Ozawa reissues on Pentatone SACD

This is an exciting and enterprising project from PentaTone. They have undertaken the body of quadraphonic recordings from the Philips and DG catalogs, recorded in the  70s, remastered them in DSD, and released them on 4-channel SACDs. Many Philips titles have already been released, and, beginning in 2015, they've started issuing some from the DG catalog. Many of the recordings chosen are outstanding from performance and recorded quality perspectives (certainly not all: Eschenbach's Beethoven and Vasary's Mozart are questionable, and the Joplin "opera" is an odd choice). I will begin with 3 offerings from Ozawa.

I'll start by clarifying I am listening to the 2-channel (stereo) SACD layer of the PentaTone discs, and, when possible, comparing them directly to previous DG CD releases.

First up is a selection of Ravel orchestral works, culled from Ozawa's 1975 complete set. My first impression is not positive: why just a one-disc sampling? Surely the complete set was recorded in quad, so it would have been nice for Pentatone to give us all of it. I have for comparison DG's 1993, 3-CD set and Eloquence's 2013 CD reissues of these same 3 discs - which, incidentally, sound identical to DG's 1993 set.

When first listening to the SACD, I was surprised by a lack of involvement in the music-making. A quick comparison to DG's CD revealed the encoded volume level on the SACD is considerably lower than that on the CD. Adjusting the volume upward for SACD playback improved matters. And it became apparent that the SACD is cleaner and clearer, revealing more inner detail such as pizzicato strings and harp. However, I was still bothered by a seeming lack of involvement. Listening to a longer selection on DG's CD, I was struck by the increased ambiance of the hall, a you-are-there presence. I was also astonished at the immediate, greater interest in the orchestral sound itself - a bit fuller, warmer and, most of all, more colorful. I have concluded that in cleaning up the sound, PentaTone has also washed out a bit of the richness of orchestral sound and some of the natural warmth of Symphony Hall. It all sounds just a bit gray and colorless as a result. I also noticed a slight thinning of string sound, as if the number of players was reduced by a few desks in each section. Further, the reduction in hall ambiance has made the soundstage a little stark, and has reduced just a bit of realism which is such a wonderful, and prevalent, characteristic of the original CDs.

Final verdict: while the differences are not huge, they certainly are clearly audible and have an affect on the listening experience. I'll sum it up this way: the original DG CD sounds (in comparison) like an excellent analog recording and the PentaTone SACD sounds like a digital recording. Which one do I prefer? Well, I am a very strong supporter of DSD technology and have found most SACDs to sound better in every way than their CD equivalents. But, after listening back and forth to these discs over the course of several evenings, each time I put on DG's CD I simply forgot about the technology and the recording process and found myself drawn into the Boston Symphony's gorgeous music-making and loving Ravel. The SACD just didn't do this for me to nearly the same extent (which does surprise me). I suspect that with a high quality 4-channel system, the extra surround speakers would add a great deal to this SACD's sonic allure and realism and might tip the scales in its favor. However, in 2-channel stereo, the CD remains my preference for these glorious Ravel recordings. 
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If I had some reservations regarding PentaTone's SACD remastering of Ozawa's Ravel, I have nothing but praise for this Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. I compared the SACD to DG's 1991 "Galleria" CD (I have not heard any subsequent DG releases of this recording). In comparison, the Galleria CD sounds as if the original master tapes were not used (although I suspect that they were). The SACD is strikingly cleaner and more refined. The acoustic has also been substantially cleaned up and defined on the SACD. The CD, in addition to a slight rawness on brass, had a rather muddy, ill-defined acoustic space. The SACD retains all the glories of Symphony Hall but removes the mush. It's still warmly reverberant and full, but now the actual space is defined, clearly placing the orchestra within it. The entire recording sounds so much more real and 3-dimensional as a result. It sounds as if the Boston Symphony is laid out right in front of the listener! It's that good.

This disc holds much promise for future PentaTone releases in this series. My mouth waters at the announcement of Tilson Thomas's Boston Rite of Spring later this year (alas, as it turns out, it is a great disappointment...but I'll write about that one another day). Even in two-channel, this Berlioz SACD is excellent. I can only image how spectacular it must be in 4-channel.
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Pentatone treats to yet another of Ozawa's very best recordings - his Berlioz Damnation of Faust (complete). Comparing it to DG's CD releases (both the 1990 Galleria and 1996 "2CD" issue, which sound identical), the SACD is dramatically more dynamic. My one and only complaint about the CDs is a nagging, determined "closed in" sound which just refuses open up. It just does not have the oomph of, say, Solti's Decca recording. That is certainly remedied on PentaTone's SACD. Indeed, the dynamic range is even wider than Solti's 1982 digital one. In the early days of digital recording, Decca applied a dynamic-range ceiling to their recordings, which clearly clips down the volume on the biggest peaks. This severely affected Dutoit's Ravel and some of Solti's 1980s recordings, his Damnation of Faust included. There is no dynamic compression on Ozawa's analog recording (or Pretre's for EMI, which I used as a comparison) and it is revealed at last in its full majesty and power by the PentaTone SACD.

All this being said, there is just a bit of analog ambiance missing in the cleaning-up process for SACD, a certain menacing awesomeness to the huge Symphony Hall acoustic that the CD exhibits. Maybe it's a bit of extra bass emphasis? I'm not sure. But I miss it during the most dramatic moments near the end of the piece (the Ride to the Abyss and Pandemonium sections). And the SACD is a little brighter on woodwinds and a touch more sibilant than the CD (those hissing S's in the men's chorus in the same passage, for example). This is actually advantageous, as it opens up the sound and allows the full dynamic range to become realized with quite an impact. And it really is thrilling. The men of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus still sound a bit weak and backwardly balanced, and, try as they might, endearingly sound like a college Glee Club. They can't match their counterparts in Margaret Hillis's Chicago Symphony Chorus for Solti, let alone the Paris Opera Chorus for Pretre. Pretre remains supremely exciting in this piece (yes, even more so than Solti!), and has the advantage of the radiantly glorious mezzo Janet Baker. But, minor quibbles aside, everything about Ozawa's recording is fantastic. And now, thanks to PentaTone, it is as thrilling as any.