I got home from work pretty worn out from the day. My mood quickly changed when I spied the UPS box waiting patiently for me beside the door. I have to confess that I didn't own this Reference Recording until now, but it was a favorite demo CD at a local audio salon (Music Lovers). For those not familiar with Exotic Dances from the Opera, it includes seven pieces from seven different composers. Now I'm not the type that goes for the audiophile extravaganzas and perhaps my prolonged absence from the local audio shops has helped but each one of these selections just knocked my socks off. Starting with the Rimsky-Korsakov, then one after the other stepped up to the plate to hit the ball deeper into the stands until ending with the Saint-Saens. I recall reading Doc's posting from CES (on the Bottlehead forum since this one didn't exist yet) where he premiered the tapes and he said that they were given a standing ovation. Well, I felt like doing the same thing by them time this tape ended.
So what's so great about this tape,.. drum hits like I've never heard outside of a concert hall. So realistic and full. You just have to hear it to know. The woodwind solos are so concrete that you could easily describe the players technique. No congestion on the gigantic swells (oh god, did I say that the dynamic swing is amazing) at all. This thing puts you there so solidly that when the music ended, my first thought was "Why isn't anyone clapping?". But it isn't all swagger either. There's a section where a cello comes to the fore and there's all that resin, as we'd expect, but there's such a woody tone from the box and a space that it occupies like I usually only hear from a baritone singer on a great recording. Just fantastic!
As I've said in a previous post, I've found the selections to be more than I could have asked for, but all for different reasons. TP 005 and 006 are classic performances that original LP's would set you back as much or more than the pristine tapes that are offered. But 007 (lord, I've gone this far without any Ian Flemming references and I'm not going to start now,..MoneyPenny) really gets the "showoff" in me excited. If ever there was a release that shows the impressive side of what our tapes and systems can do, this is it!
When you get this tape,.. your neighbors are going to know it!
