Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit, FLAC*; LSO Live LSO0786 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Reviewed as an SACD in HFN Jul ’16, these are string orchestra transcriptions recorded at The Barbican (as DSD128 – might we hear this in the future?) on 26th April 2015. The Schubert Quartet was partly adapted by Mahler, and completed here by Donald Mitchell and David Matthews, while Shostakovich’s powerful Eighth was expanded, with the composer’s approval, by Rudol Barshai in 1974. It contains quotations from earlier works, from Tchaikovsky and the ‘DSCH’ motif. Such is the sensitivity of the 24 LSO string players that much of the intimacy of the Schubert prevails, and while I prefer the Shostakovich in its original form (we reviewed it here with the Quatuor Debussy) the performance here has an admirably stark impact and presence in this dry acoustic setting. CB

Sound Quality: 80%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Although the original recording may have been made at DSD128 this 96kHz LPCM rendering looks more like a downsample of the DSD64 (SACD) file. The practical bandwidth is <30kHz with ultrasonic requantisation noise above. PM