Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz, 192kHz/24-bit,  FLAC/DSD, Aliud ACD BO 060-2 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Stephanie Proot is a young Belgian pianist who trained in Antwerp, Paris and Brussels and attended various masterclasses – Bashkirov, Fleischer, Goode, et al – and has won several competition awards. She makes her debut plunging in at the deep end with Beethoven’s early F major, the two ‘quasi fantasia’ sonatas (the second the ‘Moonlight’) and – a brave try – the late A-flat. Recording in a dry Ghent studio, she plays a Yamaha Grand: it has decent presence but the album is sonically unremarkable. Proot has the necessary technical competence but not as yet the musical phrasing insights shown in the first recordings of Grimaud, Pires or Uchida, and her playing is somewhat mechanical. There’s very little to draw the listener in, or delight the ear, although she strives for depth in Op.110(iii) with some success. CB

Sound Quality: 65%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Tested here as a DIFF to 192kHz WAV conversion, the original swell of DSD requantisation noise is still clear to see (though attenuated above 60kHz). In practice the bandwidth of the Yamaha Grand rarely exceeds ~16kHz. PM