Hi-Res Downloads

44.1kHz/24-bit FLAC, Audax ADX13702 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Born in Paris in 1656, Marin Marais studied the viol under Sainte Colombe and worked under Lully in the court orchestra. He wrote over 800 pieces for viol, many in suite form and the Canadian oboist has transcribed six of those here. (The baroque oboe was first heard in a work by Lully a year after Marais was born and it quickly became very much in demand in France.) The suites are typically in seven-movement form – Prélude, Courante, Sarabande, Menuet, etc – with a few concluding Gigues having descriptive titles: ‘La Chicane’, ‘La Badine’, ‘La Petite’. Palameta is set forward of accompanying continuo instruments – theorbo, harpsichord, bass viol and baroque guitar – in a shallow soundstage. His playing is clean, expert but for my taste somewhat too earnest. Sample before buying, to see if the music engages your interest. CB

Sound Quality: 65%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

The harmonic reach of this baroque oboe is clearly >20kHz, beyond the bandwidth of this 44.1kHz rendering prepared for release on CD. Interestingly, the feed from the microphone looks to have a notch filter at 18.6kHz [see Graph]. PM