Sky Digital broadcasts (the sound is very good). But what about the Vienna performance? Would it be possible for you to indicate the source of this broadcast?
Hi Boom, yes Sky Digital for the UK performances. The Austrian première was shared with me by an online source, though i’m not sure whether they made the recording. The hiss suggests it was a recording from FM radio (old school style!) – but still with staggering levels of detail. They really should put this out on disc, as it’s amazingly good.
Thank you for the info, Simon.
I am afraid the difference in detail you attribute to the Vienna broadcast has nothing to do with performance. This broadcast had been subjected to very strong dynamic compression (like most FM broadcasts), and the difference between the softest and loudest sounds is about 9 db (150%) less than the virtually uncompressed UK broadcasts. The hiss you hear is a combination of FM static AND the hall ambient noise which have received tremendous boost in volume due to dynamic compression.
Personally, I find your Sky Digital captures absolutely superb (I listen to a lot of live broadcasts from Europe and can compare). Once more, thank you for these. Neither Saunders nor Mark Andre (another one of my favorite German composers) get any performances in U.S., at least not by major orchestras. Which makes your offer a very special treat indeed!
Hi Boom, yes i’m aware of the compression and static issues – the situation was compounded in this case due to the recording clearly being made at quite a low level. i normalised the audio so everyone didn’t need to ramp up the volume controls to listen propely, but of course that only highlights the hiss issues. My own recordings are made as loud as i dare, but this recording was much lower. i clearly need to make friends with someone at Austrian radio to try and get hold of a better copy – it’s an outstanding performance. And i should also work out how to tune into Austrian radio stations…
[…] between the world and UK premières of still as there was between the various performances of traces, but to my mind there’s greater clarity in this performance – especially in the solo violin […]
Unlock with Patreon
Hello Simon,
What luck! Thank you for this probing essay and especially for the Volkov and Eötvös recordings. As luck would have it I am doing this piece in Slovenia in May with the Slovenian RTV Orchestra (on a program with Leroux, Harvey and Castellarnau), so I am very grateful to read/hear this extra insight into the piece. Hopefully there will be another recording of the work to add to your collection later this year.
And I absolutely can’t wait for other installments in this series. Such intense focus in English on her amazing work is long overdue. Thank you!
Thanks for the kind words, Steven – i’ll be emailing you soon!
Huge thanks for this Simon. My first encounter with her work was at HCMF a few years ago with Chroma which was performed at the Town Hall. I remember it vividly. Looking forward to rest of series.
Simon,
Many thanks for these recordings of the Saunders piece.
I take it that the UK performances were sourced from Sky Digital broadcasts (the sound is very good). But what about the Vienna performance? Would it be possible for you to indicate the source of this broadcast?
Hi Boom, yes Sky Digital for the UK performances. The Austrian première was shared with me by an online source, though i’m not sure whether they made the recording. The hiss suggests it was a recording from FM radio (old school style!) – but still with staggering levels of detail. They really should put this out on disc, as it’s amazingly good.
Thank you for the info, Simon.
I am afraid the difference in detail you attribute to the Vienna broadcast has nothing to do with performance. This broadcast had been subjected to very strong dynamic compression (like most FM broadcasts), and the difference between the softest and loudest sounds is about 9 db (150%) less than the virtually uncompressed UK broadcasts. The hiss you hear is a combination of FM static AND the hall ambient noise which have received tremendous boost in volume due to dynamic compression.
Personally, I find your Sky Digital captures absolutely superb (I listen to a lot of live broadcasts from Europe and can compare). Once more, thank you for these. Neither Saunders nor Mark Andre (another one of my favorite German composers) get any performances in U.S., at least not by major orchestras. Which makes your offer a very special treat indeed!
Hi Boom, yes i’m aware of the compression and static issues – the situation was compounded in this case due to the recording clearly being made at quite a low level. i normalised the audio so everyone didn’t need to ramp up the volume controls to listen propely, but of course that only highlights the hiss issues. My own recordings are made as loud as i dare, but this recording was much lower. i clearly need to make friends with someone at Austrian radio to try and get hold of a better copy – it’s an outstanding performance. And i should also work out how to tune into Austrian radio stations…
Simon,
You can stream Austrian Radio broadcasts from OE1 here:
http://oe1.orf.at/ausdemkonzertsaal
http://oe1.orf.at/konzertabend
http://oe1.orf.at/suche?query=Matinee&page=1
Their present quality of streams is 192 kbs VBR mp3.
Yes, i’ve used that occasionally in the past – i mean a way to tune into FM from here in the UK. Would probably need a bigger aerial…
[…] between the world and UK premières of still as there was between the various performances of traces, but to my mind there’s greater clarity in this performance – especially in the solo violin […]