Mozart - Marriner & Marriner - Clarinet Concerto, Clarinet Quintet (2004) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

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Mozart - Marriner & Marriner - Clarinet Concerto, Clarinet Quintet (2004) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clarinet Concerto K. 622, Clarinet Quintet K. 581
Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields - Andrew Marriner - Sir Neville Marriner
FLAC: 977 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Pentatone # PTC 5186 048 | Country/Year: Europe 2004
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Clarinet | Source:

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Mozart - Marriner & Marriner - Clarinet Concerto, Clarinet Quintet (2004) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

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I've been hesitating about writing the review for the Bis release or this one, and seeing that there were much more recommendations for the Bis recording, I'll go with Pentatone!

Apart from Ray Kimber and Isomike that still surprise me, Pentatone is soudwise a reference and still is in my opinion at the top of the mountain. As others already pointed, some companies such as Bis, Hyperion, Chandos and others that still record in PCM never quite get to the same point in terms of relaxed and natural sound, richness of harmonics, and also hall sound reproduction (even in stereo).

It is that little something that makes the others sound a bit analytic in comparison. Of course DSD-PCM might not be the reason, and my guess is that there is just a little extra expertise from Polyhymnia. Slight thing.

And this recording is a top five from Pentatone IMHO, which says a lot. I also enjoy the reverberation of the hall which is a pure delight. Due to the hall too, the bass reproduction is impressively clear. On some systems it might sound a little too much but on mine it is perfectly natural. Those things vary in a live environment too according to the hall or even your position in the hall.

The performance is where Bis has the edge. Especially in the quintet, because you hear more clearly the interpretation level of each player. Fröst is the better clarinet player with no doubt, with such a great phrasing and a wonderful creativity. On this Pentatone recording the orchestra in the concerto sounds good, but I will qualify the players in the quintet as average. Jonty in the dicussion said "boring", I think if I was listening on a cheap system I would say that. But at least the interpretation overall is fluid and does not prevent from enjoying the music (doesn't look like it, but to me this is some sort of a compliment).

Anyway, with this recording and the Bis release of the same works, we have hours of absolute pleasure ahead of us. I would advise anyone to get both.
As a player myself I feel a little strange about prefering the Pentatone for the so relaxed and realistic sound quality in spite of the better performance on Bis.
I would say that if I'm close, I tend to prefer the Pentatone version because the sound brings so much more (the sound on Bis is too close-miked, not as natural and realistic as I explained above. Still outstanding, but the Pentatone standard is too high…). And if I'm further or in the other room, Bis is the choice. SA-CD.net

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Mozart - Marriner & Marriner - Clarinet Concerto, Clarinet Quintet (2004) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

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