Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit FLAC*, Canary Classics CC12 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

After recording for DG in the 1990s – with memorable versions of the Bartók Second Concerto with Boulez, the Brahms with Abbado and the Barber with Previn – Gil Shaham founded Canary Classics in 2004. This present compilation is from live recordings, apart from the Hartmann Concerto funèbre (where the strings are also directed by Shaham), made between 2008 and 2013 in Boston, Dresden, London and New York. Shaham seems able to identify with each of these markedly different scores – his Barbican Stravinsky is especially enjoyable – but it’s not an ‘audiophile’ package: the Britten has the best sound and brilliant accompaniment (Boston SO); the Berg is pretty good (Dresden); but the Hartmann is quite claustrophobically close-balanced. CB

Sound Quality: 70%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

The Stravinsky, Berg and Hartmann were recorded and delivered here at 44.1kHz only. The Barber looks to be upsampled for SACD and then downsampled back to 96Hz while the Stravinsky [above] is an 88.2kHz to 96kHz conversion. PM