American Dreams.

Having received quite a few transcriptions to review over the past few months, I am flush with recordings to report on. So, rather than deal with just a few of them in depth, I am offering brief reports on a larger number than usual. However, just because the reviews below are short does not mean that the recordings are not long on quality. They are terrific items that would get longer reviews if I had the space to do things that way.

American Dreams. Works by Bernstein, Copland, William Schuman, and others. Cincinnati Wind Symphony, conducted by Eugene Corporon. Recorded in 1992, in Corbett Auditorium, Cincinnati. Engineer: Bruce Leek. 65+ minutes. Klavier 11048. This recording has the kind of bright, forward sound that you might get in a rather lively hall, at least when occupying the forward-row seating positions. The soundstage is suitably wide, and the imaging is superior to what you would typically experience if you sat further back into the hall. The program material is often very dynamic, and the detail and clarity are second to none.

This release was loved by every surround-sound program manipulation I tried. Each hall simulation available from my DSP-A1 Yamaha processor (as well as from an RX-V3000 receiver I had on hand to review) was quite good, as was both the Yamaha Classical/Opera mode and standard Dolby Pro Logic decoding, provided the center level was backed off -3 dB with the latter two surround functions. All DSP modes tended to move the listener further back into the hall. This is a superb recording (both technically and in terms of performance aesthetics) that is demo grade in every way that matters. --HF