I have a friend who has is coming over in a few days to hear my system. He’s requested that I play Wagner – Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III, and suggested the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel. I easily found the recording on Qobuz, but when I listened to it I was underwhelmed with the recording itself. Can someone recommend a recording of the track specified above that has absolutely stellar sonic quality, and that is available on Qobuz? I’m not into classical and would appreciate the benefit of some knowledgeable suggestions.
Kempe is considered a (the) reference for this opera. Vienna Philharmonic. Highly regarded for recording quality as well.
1 Like
^^This is one of the reasons I love this community.
Cheers.
3 Likes
Thank you for telling me. It seems bizarre. I have a high res system (PSAUdio, including speakers, and good cables). But the violins don’t sound good to me and there are other things. Perhaps it was a temporary problem, although all of my demo tracks and other music has been sounding very good. I’ll listen again and see if it sounds better to me.
I understand. Sometimes very complex orchestral or operatic music sounds different on one system vs another. An alternative you might prefer may be the live Sawallisch recording.
Amen!
Are you listening to the one on EMI Classics? (While a very good live performance, on this I personally find the sonics to be a little thin - but that’s just my opinion.)
Take a listen to this. On Tidal it is 24/192, I assume the same on Qobuz. Yes, it’s Act 1, not Act 3. On my system the strings sound gorgeous. If you like it, just tell your friend that someone must have been confused . 
Thank you!
Hmm. Nelson’s did conduct the whole opera on the Opus Arte label, but it’s a live recording at tge Bayreuth Festival. I haven’t heard this one.
Curious what you think of the quality and sound quality of the recording. Reviews of Nelsons are all over the map. I’m not a big Lohengrin fan – I prefer the later operas. But an interesting note by one of the reviewers is that you can hear hints of Parsifal in this version of the prelude.
Thank you!
@softlight64 the prelude to Act 1 is pretty quiet and mellow. The dynamics come in around minute 6. Versus the prelude to Act 3, which is like an action movie (and your friend won’t be able to see how your system handles big dynamic shifts). Cheers.
One other recommendation. Take a listen to the track called “transformation music” in Act 2 of Parsifal. The Karajan recording is good. The bells are a good workout for your speakers/subs!
1 Like
Excellent!
OK, good.
All I can find in Qobuz is RCA Red Seal
Hmm. I’m not sure I know that one.