Divertimenti are classical compositions traditionally for social functions. More lighthearted than
most orchestral music, the genre has
roots in 18th century chamber works. It's ironic that, more than 200 years later, a modern
selection of Divertimenti is being served up for evaluation on new digital formats--practically the
opposite of a social function. Those of us on the cusp of high-resolution digital audio technology
are, by
definition, early adopters, analyzing the merits of sound quality alone with our gear. Another part
of early adoption--as those of us who collect SACDs discovered--is the possibility of buying into a
dying format. You play around on the razor's edge of new technology and sooner or later, you get
cut. While it is hugely rewarding to explore high resolution digital audio on SACD,
the format never fully took off, and lost what little support it had built at the major record labels.
While a handful of
boutique and audiophile labels have taken up the mantle of SACD, it is dead as a mainstream
format, even though Sony built into SACD the features necessary for success--backward
compatibility with CD, and both two channel and multichannel support. The bottom line is that
lower resolution downloadable MP3s took off and not only snuffed out SACD but did tremendous
damage to the "big five" music industry and retail/distribution establishment. On the
heels of SACD's failure to become the successor to CD, Sony introduced a format it hoped would
become the successor to DVD: Blu-ray.
Now, an audio-only BD has been released that not only includes all the "flavors" of Blu-
ray audio--DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD and lossless 24-bit/192 kHz PCM--but also
includes a second disc. Yes, it's an SACD with both multichannel and stereo Direct Stream Digital
(DSD) and CD (PCM 16-bit, 44.1 kHz) layers. And of greater importance than the actual formats
involved is the recording itself: inspired performances by Norway's overachieving
TrondheimSolistene ensemble playing compositions of Britten, Bacewicz, Bj�rklund and
Bartók,
most notably
the latter's gorgeous Divertimento for Strings. The package delivers a unique opportunity
to evaluate the formats and codecs, featuring a reference-quality recording. Kudos to Norway's
progressive 2L
label for producing such fine recordings on SACD and Blu-ray in a way that fully capitalizes on the
advantages of both formats.
For amplification: the VAC Phi Beta 110i.
But before describing the sonic merits of each "flavor" of audio, let me say a few words about the
compositions for those who may not be familiar with them. Simple Symphony by
Benjamin Britten is an unusual purely orchestral work from a British composer known more
for stormier songs, serenades and operas. Britten's rare instrumental pieces are among his best
works and I find Simple Symphony to be perhaps his lightest and most accessible--ideal
for
those listeners new to classical. The piece has four movements:
1. Boisterous Bourree
2. Playful Pizzicato
3. Sentimental Saraband
4. Frolicsome Finale
Grazyna Bacewicz is Poland's most important composer between Szymanowski and Lutoslawski.
She was a very talented violinist who entered the Wieniawski competition in 1935 (the same
year as the legendary David Oistrakh). Her orchestral compositions give special weight to the
strings, which drive the dynamics of all her works. Bacewicz's Concerto for String
Orchestra is a brilliant piece, given an electrifying performance by the National Philharmonic
Orchestra Warsaw (Olympia OCD 392). While not as energized, the TrondheimSolistene deliver a
remarkable reading:
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Vivo
Also included is a more recent work by the Norwegian Terje Bj�rklund, who has been
composing
since
about 1980 in the genre of "art music". His works are known for their lyricism and melody. Like
Bacewicz, he develops and drives his compositions using strings above all. He uses chords and
voicings that seem influenced by jazz. Carmina is a good introduction to his work,
although his more famous compositions are Sarek and Morene.
The centerpiece and namesake of the recordings is Bela Bartók's Divertimento for
Strings. Bartók's great gift was to incorporate Eastern European folk music into his
compositions while making them sound fresh and modern. Strange as it may seem, he often
accomplished that by emphasizing primitive,
stripped down elements in his compositions. This evolutionary approach allowed him to stay true
to his roots and
to the great composers who came before him, while developing a relevant conception in the post-
romantic era. In other words he stayed fresh in an era of revolutionary composers. Bartók
is often described as the last and most original of the romantic composers.
The Divertimento was composed at a particularly turbulent time for Bartók, who
was
avidly anti-Nazi when such a political stance in Hungary was becoming increasingly dangerous.
(He subsequently immigrated to the U.S.) It was also a time when Bartók took his
obsession with Hungarian and Romanian folk music to a new level by developing harmonic and
melodic
techniques to fully integrate these influences into his own compositions. These
compositions are especially interesting to me personally because my grandparents are from
Hungary (paternal grandfather)
and Romania (maternal grandmother). But you don't need Eastern European roots to hear why
Bartók's music is ingenious.
2L's notes perfectly describe the composition, so I'll quote directly from it: "In the
Divertimento he
convincingly succeeds in uniting folklore elements with radical, modernistic devices such as note
clusters and multitonal passages. Craftsmanship alone is never allowed to determine the result,
however--there is a principal musical idea behind every impulse. One of the most fascinating
aspects of the work is the relationship between the movements' mutual expression.
Bartók
loved to juxtapose extremes and in this instance we encounter extremes in choice of tempi and
length of musical subject: the stabbing rhythms of the outer movements are contrasted by the
slow middle movement with its almost infinite linear interplay in which we seem to encounter the
composer's passionate emotional life in its entirety." While this may seem daunting to classical
newbies, I assure you that the pulse and beauty of the composition are easy to find. The
movements are:
1. Allegro non troppo
2. Molto adagio
3. Allegro assai
From the first note of track one, Britten's Boisterous Bourree of his Simple Symphony, it
is
apparent that 2L has totally mastered the art of microphone placement and the audio
engineering of massed
strings. The label's founder, Morten Lindberg, graduated from a recording academy having already
been
credited with 45 recordings, including an award-winning performance of Grieg's work in 1994.
One
key to the success of his recording engineers is that all have a deep affinity for classical music and
all
play instruments themselves. Their ears are developed, their attention to detail is excellent and
2L succeeds where many recording engineers fail. 2L credits Digital eXtreme Definition (DXD) as
the tool
behind the project: "a professioal audio format that brings 'analogue' qualities in 32-bit floating
point
at 352.8 kHz." The technology delivers an unprecedented 11.2896 Mbit/s per channel (that's
four times the data rate
of DSD--the technology behind SACD). According to 2L, this leaves headroom for editing
and balancing before quantizing to DSD for SACD or PCM for Blu-ray.
So how do the various BD codecs compare to each other and to SACD? First I listened to the 24-
bit/192 kHz 5.1 PCM track. I was quickly seduced by the heft of the strings, and palpability of
individual instruments. Nowhere was this more impressive than in Bartók's composition,
featuring dramatic shifts of volume, tone and tempi. The midrange liquidity was good, perhaps a
touch too sweet and not analytic enough for my taste, but that is the result of the recording
venue. I tend to like my recordings a touch drier. But this is a minor quibble. The stringed
voicings used by Bart�k in fleshing out his melodic and harmonic ideas are disarming in the
gorgeous resonances audible in the mix. The other compositions included were also rewarded
careful listening. It didn't hurt to have recently upgraded my amp to VAC's Phi Beta 110i, and my
center speaker to the B&W HTM1D, which is a perfect match with the 802Ds.
From the lossless PCM, I slid the SACD into my SCD-1 (Sony's flagship SACD player)
and opted to hear the two-channel SACD layer. Although the multichannel mix was very tasteful
and conservative in anchoring the audio up front, I was amazed at how the soundstage appeared
more shrunken, narrow and shallow in two channel, despite the SACD 2.8 MHz performance.
While I hardly noticed the ambient sounds of the multichannel mix, they clearly had a
subconscious effect on my perception of the soundstage. In comparison to the multichannel PCM,
the strings in two-channel SACD sounded muddied, and when a soloist played, the spotlighting
was altered significantly. I soon found myself abandoning the two-channel mix, placing the SACD
in the PS3 and accessing the multichannel content. Again I was rewarded with a fullness, heft
and clarity that was previously missing.
Though I expected the multichannel SACD
content to sound the
best of all, it actually performed no better than the lossless PCM content. Perhaps that's because
the DSD is converted to PCM and output via HDMI, thereby eliminating any practical advantages
of SACD's 2.8 MHz sampling. The Dolby TrueHD track was defined, but I noticed it gave up a
modicum of tonal
realism compared to the PCM track. Overall there was a slightly different character to the massed
strings and less extension on the highs, but it was an almost imperceptible difference. I know the
theory that TrueHD is the same as PCM, but I did hear a difference. There was an even
greater difference with the DTS-HD MA track. It seemed to be mastered at a slightly higher
volume and the treble sounded a touch bloated and rolled off compared to the extended highs of
the PCM. On the caboose, of course, was the CD layer included on the SACD. Not horrible, but I
cannot understand listening to this content when 24/192 PCM is included. Maybe in the car?
The take-home message from 2L's Divertimenti release (aside from a heartfelt
recommendation to buy this wonderful title) is that the "death" of SACD is not the end of high-
resolution digital audio. On the contrary, Blu-ray delivers an excellent medium for 24-bit/192 kHz
PCM multichannel audio that--at least on this title--trumps two-channel SACD, and appears
comparable to multichannel SACD. Divertimenti is worth every penny. If 2L or any other
label issues comparable BDs, I for one will be first in line to purchase such releases. We as early
adopters need to pass the torch to the general consumer before the fire goes out. Whether Blu-ray
can make a name for itself as a viable audio format remains to be seen. But with this release it
becomes clearer than ever: BD is not just for video.
