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Welcome to Audiophilia. We publish honest and accurate reviews of high end audio equipment and music.
Welcome to Audiophilia. We publish honest and accurate reviews of high end audio equipment and music.
All by Jesús González-Monreal
Berliner Philharmoniker
Gustav Mahler Symphonies Nos. 1–10
Daniel Harding
Symphony No. 1
Andris Nelsons
Symphony No. 2
Gustavo Dudamel
Symphony No. 3
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Symphony No. 4
Gustavo Dudamel
Symphony No. 5
Kirill Petrenko
Symphony No. 6
Sir Simon Rattle
Symphony No. 7
Sir Simon Rattle
Symphony No. 8
Bernard Haitink
Symphony No. 9
Claudio Abbado
Symphony No. 10 (Adagio)
I’ll start this review with a story. Since last year, I’ve experienced the following routine almost every morning. I wake up at five, and after the habitual espresso, I go straight to my audio setup and say hello to my turntable, CD player, speakers, and amp (like I imagine everyone does). Everything needed for me to begin my listening session, turn up my amp, speakers and enjoy. But, it’s too early. So, I compromise, I go for my phone and get the wireless headphones ready. There’s nothing wrong with this picture, of course, but after months of confinement, I felt my setup deserved more. Better sound, higher-end audio headphones and leave the wireless behind. Enter the audiophile headphone world.
My experience has always been with wireless over-the-ear headphones (Sennheiser PXC 550-II, Sony WH-1000XM3, Bose SoundLink—the Sennheiser’s are for me the clear winner of these three by the way). I had no need for wired headphones and the amp to drive them. I’ve had wireless headphones exclusively—some Apple AirPods Pro earphones as well because they are just so practical.
L’Orchestre National de Lille (ONL) performed its first concert in 1976 under the baton of Jean-Claude Casadesus, who retired as music director in 2016. Since then, French conductor Alexandre Bloch has taken the reins. Bloch’s career is impressive; he is principal guest conductor for the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker (2015) and winner of the LSO Donatella Flick Conducting Competition (2012). Bloch has recorded 3 albums with the ONL, all for Alpha Classics: works by Ravel, Chausson and the recording reviewed here, Mahler Symphony No. 7 (2020). The ONL was also shortlisted for the Gramophone Classical Music Awards ‘Orchestra of the Year’ in 2020. A good pairing to take on a highly complicated symphony.
Mahler’s Seventh: The enigmatic symphony.
It’s been only a few years since I started listening to Mahler, although it does feel much longer. My first experience with Mahler, was with the First Symphony, under the direction of Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. I was confused about what I was listening to, those first notes of expanding, sustained high As. Nature sounds from a symphony I hadn’t heard before—a clarinet cuckoo call, a free fall of dangerous notes. It was an amazing moment. By the third movement, I was completely hypnotized—this is the ‘Mahler Effect’.
The new recording from classical guitarist Martin Van Hees (on the TRPTK label), brings together compositional works from prominent Dutch composers: Roderik de Man, Aart Strootman, Jan-Peter de Graaff, Christiaan Richter, Leo Samana, Louis Andriessen, as well as Van Hees himself. There’s such diversity of tone and colour in these works, I decided to briefly review each of them. All, I believe, complement the concept of the album. The expressive layers of each composition come through the guitar of Martin Van Hees, who plays the instrument with excitement and precision.
I found the idea very interesting of having all composers the same nationality. There are a few details in the album notes where Van Hees comments a little about each composer. Intrigued, I researched more and found several writings from the soloist dating back to his Master’s degree studies at The Royal Conservatory in the Hague. Since then, he showed a growing interest in these composers. A desire to learn about their work, questioning how the composers imagined the playing style of their compositions. This important work paves the way for a unique and coherent sound throughout the album. As such, he invested himself into each composition, its complexities, and even conducted interviews and played the work for some of the composers (de Man, Andriessen and Samana). The pairing of soloist and composer is for our benefit as we listen to a faithful interpretation of the score.
I’ve always had in mind a basic turntable setup for the beginner audiophile; the usual suspects: speakers, phono-stage and amplifier. They remain the building blocks for starting and developing better audio quality. To these components, I’ll add one more, and it’s the focus of this review: the cartridge/stylus. This needle is the connection to the grooves on the recording, the last external mechanism before it lowers and touches the LP of the music you love. But this review is not about any old cartridge, it’s a review for a monaural cart, the Ortofon 2M Mono ($356). A much needed tool in your turntable arsenal for those albums that carry so many memories.
There’s some history for me with mono albums. I remember being six years old and making the hour long drive with my mother to my grandfather’s home. As soon as I would get there, I knew I’d find a new ‘toy’ to play with. My grandfather sold used electronics, from TVs, to amplifiers, guitars, basses, to Casio watches and even turntables. The few times I visited him, listening was such a memorable experience; those memories are still with me.
Why does vinyl have such a strong hold on audiophiles? Perhaps it’s the ritual of the LP, the ‘warm’ sound of the grooves, the quality of the sound, that one can play around with cartridges, speakers, cables and preamps not to mention turntables. A little over two years ago, I started getting more serious about vinyl, wanting more from my music. Spending years collecting records was not just a hobby, but a way to experience sound. Collecting LPs of favorite composers and conductors as well as researching great recorded performances is a passionate activity for those of us who are immersed in music and its sound.
The listener or audiophile researches how to get the best sound out of their vinyl. Reading, watching videos, visiting chatrooms, all information about LPs pressings, labels, mono, stereo, types of grooves, cartridges, have but one goal—the clarity of sound and the experience of it. Having some experience with the LPs, I decided to start my journey into the oldest type of mass produced records, the 78rpm shellac. With a very introductory setup (Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB Turntable, a Pro-Ject Phono Box MM preamp and Edifier R1280DB Loudspeakers) and acute curiosity, I dove head first into this new world of the 78rpm.
