Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit FLAC*, Decca 478 8189 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Elizabeth Roe is a young Chicago pianist with already an impressive CV. Well worth hearing, she’s also half of a piano duet (see here). Here, she rounds out her programme with two solo ‘night pieces’ – Barber’s Nocturne ‘Homage To John Field’ and Britten’s Notturno written (1963) as a test piece for the very first Leeds Pianoforte Competition. Both main works exist in definitive recordings: John Browning’s (for whom the Barber was written) with Szell/Cleveland on Sony; and Richter’s with Britten/ECO on Decca. The Barber Nocturne restores calm after the motoric drive of his concerto finale – the work far more spaciously conceived than the Sony (6m longer). The Cadogan Hall recordings are reminiscent of Decca’s best analogue work with piano/orchestra. CB

Sound Quality: 85%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Recorded and mastered by Sempre la Musica, the download on offer here while lighting the 96kHz LED on your USB DAC is clearly an upsample of a 48kHz digital file. A clean recording but with the orchestra’s harmonic reach cut short. PM