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Name:
  Bruce Zeisel
Details:
  I am a devotee of Classical Music, especially violin, cello second. Enjoy music from Vivaldi and Bach to Shostakovitch, Schnittke, and living contemprorary composers. Enjoy Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven Schubert etc but maybe revel more in Bruckner, Mahler, Dvorak, Sibelius, love early Bartok, and the Concerto for Orchestra. I love Mozart Piano Concertos and Brahms' also!

I am a member of the Board of Directors of Troy Chromatic Concerts, a volunteer organization which sponsors 4 to 5 concerts annually in the wonderful Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy NY, USA In that capacity I am on the Artist Selection Committee.

Although we live in Albany and attend local concerts, my wife and I also have a "mini series" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston, so we make that trek 7 or 8 times a year plus forays to Carnegie Hall, and for soloists who are REALLY interesting - such as Vadim Repin, Pieter Wispelwey, Hilary Hahn, or Julia Fischer, we will even go to Avery Fisher Hall. That venue, in my mind is a poor place to listen to music so when we go there, we sit up close.
Location:
  Albany NY, USA
HiFi:
  Hi Fi Currently consists of:

Left and Right speakers: Apogee Duetta Signatures (unmodified)
Center Channel speakers : pair of Magnepan 2.6Rs each driven by one half of stereo amp with Y connection to that amp from center channel of preamp.

If you are not familiar with these, they are planar magnetic speakers (no cones or enclosures), with ribbons for the higher frequencies. the Apogees have 4ft long ribbons for tweeter/midrange. The Magnepans have what looks to be about a 30 inch ribbon tweeter. (Quite spectacular in that it is less than a quarter the thickness of a human hair)

Rear Channel speakers: Mirage Omni-Sats

Amps: Musical Fidelity P-270 for front left and right
B&K 140 for center channel as described above
Parasound A-23 for rear channels

Pre-amp: Bel Canto Pre 6 (7.1 channel analog preamp)

SACD: Sony SCD XA 9000 ES

Interconnect Cables: Neglex 2534 Quad Microphone cable
Speaker Cables: As supplied with Apogee Speakers and 10 gauge Home Depot Outdoor Extension Cord with terminations from Radio Shack for center and rear channels.

Favorite labels: PentaTone; Channel Classics; LSO Live; Chandos; BIS

Footnote: I have analog equipment in storage and maybe some day it will become part of the system.
Turntable is a Merrill - Tonearm is the Well Tempered Arm - Phono cartridge is a swiss made Empire, reworked by its designer to approx Van den Hul specs for their MC-10. - Phono preamp was a project from Audio Amateur done by my son before he became an electrical engineer and VLSIC designer.

I have a collection of approximately 2500 stereo LPs - mostly EMI-HMV, London, Decca, Philips, RCA Living Stereo, Teldec, Supraphon, and DG. I also have about 45 Lyrita LPs and a large collection of Classic Record's reissues of Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence recordings - several on 45 rpm sets. These were all purchased before I discovered the excellence of SACD.
Email:
  zeisels@verizon.net
Web:
 
Posts:
  2664

 
 
Reviews
Found: 33 show all

  March 5, 2012

A few months ago, a friend in Iran sent me a link to a translation of "Water's Footfalls" by Sohrab Sepehri. "Water's Footfalls"? If that doesn't provoke your curiosity and if you think to yourself: "Are you kidding me? - What nonsense!" Then don't read any further. The poem includes the ... more
Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 - Janowski          (13 of 16 found this review helpful)
  October 19, 2009

I don't have a favorite symphony. (Who does?) But if I did - this one just might be it. Oh, there is strong competition from several contenders, Shosty 13, Prokofiev 6 (and 5 for that matter) along with Schubert 9th, Beethoven 7th, Brahms 3rd, Mozart's G minor, and so on. But why am I so taken with ... more
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Piazzolla - Lara St. John        (11 of 11 found this review helpful)
  May 8, 2009

This is not for any faint of heart original instrument or PIP purists - I will begin with that! But it is an edifying and to me, thoroughly satisfying account of the famous Four Seasons with a bonus, "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires" by Piazolla arranged for solo violin by Desyatnikov, whose ... more
Orff: Carmina Burana - Atlanta SO/Runnicles          (9 of 12 found this review helpful)
  November 13, 2008

Last Saturday my wife and I schlepped off to Boston for our second concert of the season. The first half of the concert was devoted to Sequentia's take on the source material for Orff's Carmina Burana. It was enlightening if not exciting. The Orff on the other hand was a real eye-opener for me. I ... more
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 13 & 24 - Helmchen, Nikolic          (15 of 15 found this review helpful)
  October 12, 2007

This one is rather special! Superb sound; and the very nuanced but masculine playing from Helmchen and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra is wonderful! Not a period performance, but like Julia Fischer's Mozart Concertos, this is a period informed performance of the highest caliber. I was unfamiliar ... more

 
 
Latest Posts

PENTATONE THREAD
November 11, 2015
I wonder why sa-cd.net hasn't listed the Dvorak/Lalo yet under "titles"?? ... more
PENTATONE THREAD
November 11, 2015
Well, At least you see it in the future - I am still waiting for a Martinu cello concerto #1. If anyone doubts the worth of this concerto look up the youTube video by Michaela Fukacova. She plays this lyrical work rather passionately. I bet Johannes Moser would also! Wake up PentaTone! ... more
Discussion: Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Bruch - Maxim Rysanov
November 6, 2015
I just listened to this and not being a big fan of arrangements, I am wondering whatever possessed me to acquire it. How much more welcome Bartok's viola concerto and Martinu's Rhapsody concerto would be. ... more
Discussion: Strauss: Symphonia Domestica - Janowski
July 26, 2015
I think the PentaTone recordings made in Oregon are by SoundMirror of Boston, not Polyhymnia. SoundMirror also use spot mics. Lots of variables determine ultimate sound quality. ... more
Discussion: Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 - Otaka
July 25, 2015
Anybody heard this or other Fontec recordings to be able to make a resonable guess what the sound quality might be? ... more