Andrew Marriner, Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St Martin in the Fields - Mozart: Clarinet Concert (2004) [SACD]

I’ve been hesitating about writing the review for the Bis release or this one, and seeing that there were much more recommendations for the Bis recording, I’ll go with Pentatone!
Apart from Ray Kimber and Isomike that still surprise me, Pentatone is soudwise a reference and still is in my opinion at the top of the mountain. As others already pointed, some companies such as Bis, Hyperion, Chandos and others that still record in PCM never quite get to the same point in terms of relaxed and natural sound, richness of harmonics, and also hall sound reproduction (even in stereo).
It is that little something that makes the others sound a bit analytic in comparison. Of course DSD-PCM might not be the reason, and my guess is that there is just a little extra expertise from Polyhymnia. Slight thing.
And this recording is a top five from Pentatone IMHO, which says a lot. I also enjoy the reverberation of the hall which is a pure delight. Due to the hall too, the bass reproduction is impressively clear. On some systems it might sound a little too much but on mine it is perfectly natural. Those things vary in a live environment too according to the hall or even your position in the hall.
The performance is where Bis has the edge. Especially in the quintet, because you hear more clearly the interpretation level of each player. Fröst is the better clarinet player with no doubt, with such a great phrasing and a wonderful creativity. On this Pentatone recording the orchestra in the concerto sounds good, but I will qualify the players in the quintet as average. Jonty in the dicussion said “boring”, I think if I was listening on a cheap system I would say that. But at least the interpretation overall is fluid and does not prevent from enjoying the music (doesn’t look like it, but to me this is some sort of a compliment).
Anyway, with this recording and the Bis release of the same works, we have hours of absolute pleasure ahead of us. I would advise anyone to get both.
As a player myself I feel a little strange about prefering the Pentatone for the so relaxed and realistic sound quality in spite of the better performance on Bis.
I would say that if I’m close, I tend to prefer the Pentatone version because the sound brings so much more (the sound on Bis is too close-miked, not as natural and realistic as I explained above. Still outstanding, but the Pentatone standard is too high…). And if I’m further or in the other room, Bis is the choice.
This is the way I feel on July 16th, 2007.
By Discspinner:
There isn’t much to add to what previous reviewers have said about this. Their reviews indicate an education about quality of performance which this reviewer lacks. My impression of the performance is that it is moving and worthy of the composition, which is stunning. The sound quality ranks with the best I have heard. Imaging is 3 dimemsional in MC especially when the clarinet is present. Speaking of which there are times when you can distinctly hear the clarinet’s valves engage. Perhaps there is a term for this? In any case I will listen to this many times-so glad I bought this!