Kimber Kable Fry Street Quartet 2 Disc SACD/CD

Classical Music Like You've Never Heard it Before

The egg-shaped baffles used in Kimber Kable's patented IsoMike recording system may look strange. But the result is a degree of naturalism you won’t find with other recording methods.

And what better genre is there to show off natural instrument timbres to their fullest than on classical music selections by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Rorem, and Scearce. These are sensitively and excitingly interpreted by the Millennium Grand Prize-winning Fry Street Quartet. This hybrid disc two-disc set plays in CD stereo, SACD stereo, and SACD multichannel formats.

The Fry Street Quartet

Winners of the Millennium Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the First Prize at the Yellow Springs Competition, and prizewinners at the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the FSQ performs nationally and internationally.

At Isaac Sterns invitation the quartet made their 2001 Carnegie Hall debut in a performance that spoke of precision, preparation, excitement, profound heritage, and ultimate satisfaction (New York Concert Review). Their performance earlier that season at the 92nd Street Y was hailed by the New York Times as a triumph of ensemble playing.

The FSQ made their European debut with a concert tour of the Balkans sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the U. S. State Department. In 2002, the Fry Street Quartet was appointed the Faculty Quartet in Residence at Utah State Universitys Caine School of the Arts.

Innovative IsoMike Technology

IsoMike (Isolated Microphones) is an experimental acoustic baffle system, to address the interference of intrachannel sounds that results in compromised fidelity. For these 4-channel recordings, the microphones were suspended on four arms, separated by IsoMike baffles.

Most baffles absorb sound from mid- to high-range frequencies; lower frequencies are more difficult to absorb. Here, the unique shapes of the IsoMike baffles are advantageous. As lower frequencies flow around the heart- or egg-shaped baffles, they are scattered, effectively dissipating their energy.

Eliminating line-of-sight between the microphones seems to lower some fidelity robbing cancellations, this reveals a layer of extreme detail and a sense of increased sensitivity. Kimber took great care, therefore, to reduce the noise level within the auditorium during the recordings.

All recordings were made at a low enough level to assure that no clipping occurred, therefore you may need to raise your volume control more than when playing some commercially available CDs where the volume has been normalized and/or compressed. Since there is no limiting or compression the dynamic range might surprise you.

Disc 1

• Ludwig Van Beethoven, String Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, no. 5
• 1 - I. Allegro, 6:38
• 2 - II. Menuetto, 4:38
• 3 - III. Andante cantabile, 9:42
• 4 - IV. Allegro, 6:05
• String Quartet in A Major, Op. 132
• 5 - I. Assai sostenuto—Allegro, 9:06
• 6 - II. Allegro ma non tanto, 8:41
• 7 - III. Molto adagio, 16:37
• 8 - IV. Alla Marica, 2:09
• 9 - IV. Allegro appassionato, 6:26

• Igor Stravinsky, Three Pieces for String Quartet
• 1 - I. 0:51
• 2 - II. 2:01
• 3 - III. 3:37
• Tned Rorem, String Quartet no. 4
• 4 - I. Minotaur, 2:43
• 5 - II. Child Holding a Dove, 1:29
• 6 - III. Acrobat on a Ball, 2:17
• 7 - IV. Still Life, 3:36
• 8 - V. Seated Harlequin, 1:31
• 9 - VI. Head of a Boy, 0:53
• 10 - VII. Basket of Flowers, 4:04
• 11 - VIII. Self Portrait, 5:12
• 12 - IX. Three Nudes, 1:22
• 13 - X. Death of Harlequin, 3:26
• Mark Scearce,String Quartet 1° (y2k)
• 14 - I. 4:43
• 15 - II. 6:45
• 16 - III. 4:27
• 17 - IV. 7:06