Neil Young Doesn’t Like Digital Music Files

Neil Young was interviewed by Walt Mossberg about digital music, and made a number of statements where he expressed a desire to see more high-resolution audio files. He claims that only “5 percent of the data present in the original recording” is present in MP3 files – though he doesn’t specify what bit rate. He also suggests that vinyl LPs or cassette tapes reproduce nearly all of the 24-bit, 192 kHz files used to master recordings.

Well, I take exception to these claims, which are a bit off the cuff. First, comparing 24/192 files to anything is ludicrous. In order to get all of the “data” from those files, you need very high-end stereo equipment. Even if you do have a standalone DAC (digital audio converter) between your source and amplifier, the majority of these devices only go up to 96 kHz. Next, recording artists listen to their recordings in studios on equipment that is even better than what most obsessive audiophiles have in their homes. I’m sure there is a difference in sound in a recording studio: not only do you have the best studio monitors, but you also have acoustically perfect rooms in which to listen.

But suggesting that LPs, with their clicks and scratches, or tapes, which are notably known for problems at high frequencies (remember Dolby noise reduction on cassettes?) is just disingenuous.

It’s interesting that Neil Young became famous during the time of AM radios. Even those with stereos had equipment that was light years behind the average stereo today. He got famous because of his music: his songs, his lyrics and his voice, not the quality of the sound. Yet he says “we have 5% of what we had in 1978,” which is just a lie. Analog recordings did not approach the 24/192 benchmark that he cites, and the sound quality of the average stereo then was crappy compared to today’s iPods. (It’s worth noting that Neil Young suffers from tinnitus, or at least he did in 1995 – it generally never goes away – so how much of that 24/192 does he actually hear?)

He wants people to be able to buy high-resolution files more easily. There are many vendors who sell these files, and he seems to not realize that this is possible. He calls for a “device” that can play high-resolution files, but says that it takes 30 minutes per song to download these files. (I don’t know what he means by this; with my Internet connection, I can download a high-resolution “song” – a file just a few minutes long – in just a few minutes.)

Young claims that he and Steve Jobs were “working on” such a solution, but I think this is not true; if they were discussing it, it was most likely just an idea in the air. There were rumors of Apple offering 24-bit files via iTunes last year, but the source of this was never clear. My sources have told me that this is very unlikely, at least in the near term, for a number of reasons: bandwidth, price, playback, etc. The audiophile market is too small for Apple to provide high-resolution files for all the music they sell. It is entirely possible that, in the future, they offer high-resolution files for a limited selection of music, but even that seems unlikely, as it would confuse average users.

Neil Young does say that he looks at the Internet, and piracy, “as the new radio.” “That’s how music gets around.” It doesn’t bother him that people download his music, saying “it’s acceptable.” It allows people to discover music, and for him this is a good thing. Of course, he makes enough money on royalties and back catalog that he doesn’t need to worry about income…

While I understand Mr. Young’s desire to have better quality music files, you must remember that this idea comes from someone who can afford the hardware to listen to them. The 99% of music listeners who don’t have that hardware simply don’t care. They buy music for music, not for audio quality.

Music Notes: Haydn’s Baryton Trios

Haydn wrote scads of works for the baryton, a stringed instrument, similar to the viola da gamba, but with sympathetic strings which either resonate as the main strings are played, or are plucked with the thumb. The reason for this number of compositions was because Haydn’s patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, played the baryton. The majority of these works – 126 of them – are trios, with baryton, cello and viola. The lack of a high instrument – a violin – gives them an interesting feel. They sound a bit like viol consort music, because the combination of the cello and baryton give a strong bass sound.

This set of the Complete Baryton Trios contains all 126 baryton trios, on 17 discs, and another 4 discs of octets, quintets, and variants. These works are fairly simple. Prince Esterházy was clearly not a virtuoso. These works make few demands on the performers, yet they have an attractive, peaceful sound. As with much of Hadyn’s music, there is a feeling of joy and happiness in these works. None are very long – movements are just a few minutes each – and the melodic development is fairly basic.

This music is nothing like Haydn’s string quartets (I especially like the complete set by the Angeles String Quartet), yet have the charm of simple, enjoyable music. Is it worth buying a 21-disc set of these works, even at a budget price? Probably not. I find this is nice music to put on in the background when I’m reading or working, attractive music to set a comfortable ambience when having dinner, or something to just relax to. Unfortunately, there are very few recordings of these works (see this Amazon search), so if you’re interested, the best way is to either get this box set, or choose from the few single discs available.

Another, more attractive option, is to get Brilliant Classics’ Complete Haydn Edition, which, on 150 discs, contains all of the baryton trios, all the symphonies, all but two discs of the string quartets, all the piano sonatas, the excellent piano trios, and many other works by Haydn. This set is a mixed bag, but for the essential works – the symphonies, piano sonatas and piano trios – it’s worth getting. Toss in the baryton trios, which you’ve probably never heard, and you get a nice package.

What I Listen to Most

Just because I can. Using Doug Adams’ mySpins, which aggregates play counts from your iTunes library:

The first column is the number of plays by artist – you’ll note that I set the artist for classical music to the composer’s name, as it’s easier to navigate on iPods with the tag set this way. The Grateful Dead is in the lead, followed by Franz Schubert, notably because I listen to his lieder a lot; these are songs that are, on average, 3-5 minutes each. There’s much less Beethoven, because those are longer works: piano sonatas, string quartets, etc. Bill Evans beats out Brad Mehldau by a bit, in part because I’ve been listening to him longer. And Bob Dylan is very high up, as I have all of his albums, and listen to them regularly.

The second column is the songs I’ve played most, across albums (that’s what “pooled” means). In other words, I’ve listened to Playing in the Band, by the Grateful Dead, 151 times, over 59 different albums (lots of different live versions). All of the top ten pooled spins are by the Grateful Dead.

Note that these play counts are not absolute for all artists or songs, as removing then re-adding music deletes their play counts. I’ve done that several times with certain composers, and with many Grateful Dead concerts.

DVD Review: Barenboim on Beethoven

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Daniel Barenboim owns Beethoven! Watching this set of DVDs and listening to his magnificent performances shows why Barenboim is clearly the pre-eminent performer of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. While many will disagree – after all, there are countless recordings by dozens of performers – what comes through after seeing these recitals is the deep familiarity that Barenboim has with the music. Playing these sonatas for some fifty years, they have become a part of him, and this shows in the way he performs these works with such conviction. (And without scores, which, alas, too many performers depend on.)

This set contains films of a series of eight recitals that Barenboim performed in Berlin in 2005, comprising all 32 of the sonatas. Each recital lasts from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, and contains four sonatas, a mixture of early, middle and late works. The programs themselves work well, but any selection of sonatas played by Barenboim would be fine. The camera work is among the best I’ve seen for this type of performance; there are enough different camera angles to keep it from being repetitive, and the intensity of watching Barenboim perform is enough to trump the limits of filming. The sound is in PCM stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1; the surround mix is excellent.

Barenboim has already recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas twice: once for EMI when he was in his late twenties, and a second time for DG in the 1980s. One could say that these live recitals are closer to the second recording; slow tempi, much rubato, a great intensity and an often meditative approach to the music. Barenboim shines in the late sonatas, and at the end of the op. 111 sonata (no. 32), his intensity is such that he has to wipe tears from his eyes. But the early Haydnesque/Mozartian sonatas are also wonderful, with a full range of youthful passion.

In addition to the eight recitals, this set contains two DVDs of master classes, where Barenboim shares his knowledge and experience with six young pianists. While much of the discussion is quite technical, even non-musicians will find some of the comments illuminating, providing insights into music in general and these sonatas in particular.

This set is perhaps my best musical purchase in years. I plan to watch these recitals many times, and have gotten many insights into the music – some of the best for piano – simply by watching it performed.

Notable Recordings of 2011 – Part 2

As the end of the year approaches, the Internet is inundated with best-of and 10-best lists of everything from books and music to celebrities and memes. Not interested in such lists myself, I nevertheless thought it would be interesting to look at my iTunes library and see what music I added this year, and see which of these recordings stood out. Here is a list, in chronological order, of the new recordings that I got in 2011 that I find noteworthy. (This is part 2 of a 2-part series, covering July through December; read part 1.)

In part 1 of this article, I mentioned a set of Bach recordings by András Schiff. I also got a Blu-Ray disc of a concert where Schiff performed all six of Bach’s French Suites. This performance, in a small church, is impeccable. Tastefully filmed, with wonderful sound, there is no applause between the suites, which turns them into one long work instead of six shorter pieces. As encores, he performs the French Overture and Italian Concerto. A delightful disc.

Philip Herreweghe’s second recording of Bach’s Motets may be the best recording of these works available. With exquisite perfection, these sacred vocal works are lush and full of detail, with near-perfect recorded sound.

Two box sets of minimalist piano music, Minimal Piano Collection and Minimal Piano Collection Volume X-XX, performed by Jeroen Van Veen, present the most complete survey of minimalist music for piano ever recorded. With a total of 20 discs, this covers the better-known composers, such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams, Morton Feldman, and others, but also lesser-known minimalists such as Simeon Ten Holt, Michael Nyman, and the pianist himself. With works for one to six pianos, there is much wonderful music here, though there is, as is common with such sets, some that you may not listen to a second time.

Richard Egarr’s recording of Louis Couperin’s (more or less) Complete Harpsichord Works stands out for me this year as the best harpsichord recording I’ve heard. I love this music, and the sound of the harpsichord, using quill plectra instead of plastic, is supple and enjoyable.

Perhaps the most important acquisition of this year was the Grateful Dead’s Complete Europe ’72 set. All 22 concerts from this legendary tour, with the Dead at their peak, lovingly remastered, are finally available in a single set. (Individual shows are also being sold, but only a few are available for now.) If you’re not a Deadhead – a fan of the band – it’s hard to understand just how important this set is. If you are a Deadhead, well, you’re probably already listening to it.

As much as I love Beethoven’s piano sonatas and string quartets, I’ve never really “gotten” the symphonies. I think this is starting to change, as I listen to Riccardo Chailly’s set of the symphonies and overtures. With near-perfect sound, and incisive performances, I’ve been listening to this set slowly over the past couple of months, and finding much to enjoy.

The Emerson String Quartet, which recently moved to Sony, released its first recording on this label, Mozart’s Prussian Quartets. With their usual precision, the Emersons give a wonderful reading of these three string quartets.

The period performance group Café Zimmermann has been recording Bach’s concertos for multiple instruments in recent years, and released a 6-disc box set of these recordings. What a delight to hear their renditions of this music, and to hear each disc which is a well-thought-out concert on its own, as opposed to grouping each type of work together.

Hilary Hahn’s recording of Charles Ives’ Violin Sonatas brings this oft-forgotten composer to center stage. In a wonderful recording with pianist Valintina Lisitsa, Hahn rehabilitates these works. It’s great to see Ives on the best-seller lists.

Finally, my big box set for Christmas is Naxos’ Schubert: The Complete Lieder, on 38 discs. I’ve just started listening to this yesterday, and it will take a while for me to have an opinion about it, but I’ve written a bit about it here. Schubert’s lieder is one of my favorite parts of the classical repertoire, and having a second complete set of these works is invaluable.

Read part 1 of this article.

You’ll note that new recordings only make up a small part of this list, and most of what impressed me this year was either music I hadn’t explored, or reissues of old recordings in budget packages. This is generally how I discover music: in most cases, I don’t run out and buy new releases, and several of those that I mention in this article are discs that I received for review for MusicWeb International, where I write. (You might want to check out their lists of recordings of the year by a number of reviewers, including myself. I’ll admit that I don’t agree with their choice for CD of the year…)

See also Classical Music Box Sets for the Holidays for more ideas for affordable classical box sets.

Feel free to add comments about the recordings that you enjoyed most this year.

Notable Recordings of 2011 – Part 1

As the end of the year approaches, the Internet is inundated with best-of and 10-best lists of everything from books and music to celebrities and memes. Not interested in such lists myself, I nevertheless thought it would be interesting to look at my iTunes library and see what music I added this year, and see which of these recordings stood out. Here is a list, in chronological order, of the new recordings that I got in 2011 that I find noteworthy. Some were released in 2011, but most were recordings that I discovered during this year. (This is part 1 of a 2-part series, covering January through June.)

The first new recordings I added to my library in 2011 were by Alfred Brendel. Not new, but re-released in budget sets, were collections of his Schubert’s Piano Works, 1822-1828 and his Beethoven’s Complete Piano Sonatas & Concertos. Both of these sets show Brendel at the peak of his career, in the music that he was most attached to. It’s fair to say that the Schubert set is one of the best of that composer’s music, and, while the Beethoven has much more competition, Brendel is in the top few as well.

Thomas Hampson’s new recording of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn songs, is nearly perfect. As I said in my review on MusicWeb International, “It’s fair to say that in lieder terms Thomas Hampson is to Mahler what Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was to Schubert – and was, in his time, to Mahler as well. Hampson owns Mahler’s songs.” This recording with a chamber orchestra offers a new approach to the music, which is generally performed either with just the singer and a piano, or with a full orchestra.

I knew Liszt the pianist, but this year, I discovered the Liszt that composed for the orchestra, by way of a budget recording of his Symphonic Poems, by Bernard Haitink and the London Philharmonic. The richness of this music is astounding, but this was a new orchestral style at the time, and it takes repeated listenings to understand where Liszt was going with this music.

I had never heard of York Bowen before, but this two-disc set of his Piano Sonatas, played by Danny Driver, helped me fill that gap. Sometimes called “the English Rachmaninoff,” Bowen’s romanticism is beautiful, and Driver’s performances impeccable.

The Durutti Column has been a favorite of mine for some 30 years, and while the album, Vini Reilly, is not one of the best, this remaster sheds new light on the music, and helps me better appreciate this period of this artist’s music. Vini Reilly is the name of the artist who records, on his own or with others, as The Durutti Column. This eponymous album, released in 1989, came after a fallow period, and marked a rebirth in Vini’s music.

Charles Ive’s Concord Sonata is my favorite modern piano work, and this orchestration by Henry Brant, called the Concord Symphony, performed by the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, is a brilliant transformation of that piano sonata to an orchestral form. With exquisite sound, this is an excellent recording. (It is paired with the rather tepid Organ Symphony by Aaron Copland.)

András Schiff is an excellent pianist, and his recordings of Bach’s Solo Keyboard Works is a delight. I hadn’t known many of these recordings, but listening to all of them over a few days showed me just how much Schiff understands Bach. (As you’ll see in Part 2 of this article, I was also impressed by a Blu-Ray disc of him performing Bach’s French Suites.)

If you want to put a smile on your face, listen to some music by Henry Purcell. This set of three CDs of his Complete Secular Solo Songs is nearly four hours of happiness, with some of the most delightful melodies and excellent singers. This music deserves to be better known. A companion set, The Complete Ayres for the Theatre, is just as wonderful.

Phantasm’s recording of William Byrd’s Complete Consort Music was a revelation. I’ve long loved the viola da gamba, and especially viol consort music (that written for an ensemble of viols), but this is the best such recording I’ve ever heard. Not only is Byrd’s music extraordinary, but this performance and recording are exceptional. A must-have disc for anyone who likes early music.

Read part 2 of this article.

See also Classical Music Box Sets for the Holidays.

Feel free to add comments about the recordings that you enjoyed most this year.

Classical Music Box Sets for the Holidays

It’s that time of year again. The time when people start searching for gifts for the holidays, for friends, or for themselves. At this time of year, record labels – especially classical labels – release a number of box sets, to entice listeners to perhaps buy more than they would otherwise purchase, but also to make snazzy packages that make nice gifts. I generally take advantage of this period to pick up a couple of box sets, either of music I’d been looking to get to fill out my collection, or of music that I discover at bargain prices. I’ve been looking through what’s available this year, and I’ve found a number of nice classical box sets that are worth checking out.

To start with, I just received Naxos’ 38-disc Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition, a project organized by pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr, featuring all German singers. I’ve already written about it here, so I’ll direct you to that article for more about this set, and about Schubert’s lieder in general.

A recent budget release of Mozart piano concertos, featuring Alfred Brendel is on my list. Brendel plays concertos 5-27, with Ingrid Haebler playing the early piano concertos, Ton Koopman playing harpsichord concerts, and Katia & Marielle Labèque and Imogen Cooper joining for the concertos for multiple pianos. I’m a Brendel fan, and will definitely be getting this.

Harmonia Mundi has a 30-disc set of Music of the Enlightenment, which, for now, is listed on Amazon.fr, but not Amazon.com. This contains a selection of composers of that period, from Bach to early Beethoven, by way of Gluck, Boccherini, Rameau and others. It’s an interesting concept to group all these composers together, giving listeners an idea of the music that propagated during this period.

Another set that’s only on Amazon.fr for now is Michel Chapuis’s recordings of Bach organ works on 14 CDs, at the low price of around €30. This reissue of recordings first released in the 1970s is definitely worth getting if you’re a Bach organ fan. And the price can’t be beat.

One set that I’ve already picked up, and very much enjoyed, is Café Zimmermann’s Concertos avec plusieurs instruments, or concertos for multiple instruments, by Bach. On six CDs, this group provides energetic readings of Bach’s concertos. From harpsichord to violon, from oboe to the Branderburg concertos, this covers all of Bach’s concertos. Each disc is grouped as a recital, rather than organizing all the concertos of a particular type together, making each one an attractive program on its own.

The 50-CD Decca Sound box set groups a number of vintage Decca recordings which, apparently, have excellent sound. There are many recordings here that I don’t have, and it’s tempting, but it’s one of those boxes where I probably wouldn’t listen to more than half of the CDs. This said, at less than $2 a CD, it’s a steal.

I recently ordered this 18-disc set of Mozart’s operas, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. Another bargain, where the set costs about the price of two operas, and it contains the seven most famous Mozart operas. The label claims it is a limited edition, and this may be true. At this price, you shouldn’t miss out.

A 4-disc set of Schütz’s Narrative Works, on the Danish Da Capo label, is on my list. I’ve listened to some previews of the music, and it’s very attractive. I’m not very familiar with Schütz, but Paul Hiller, leading Ars Nova Copenhagen, seems to master this music.

I’m not very familiar with David Oistrakh’s recordings, but this 100th Birthday Edition features 20 discs of his recordings at a bargain price.

I’d like to get this 6-disc set of Gesualdo’s madrigals, on the Globe label, but it seems to be unavailable. Gesualdo’s madrigals are wonderful works, and I’ve never explored them enough. Maybe this will be available again soon.

I’ve listened to parts of the Brilliant Classics Frescobaldi Complete Edition. On 15 discs, this is all of Frescobaldi’s compositions at the usual Brilliant Classics price. It’s worth noting that this label has also recently released editions of music by Corelli, Vivaldi, and Telemann, though the latter is far from complete. Telemann wrote hundreds of works, and this 29-disc set is only a selection of the best known.

Finally, the Bernstein Symphony Edition contains 60 discs of Lenny conducting symphonies. Many collectors already have a lot of these recordings, but if you don’t, there are some gems. It’s really cheap as well (less than $2 per disc).

So whatever your tastes in classical music, this holiday season offers a number of tempting box sets, many at bargain prices. Take your pick, fill out your collection, and enjoy some great music.

Music Notes: Hyperion 99-Disc Complete Liszt Box Set

Hyperion Records has released a 99-disc box set of the long-running series they have been publishing of all of Franz Liszt’s piano music. Recorded by Leslie Howard, with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra for the concertos, this series has been a labor of love for some 25 years (the first disc was recorded in 1985, and was an early digital recording). Hyperion claims that it holds the Guinness world record for the world’s largest recording series by a solo artist; I don’t know of any that even come close.

Liszt’s music is an acquired taste; I’ve been listening to bits and pieces from this set since I got it nearly a year ago, and while some of the music is too over-the-top for my taste, much of it is very interesting. It contains 7,266 minutes of music, enough to keep anyone busy for a very long time. Discovering an oeuvre like this is a long-term process, and having all the music available in one set makes it possible to flip around from period to period to hear how Liszt grew.

A large number of these discs are transcriptions: of music from operas, of songs by Franz Schubert (11 hours’ worth), of Beethoven’s symphonies (masterful transcriptions indeed). The one set of works that has held me spellbound is the Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, a series of “mystical” keyboard works. This set is full of surprises, and I have barely scratched the surface so far.

It’s currently listed at €186 at Amazon FR, £228 at Amazon UK, and $302 at Amazon.com, with marketplace sellers offering it for less. Hyperion – one of my sponsors – also has it available for download, in MP3, FLAC and Apple Lossless formats, with impeccable metadata, and full notes embedded in each track. They sell it for £200, but you get an immediate 25% “bulk buy” discount, making it £150. And you don’t have to rip the CDs.