New Releases

[Todd]

A prestige soundtrack.



Oh, yes, please!













A possible new series.







A Boult bonanza.

[staxomega]

Odd, Kandinsky (or follower) wouldn't be the art I'd associate with Rachmaninoff.

[vers la flamme]

Odd, Kandinsky (or follower) wouldn't be the art I'd associate with Rachmaninoff.

Perhaps that's the point, and that this is supposed to be some kind of radically "modern" re-envisioning of the music. Or just bad marketing.

[JBS]

Odd, Kandinsky (or follower) wouldn't be the art I'd associate with Rachmaninoff.

They were not quite exact contemporaries (Kandinsky was a few years older) and could plausibly have met c 1900-1914.
Kandinsky's grandson was a musicologist who wrote on Rachmaninov among other composers
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksey_Ivanovich_Kandinsky

[DaveF]

New for October:



which will finally complete the Byrd jigsaw in time for his 400th next year - assuming that David Skinner's "Byrd 1589" is ready in time (it's recorded, apparently, but not yet scheduled for release).  I like the cover, too - no doubt illustrating the song "In winter cold", about the wise ant and the foolish grasshopper.

[San Antone]

Don't know if this was already mentioned but in three days a new period instrument collection of the Mozart keyboard sonatas will be released - Robert Levin.



Amazon has two tracks to sample.  I am definitely looking forward to hearing more of it.

[LKB]

Regarding the upcoming release of the latest remastering by Decca of Solti's Ring, here's a pertinent article:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/grammy-richard-wagner-british-decca-records-covent-garden-b2159693.html

" The master tape recordings, which have been stored in the vaults of Universal Music since the recording sessions took place in Vienna in the 1950s and 60s, have been expertly processed to high-definition digital audio using cutting-edge audio technology.

Where sections of tape had deteriorated, they were been baked in a specialised oven for 10 hours at 55C to restore their integrity.

These new high-definition transfers of the 38 original master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution which allows greater detail and dynamic range than ever heard previously. "

I bit on the 2012 collectible, and haven't forgotten reading that the original master tapes had deteriorated beyond use. So if they've been miraculously resurrected, l should invite Decca to supply an excerpt and prove it.

[staxomega]

They were not quite exact contemporaries (Kandinsky was a few years older) and could plausibly have met c 1900-1914.
Kandinsky's grandson was a musicologist who wrote on Rachmaninov among other composers
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksey_Ivanovich_Kandinsky

They may have been contemporaries by years they were alive, but Rachamninoff was an old soul with the music he was composing. He would have been long forgotten about if his works weren't so bloody good. Kandinsky was a radical.

Regarding the upcoming release of the latest remastering by Decca of Solti's Ring, here's a pertinent article:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/grammy-richard-wagner-british-decca-records-covent-garden-b2159693.html

" The master tape recordings, which have been stored in the vaults of Universal Music since the recording sessions took place in Vienna in the 1950s and 60s, have been expertly processed to high-definition digital audio using cutting-edge audio technology.

Where sections of tape had deteriorated, they were been baked in a specialised oven for 10 hours at 55C to restore their integrity.

These new high-definition transfers of the 38 original master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution which allows greater detail and dynamic range than ever heard previously. "

I bit on the 2012 collectible, and haven't forgotten reading that the original master tapes had deteriorated beyond use. So if they've been miraculously resurrected, l should invite Decca to supply an excerpt and prove it.

I had the second reissue of the Esoteric box set, the sound quality was better on my late 80s/early 90s box set.

[amw]

Final volume of the series is out. I have not listened to any of these.

[Holden]

Final volume of the series is out. I have not listened to any of these.

Available on Qobuz along with another that has 23, 26 and 28. Can't see any others.

[Todd]

Available on Qobuz along with another that has 23, 26 and 28. Can't see any others.

All volumes appear available for download in the US (https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/search?q=martin+roscoe+beethoven&i=boutique), and Presto lists all of them as well.  Looks like I have another cycle to buy.

[Holden]

All volumes appear available for download in the US (https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/search?q=martin+roscoe+beethoven&i=boutique), and Presto lists all of them as well.  Looks like I have another cycle to buy.

Your URL shows them all - I wonder why Qobuz only shows two? Spotify has a third album

[Todd]

Barenboim's prior Staatskapelle Berlin cycle is my reference, so I kinda have to hear this one. 





























Christmas releases!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Regarding the upcoming release of the latest remastering by Decca of Solti's Ring, here's a pertinent article:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/grammy-richard-wagner-british-decca-records-covent-garden-b2159693.html

" The master tape recordings, which have been stored in the vaults of Universal Music since the recording sessions took place in Vienna in the 1950s and 60s, have been expertly processed to high-definition digital audio using cutting-edge audio technology.

Where sections of tape had deteriorated, they were been baked in a specialised oven for 10 hours at 55C to restore their integrity.

These new high-definition transfers of the 38 original master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution which allows greater detail and dynamic range than ever heard previously. "

I bit on the 2012 collectible, and haven't forgotten reading that the original master tapes had deteriorated beyond use. So if they've been miraculously resurrected, l should invite Decca to supply an excerpt and prove it.

Pardon, but how on earth does baking a tape at high temps for a number of hours restore its integrity?  Any idea what the theory behind this is?

PD

[Mandryka]

https://neumarecords.bandcamp.com/album/zeitgeist-john-cage-music-for-4

[aukhawk]

Pardon, but how on earth does baking a tape at high temps for a number of hours restore its integrity?  Any idea what the theory behind this is?

Its an obvious nonsense.  That article appears to simply parrot the press release, which itself didn't seem very believable.

[San Antone]

Pardon, but how on earth does baking a tape at high temps for a number of hours restore its integrity?  Any idea what the theory behind this is?

PD

It is a standard technique for restoring old tapes, at least temporarily. 

Baking Magnetic Recording Tape

Over time, magnetic recording tape becomes unplayable because the binder used to adhere the magnetic material to the backing or a chemical added to the binder becomes unstable. Tapes in this condition will leave a gooey residue on the tape transport. This residue is comprised mostly of the magnetic material, and playing a tape in this condition will destroy the recording without accurately playing the recorded audio.

There are many individual recipes for baking tapes. For the most part, they are all similar in their process in that they are used to dry the tape at low heat. Once a tape has been baked, it should be dubbed within 24 hours. In most cases it is possible to re-bake a tape as necessary to retrieve the audio, but this should not be a substitute for copying the material, preferably to a digital format that will preserve the audio in its highest possible quality.

[Mandryka]

Good transfer IMO - of the Debussy preludes - dynamic range and tone. Lots of noise of course. But this is the one to go to I think, this is the transfer to use.

[LKB]

It is a standard technique for restoring old tapes, at least temporarily. 

Baking Magnetic Recording Tape

Over time, magnetic recording tape becomes unplayable because the binder used to adhere the magnetic material to the backing or a chemical added to the binder becomes unstable. Tapes in this condition will leave a gooey residue on the tape transport. This residue is comprised mostly of the magnetic material, and playing a tape in this condition will destroy the recording without accurately playing the recorded audio.

There are many individual recipes for baking tapes. For the most part, they are all similar in their process in that they are used to dry the tape at low heat. Once a tape has been baked, it should be dubbed within 24 hours. In most cases it is possible to re-bake a tape as necessary to retrieve the audio, but this should not be a substitute for copying the material, preferably to a digital format that will preserve the audio in its highest possible quality.

Seems to me they could have done it ten years ago, if it's been around long enough to become a standard technique.

[Spotted Horses]

Seems to me they could have done it ten years ago, if it's been around long enough to become a standard technique.

They made a high-resolution transfer 25 years ago for this set.



which, as I recall, displeased some people because they used the Cedar noise reduction system during mastering. The most recent Decca release is (I believe) based on the same transfer without the Cedar system. No need to use tapes that are falling apart when a high-resolution transfer was done an an easier stage. It's part of the remastering fetish.