The loudest piece of classical music that I ever heard live was Respighi’s Pines of Rome at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. The final movement representing a triumphant Roman Army marching into Rome gets louder and louder as the army approaches, then it gets louder and just when it can’t get any louder the organ is fully unleashed with all baffles open. At the end it felt as if you were being pinned into your seat and after it finished there was a long pause before any applause and all you could hear was a collective exhale.
Mahler 2 comes a close second - the only time I have seen the violins putting their fingers in their ears (Symphony Hall again - its acoustics are superb).
Could never reproduce anything approaching those on my system.
I also remember an incredible performance of the Nielsen 4th symphony with the Scottish National Orchestra where two sets of timpanis battle it out. Never found a recording which could match that visceral experience.
“that visceral experience” is how I would describe Saint Saen’s Third Symphony. I didn’t just hear it at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall but felt it as well. My chest, my seat, the floor, everything was vibrating during the organ passages even in the slow movement. Not loud exactly but a physical effect that I didn’t realise was part of the experience.
Yeah, that piece is a really sensorily explosive experience live. I had the same experience at the Barbican in London with the LSO. The approaching army illusion is augmented by an off-stage Brass section and in the final bars, a sextet ( IIRC) of trumpeters emerged from the exits behind the audience to ‘go quadrophonic’ within the concert hall. Overwhelmingly wonderful. I’ve bought a few copies of the Pines of Rome on CD and Vinyl. Unsurprisingly, none have ever got close to that live experience. Some things just aren’t possibly reproducible in the home !
Dynamic Range can surprise. JRiver has an analyze audio feature which calculates the dynamic range for each track. I’m not saying it doesn’t hiccup, but I’ve yet to find a case where it differed by more than one decibel from the DR Database.
According to JRiver, the track I have with the largest dynamic range (21 db) is the 5th movement of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time performed by the Hebrides Ensemble on Linn.
Perhaps a more predictable choice would be the second movement of the New World Symphony. I have three versions with a dynamic range of 19 db - Giuliani/CSO, Belohlavek, Czech Symphony Orcgestra, and Davis/Concertgebouw.
In the 3 weeks since I’ve had the NAS/dB/NDX2 I’ve noticed how much better (fuller, richer, involving) music from the NAS is over Tidal even on my Qb in the kitchen, which means the music has travelled over the mains. However, I’ve noticed I’m turning it up more, and indeed on the NDX2 compared with the CDS3, playing Long Road Out Of Eden as I write, Henley’s voice has so much more texture and Joe’s guitar just seems to be better staged. Is this just the benefit of FLAC>WAV or the fact that the source material is set at a lower level?