Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Carlos Kleiber, Bavarian State Opera Orchestra :: Verdi: La Traviata [Hybrid SACD]

Huge Error in the SACD Hybrid version

Kostas Sarantidis | Portland, ME United States | 12/12/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This SACD Hybrid release of Kleiber's La Traviata gets a full 5 stars for the performance, but 1 star for the remastering of the 1977 recording. Hence my 3 stars in this review.



At the beginning of Track 7, Disc One, there is a crescendo in the strings which leads to the re-entry of the chorus with "Si ridesta in ciel l'aurora." In the score, the beginning of this crescendo overlaps with the final chord of the on-stage band. There is no break in the music. This is exactly how you hear it in the original CD release of the Kleiber recording and in other recordings of La Traviata. In the new SACD hybrid release, you hear the final chord of the stage band and then there are 6 seconds of silence in Track 6 before you hear the string crescendo at the beginning of track 7. This destroys the continuity of the piece and is simply WRONG. I don't understand how such an editing mistake could have been made.



Furthermore, the sound on this new remastering is not significantly better than what you hear on the old CD version still available at regular price. And the booklet has been reduced in size and content.



All in all, I can't recommend this release. The recording is one of the best Traviatas out there, but you should buy the regular CD edition and skip this SACD Hybrid version - at least until Universal has corrected their terrible edit mistake in Act 1. The sound on the old CD version is excellent!"