Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit FLAC, Sony 88875165122 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Kopatchinskaja is a ‘Marmite’ violinist, as anyone who has loved/suffered her Bartók and Prokofiev recordings will attest. And when you read the booklet at HRA and see its (in part informative) notes are couched in the form of artful love letters between soloist and conductor you might fear the worst from this 2014/13 Moscow/Madrid theatres coupling. All the singers in Les Noces are native and MusicAeterna uses period instruments. The authenticity tells in their marvellously sung, energetic Les Noces, and unusual timbres add to the concerto performance. But, although Kopatchinskaja’s mastery of the instrument astonishes, the sudden drops to ‘pppp molto lento’ then a prestissimo, and a cadenza with slides like Saint-Saens’s ‘asses’ speak of ego more than Tchaikovsky. CB

Sound Quality: 75%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Massed strings, especially in the opening Allegros (trks 1 and 3), deliver a very extended output with harmonics stretching across to the ~45kHz practical limit of this genuine 96kHz recording. Dynamic range is excellent, noise low. PM