Slatkin: Gershwin – Catfish Row, An American in Paris (FLAC)

Performer: Barbara Liberman, Jeffrey Siegel
Orchestra: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Leonard Slatkin
Composer: George Gershwin
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Size: 337 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: no

# Catfish Row, symphonic suite (from Porgy and Bess, opera)
Composed by George Gershwin
Performed by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
with Barbara Liberman, David Mortland
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin

# An American in Paris, tone poem for orchestra
Composed by George Gershwin
Performed by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin

# Promenade, for piano or orchestra (arrangement of “Walking the Dog” from Shall we Dance, film)
Composed by George Gershwin
Performed by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
with George Silfies
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin

# Rhapsody in Blue, for piano & orchestra (orchestrated by F. Grofé)
Composed by George Gershwin
Performed by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
with Jeffrey Siegel
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin

# Cuban Overture
Composed by George Gershwin
Performed by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
with John Korman, Yuan Tung
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin

Catch this before it disappears

A great example of what SACD can do. The Nickrenz/Aubort/Elite recordings from the 1970’s include some of the very finest sounding recordings ever commited to analog tape. And this is no exception. This one is slightly odd- it includes a superbly naturally presented orchestra (presumably from their normal setup of 4-across-the-stage Schoeps mikes), plus some crazily spot lit- but very transparent percussion. It shouldn’t really work, but it does- both in stereo (my prefered format) and multi-channel.

SACD buffs will know that the superb MoFi classical recuts are now exchanging hands for silly prices. Listen to this, and you will see why.

And the performances? The young Slatkin has more panache and drive, seemingly, than his older incarnation, and the orchestra responds superbly and idiomatically. The only fly in the ointment is the Rhapsody, where I find Siegel’s playing mannered and just a bit too slow. But that’s just me.

It’s not enough to spoil an SACD you can play to your mates and amaze them.