Flint Juventino Beppe's Remote Galaxy on LP and Blu-ray Audio

It seems silly for me to declare that Remote Galaxy, the new symphonic recording from 2L Recordings, is this Norwegian label's most ambitious project yet. Nearly every time I receive a new 2L release in the mail, I'm astonished that Morten Lindberg continues to outdo himself each time--whether it's a gorgeous recording, a novel performance, a unique programme theme or just gut-wrenchingly beautiful music. But Remote Galaxy is truly ambitious in so many ways.

Flint Juventino Beppe, a young Norwegian composer who was previously known as Fred Jonny Berg, has followed up his Grammy-nominated 2L recording Flute Mystery with this amazing 2-LP set that contains the expansive title piece as well as "Distant Words" and "Tightrope Walking Beneath Heaven" on the first album, and his Flute Concerto No.2 and the gentle, wistful "Lost in September" on the second. There's a lot of music here--in both size and scope.

Instead of the usual intimate recordings of Norwegian ensembles captured in old Norwegian churches, Remote Galaxy was performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Watford Colosseum in England. That means you get a slightly different sonic presentation from other 2L recordings. Instead of that rare combination of warmth and Nordic precision, you get a big and powerful and almost limitless sound that seems to stretch in all directions at once. That's because Morten Lindberg has introduced a new surround sound technology, known as Auro-3D, which adds "height channels" to the recording process. People with stunning hi-fi systems know that it's relatively easy to reproduce soundstage width and just a little more difficult to reproduce realistic soundstage depth. Soundstage height, however, is a rarity that is usually only heard in exceptional orchestral recordings--I'd been an audiophile for decades before I noticed it for the first time, and it was on a very expensive system. (Big panel speakers tend to do this well.) With this recording, however, it's obvious that Auro-3D accurately captures the room reflections that come off the ceiling, especially when it comes to the solo performances from the viola da gamba, clarinet and flute. That adds a new, utterly lifelike dimension to the performance.

In fact, that's where Remote Galaxy shines the brightest--those solos are so textured and well-defined in space that you're compelled to point to an empty spot between your speakers and declare, "That's what a live instrument would sound like if the musician was here in my room with me right now." There's such an amazing wholeness and clarity to the sound of these stunning solo performances, and a total lack of any type of veil that would get between you and the musicians. Even when the orchestra is playing at full steam and the dynamics are limited by the hardware--and unless you've spent a fortune, there will be at least some limitations--it's still a heart-pounding experience to hear those individual instruments sing within that pulsing tidal wave of music.

Since I received both the Blu-ray Audio disc and the LP, it was fun to compare the differences on two entirely different systems. (Both, by the way, are sold separately--and the CD/SACD hybrid disc is not part of the package this time.) The vinyl was played on my reference system, which is located in a large room that's approximately 24' by 18' by 8'. The Blu-ray was played on my desktop/headphone system which has recently been enhanced with an exceptional little DAC that allows more music to flow from my cheap Blu-ray transport. That made the vinyl sound like a living and breathing thing, something that could burst free from the speakers and stampede around the room at will. The Blu-ray experience with the headphone system was a little more like jumping into the ocean during a huge storm--you're completely immersed in an infinite, churning thing. I think I prefer the LP experience, but both were exciting beyond belief in very different ways.

Remote Galaxy, according to the composer, was written to answer the question: Can the dualism of life, nature and art be expressed in pure music? He describes these pieces as journeys in time and space, and it's an ambition that's been attempted before. But 2L's use of the Auro-3D technology makes these philosophical issues far more concrete to the listener--you are traveling through space when you listen to this music. Whether you have a portable player with earbuds or a million dollar system, you will be immersed in a truly spatial experience.

Marianne Thorsen & TrondheimSolistene's Mozart Violin Concertos on LP

What a wonderful LP I received just before I had to pack up the turntable and head to Colorado. Morten Lindberg of 2L Recordings sent me the new Mozart Violin Concertos LP just a few days ago, and I couldn't have asked for a better farewell session for my Texas listening room. First of all, the orchestra is the stunning TrondheimSolistene--which is responsible for the landmark Souvenir albums from last year, the very recordings that introduced me to 2L. Seeing their name on the cover felt like a visit from old, dear friends. Second of all, it's Mozart. While I'm not one of those Mozart fiends who started obsessing about this music the minute they watched Amadeus for the first time--my heart will always belong to Russians such as Prokofiev and Shostakovich and Frenchmen such as Ravel and Debussy--but Mozart is Mozart. It's sheer beauty in a nutshell. I can't think of a single day in my life where I wouldn't want to indulge in this music for at least a few minutes.

The liner notes say it better: "To us, Mozart is as solid as rock, as soft as snow, and as clear as ice." That's a uniquely Scandinavian way to express one's love for Mozart, but it's so appropriate to the sensibility over at 2L. Like nearly every single recording I've reviewed from this Norwegian label, this recording is alarmingly pure and translucent. All of the light within the music glows in such a direct, unabashed way that other classical recordings sound like they've aged a little too long in the cellar. There's something so immediate about the 2L recordings, and just a little crystalline--like ice and snow. As with all 2L LPs, this pressing is magnificent in its quiet, its revelatory nature. After listening to this recording, you may ask yourself: "is it possible to get closer to this music without experiencing it live?"

I'm discussing two Mozart violin concertos--No. 4 in D major (kv218) and No. 3 in G major (kv 216)--and I've barely metioned the soloist, Marianne Thorson. Perhaps that's because she is integrated so well with her fellow musicians. Morten's vision was to present a "fresh version of the most elegant violin concertos in the history of music," and one of his recording trademarks is to find novel ways to present them--hence the word fresh. As you can see in the photograph below, Thorsen is surrounded by the orchestra and not placed on a giant pedestal. That allows her to be more connected to her fellow musicians, and to produce results that are more organic and whole. This is such a lovely counterpoint to concertos recordings that sound like the soloist was recorded in a different space, on a different day--perhaps even in a different country.

This recording, conducted by Oyvind Gimse, has already received its share of accolades. That's because it was originally released in CD/SACD back in 2006. Since then, it won a Norwegian GRAMMY as Best Classical Album, and Kalman Rubison of Stereophile chose it as one of his "Records to Die For" back in 2008. So you may already know this recording well. But as usual 2L's DXD 352.8kHz/24bit Direct Metal Mater 180g audiophile grade vinyl pressing is the real news here, and if there's a reason to still listen to vinyl...this is undoubtedly it.

At Last...More Vinyl from 2L Recordings!

It's been quite a while since I received some vinyl from 2L Recordings in Norway--which is a shame because there's so darned good. Not that I'm complaining about the Blu-ray Audio and CD/SACD hybrid discs I've been getting on a regular basis. These new digital formats sound so good that I've stopped thinking "Boy, I bet this would sound great on LP." But I'm obviously a vinyl guy--hence the name of this blog--and I do have my biases. In addition, 2L does an exceptional job with their vinyl releases, thanks to pressings that are "DXD 352.8kHz/24bit Direct Metal Master 180g audiophile grade vinyl 33 1/3 rpm" versions.

So far I've received three LPs from Morten Lindberg of 2L: the two volumes of the exceptional Souvenir recordings (see my reviews here and here) and the splendid Hoff Ensemble's Quiet Winter Night (which you can read about here). It's no surprise that all three of these recordings were nominated for Grammys.

Needless to say, I was elated when the latest shipment from "Norge" came in a big, flat piece of cardboard as opposed to a padded shipping envelope. Records! When I looked inside, I found new copies of Ola Gjeilo's Piano Improvisations (which I reviewed here) and Jan Gunnar Hoff's Living (which I reviewed here). Of course my first response was "format comparison time!" That's what I've done every time I've received a 2L recording in more than one format, whether it be LP, redbook CD, CD/SACD hybrid or Blu-ray.

I did the comparisons, of course, and came to the same conclusions as before. The Blu-ray sounds dead silent, eerily so, and has a smoothness through the treble that's almost preternatural. If you've been listening to redbook CDs and then you switch to Blu-ray, you might think that you're losing and gaining something simultaneously. You're losing a bit of air and presence, especially in the upper ranges, but at the same time the entire presentation sounds so more relaxed, soothing and surprisingly detailed. The CD/SACD hybrid discs gain a little more air in the treble of course. Also--and this may be far more relevant to me than to anyone else--the CD/SACD has a balance that's just more familiar to my ears. When I listen to Blu-ray, my first impression is to feel like there's something alien about the experience, that it's different to the very core. It's how I felt the first time I heard a CD back in 1982. This is cool, but different. I'm not used to this.

Going from the little discs to the big black discs, the differences are surprisingly minimal--especially when it comes to the ol' rematch of CD vs. LP. I'm going to go out on a limb here--and perhaps ask Morten Lindberg for an assist--but they're using these amazingly hi-rez files for the LP masters, so wouldn't these files sound pretty much the same in any format? You know, it's the old "bits are bits are bits" argument. I know that converting to an analog format should make a very basic sonic difference, but remember a few years ago when it was revealed that some new LP pressings were actually sourced from a CD "master"? If you heard one of these, you'll know what I mean when I say they sounded like CDs--but with surface noise.

With these 2L LP recordings, it's the flip side. We're now talking about a very superior-sounding digital mastering that has been transferred to LP through a direct metal master--direct to disc, which is the best way to cut an LP. The sound quality is simply astonishing on every level, although--and I have mentioned this before--that these 2L LPs will sound nothing like your original RCA Shaded Dogs. The 2Ls offer incredible, almost infinite detail and equally extended dynamics. These are LPs for those lost souls who sold their record collections before anyone else, in the mid-'80s when CDs first arrived, and are now wondering if it's time to rediscover LPs. The 2Ls will drive that point home like nothing else in the marketplace.

My observation, however, is this: I think the LP and the CD/SACD hybrid discs of these two titles sound almost identical. I went back and forth, and with the exception of surface noise (note: there is generally very little of that on a new 2L pressing, so it's not an issue) it's hard to tell the difference. If I did manage to hear a sonic difference, I suspect it was because of the hardware and not the software. In other words, my digital player and my analog rigs are made by the same company, but that doesn't mean they sound the same. Those, I believe, are the only differences I heard, the ones due to the machines playing the music.

What does that mean? Should you just buy the Blu-ray/CD/SACD package and forget about the vinyl? Absolutely not! If you have a monster analog rig, you should go with the LP and never look back. These are some of the best LP pressings ever. But unless your digital rig and your analog rig offer very different sonic presentations, I'm not sure that you need to run out and buy both--although it would definitely help 2L Recordings if you did. So don't sweat which format to buy--just make yourself happy. And these fascinating recordings will do just that.