Classical Artists Blind Comparison Thread #5 (Chopin's Berceuse)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Mar 15, 2012.

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  1. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    OK, it's my turn to do this and true to my interests, I have decided on a Chopin work, the lovely Berceuse. I found a few dozen performances of this work on my shelves and whittled the list down to 10. As in the prior thread, I have removed all tag info and simply named the entries 1, 2, 3, etc.

    I invite you to listen to each (lossless (FLAC)) entry, rate them in order of favorite to least favorite and then share the info. You can either do this by PM or in the thread. Either way, please indicate that you voted on the poll and post in the thread to bump it. The voting closes in one week, on March 23rd, so please do so before then. I actually prefer that you vote in the thread, but if you do, please be sure to use spoiler tags, {spoiler}type your post here{/spoiler}, replacing the characters around "spoiler" with brackets. Regardless of how you vote, though, please refrain from giving away the identities of the pianists.

    One last thing, I tend to listen to (and own) older recordings so, a number of these entries were made in the pre-tape era. They are still quite listenable, but I figured that warning you might make them more palatable. A few of them sound great, but I went with performance over sound here. Hope it goes well.

    All entries can be downloaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/?kw32k40nmc78z :wave:
     
  2. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Sorry, I'd like to play, I just can't do these heavy-duty downloads. Not enough bandwidth and/or expertise.

    I'm out.

    Liked it better when Scott did these things.
     
  3. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Only 6 days and 23 hours left, folks! :wave:
     
  4. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
  5. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Well, George has already provided an easier and presumably quicker option, but I think it's useful to know how to download these files (and I'm pretty sure even older computers have more than enough bandwidth to download and play them without any problems) so for you or anyone else similarly struggling here's a series of hopefully foolproof steps (I use Windows 7, but the same kind of stuff should come up on older browsers, assuming it works)...

    First off, you will need the right freeware to recognize and play these FLACs - I use Foobar2000, so I will recommend that. Go to www.foobar2000.org (or just google foobar2000, the home page will be the first to come up) and click on the download box at the top, right of the overview. Click on the "latest stable version", then click Run (NOT Save) when the File Download dialog box comes up. You might get this, just click Run again:

    [​IMG]

    The Foobar2000 Setup should then come up and you will get a series of dialog boxes. First click Next, I Agree, then choose Standard installation (should be the default option) and click Next. If a box comes up saying "Do you want to allow the following program from an unknown publisher to make changes to this computer?" click Yes. When the Choose Install Location comes up, click Next to choose the destination folder already given. Then in the Choose Components box, click Install, then when this has been done, click Finish in Completing the Foobar2000 Setup. Foobar2000 will automatically open; just close it.

    Now to play the files, open the link in the first post of this thread and you will see a list of 10 .flac files, numbered 10, then 1-9. I will start by clicking on 1.flac.

    Next, another window from the MediaFire site will show a big black box with the file name in it and a green download bar below (with file size) - click on that. The File Download dialog box should come up (if it doesn't, try again by closing the download window and clicking on the same file again in the first MediaFire link) - assuming you've installed Foobar2000 properly it should look like this:

    [​IMG]

    Now click Save (as you may want to listen to it again later). You can save it anywhere you like, give it a name, create a new folder for it, whatever, just somewhere you can easily find if and when you want to play it again. I just called mine "Berceuse1.flac" and I saved it in a folder named "Chopin, Frederic" in my music directory. The file should take a minute or two to download; if it comes up instantaneously clearly something's wrong, and if you can't play it you'll need to delete it and start again.

    Now open the folder where you've saved your FLAC, double click on the FLAC, and voila! All being well, it should play in Foobar2000.

    For the next file, go back to the original MediaFire link (it should still be open - it's titled "Free Cloud Storage - MediaFire") and click on 2.flac. Another download window will come up - again, click on the green download bar, and click on Save when the File Download box comes up. This time the file should automatically go in whatever folder/directory you saved the first FLAC in. Rename the file, or do nothing and then click save.

    Now rinse and repeat for the next 8 files...:)

    A final tip - after checking the first file has downloaded OK, you don't have to wait till each one has finished before downloading the next - you can just start with the next one as soon as you've saved the previous file. (You can probably download them all simultaneously, but I believe you need to upgrade and pay for an account to do that - probably not worth it unless you're certain you're going to be downloading a lot of stuff from MediaFire regularly.) In the meantime you can just enjoy playing one or two of the Chopin performances whilst you download the rest - shouldn't take too long.

    Unfortunately, IIRC Foobar2000 doesn't work on Macs, so you'll just to have to use the second link George provided if you don't have a PC, or find some other kind of freeware to play them (I can't help you there).

    Hope this all helps!
     
  6. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    well I have to report this. I spent an hour trying to download the first set of files and only got half of them. So I went to the second set. that took 10 minutes. Unfortunately I cant do anything with the files. Cant open them, cant delete them, they are inert and stuck on my desk top. I gotta walk away from this one. No more downlods for me.
     
  7. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    That's unfortunate; only the second one was problematic for me (took me several attempts to download). What computer are you using?
     
  8. canzld

    canzld Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    no issues getting the first set here either - good and fast - didn't try the second
     
  9. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    You mean what computer am I pounding on furiously? It's an HP notebook.



    with teeth marks
     
  10. dale 88

    dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

    Location:
    west of sun valley
    I didn't have any difficulty in downloading the files. Using Firefox on a Windows XP machine, I was able to get each file individually with 4 clicks, plus the download time for each file.

    Like drh, I have WinAmp which recognizes FLAC. And Firefox gave me the choice of either listening direct thru WinAmp or downloading and saving it. I saved them to my desktop for the ease of comparing. For example, now clicking number 4.flac on my desktop will automatically open WinAmp and start playing.
     
  11. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I just checked the previous thread to see if my file sizes were significantly larger than drh's. I found that they are actually significantly smaller. To test the links, I tried downloading the 10 flac files and was able to do so in less than 5 minutes. (I have basic broadband internet service through Road Runner.) I then downloaded the 10 MP3 sample link. It took under 4 minutes to download.

    To try and make this comparison as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, I have uploaded the files to a site called 4Shared that allows folks to listen to files without downloading. Each of them can be heard directly via these links:

    #1 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/K__8oiaX/1_online.html

    #2 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/DST3Y3oQ/2_online.html

    #3 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/x3RlB3tK/3_online.html

    #4 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/Gv30Akou/4_online.html

    #5 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/3PVTLu82/5_online.html

    #6 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/qFvcjIXp/6_online.html

    #7 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/zIjFsViI/7_online.html

    #8 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/-qzNwZkJ/8_online.html

    #9 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/1nxVa3SD/9_online.html

    #10 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/T7Ux23gR/10_online.html
     
  12. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
  13. canzld

    canzld Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Yes, just a few minutes here too.
    Now -I shall be very disappointed if Guiomar Novaes isn't in here somewhere :D
     
  14. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    I am glad everyone else is having an easy time of it. Tried again today and ran into the same problems.
     
  15. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Hi Scott. :wave: Have you tried all three options?

    I have uploaded:

    1. All files in FLAC (download here http://www.mediafire.com/?kw32k40nmc78z)

    2. All files in MP3 (download here http://www.mediafire.com/?2nzezcg4g9f28ej )

    3. All files in MP3 to listen to directly: (no download needed)

    #1 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/K__8oiaX/1_online.html
    #2 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/DST3Y3oQ/2_online.html
    #3 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/x3RlB3tK/3_online.html
    #4 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/Gv30Akou/4_online.html
    #5 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/3PVTLu82/5_online.html
    #6 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/qFvcjIXp/6_online.html
    #7 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/zIjFsViI/7_online.html
    #8 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/-qzNwZkJ/8_online.html
    #9 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/1nxVa3SD/9_online.html
    #10 - http://www.4shared.com/mp3/T7Ux23gR/10_online.html
     
  16. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    I had tried all three. I tried all three again today and it looks like option 3 will work now. Thanks for all the efforts. Glad I can participate.




    I hate computers
     
  17. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Well, I hope John S (if he revisits this thread) will be able to participate.

    It's good to have all those options, but I maintain that if you have some decent computer speakers it's worthwhile being able to hear the performances in the best quality possible - makes you better placed to judge the interpretations in the fairest way. But of course, a really good performance can shine through even the lossiest MP3, and FLACs alone don't improve old recordings.
     
  18. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Me too.
     
  19. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    I found the files a bit fussy to download, but I often have minor hitches when I access Mediafire. Nothing insurmountable, and other services that I've tried have been worse. (I'm convinced they all inflict at least a little pain on the "free" users in an effort to encourage purchase of upgraded memberships.)

    Again, my apologies if I inadvertently headed us off into the rough when I put the files for the preceding thread into FLAC; as I noted there, I have always downloaded the files and didn't realize it was even possible to play them without doing so. I have a computer hitched to my main system, so my "computer speakers" are actually my main stereo speakers. I do know that the few times I've worked with .mp3s I found them rather "washed out," and so when we had a complaint about them (from someone, of course, who then proceeded not to participate again once his issue had been addressed), I was quite ready to try something else.

    Incidentally, I chose FLAC in hopes of easing matters for other participants; for my own files, I generally use Monkey's Audio (.ape) lossless instead.
     
  20. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    So, yes, I suppose you could say that I go .ape over my music...
     
  21. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    :laugh:

    BTW, your turn in this series impressed me so much that I really dug deep for my turn. I hope you enjoy my choices.
     
  22. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Really, George, if you give me any more of a swelled head I'll no longer be able to fit into any of my hats! I'm looking forward to reviewing your choices as soon as I can get the requisite expanse of unbroken time. (That would be now, but I'm in the midst of a skating music cut that a friend hired me to do. Somehow need to get two more minutes out....) I know that it will be an unalloyed pleasure!

    I guess as long as we're on the subject of turns, it might not be a bad idea to think ahead a bit about who will be next. Anybody care to take the torch?

    One other thought: Scott gave us a heads up about what he wants to do down the pike. To keep all such lists together, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to collect them in a separate thread. Even if it sinks down 20 or 30 pages between updates, anyone interested could find it with forum search if we include some easily distinguishing term.
     
  23. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    First, thanks to Tangledupinblue for the tutorial on dealing with flac files (post #5 this thread). I will try following the advice therein soon.

    Meanwhile thanks to George and the MP3 site 4shared, I can now easily hear the selections at hand. I had to regester at the site, but that's OK.

    I have been through the field once, and I intend to listen to them at least one more time before voting. And yes, Berceuse is a lovely piece -- difficult, too.
     
  24. George P

    George P Way Down Now Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Glad you like it and glad you stopped by again, Joihn! :wave:
     
  25. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    That's the problem, when George picks the 10 best out of dozens, it'll be tough going for people like me to rank them. I've listened to them a second time, and while there's one I'm not crazy about, it's going to be very difficult for me to rank the rest. The more notes I take, the more uncertain I am.
     
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