David Oistrakh – Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto (1956-1958/2021)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 01:18:39 minutes | 3,16 GB
Genre: Classical | Publisher (label): Tower Records Japan – TDSA-193
クリュイタンスとの唯一の共演盤となった名盤ベートーヴェンと、フルニエとのブラームスが抜群のコンディションで復活!
最上の音質を目指し新規で本国のオリジナル・アナログ・マスターテープから192kHz/24bitでデジタル化し最新復刻。
新規解説付
3度目で最後のセッション録音となったオイストラフのベートーヴェンはクリュイタンスとの唯一の共演盤。初出以来、名盤として君臨し続けている超絶演奏です。豊かなヴァイオリンの響きと、寄り添うオケの絶妙な間合いは聴きものです。ブラームスの二重協奏曲は4つある録音のうち3度目の音源で、後のセルとの盤と比較しても引けを取らない程の演奏。フルニエとの室内楽的なまでの内面的な演奏が特徴の名演です。本国のオリジナル・アナログ・マスターテープから192kHz/24bitでデジタル化したマスターを用い、SACD層、CD層別々にマスタリング。新規解説付。永久保存盤です。
オイストラフのベートーヴェンはクリュイタンスとの唯一のセッション録音での共演盤としても知られた音源で、初出以来、名盤として君臨し続けている超絶演奏です。豊かなヴァイオリンの響きと、クリュイタンス率いるフランス国立放送管弦楽団との絶妙な間合いも含め、この曲を代表する演奏のひとつと言えるでしょう。オイストラフはこの録音の約1年半後には同じ場所で、同じオーケストラとブラームスのヴァイオリン協奏曲をクレンペラーと収録しますが(TDSA108として2019年にこの企画で発売済)、そちらとの聴き比べも必聴です。カップリングにはブラームスの二重協奏曲を収録しました。4つある録音のうち3度目の音源で、後の有名なセルとの盤(チェロはロストロポーヴィチ)と比較しても引けを取らない程の演奏です。ステレオ音源が残されていながらもこれまであまりクローズアップされたことがありませんでしたが、フルニエとの室内楽的なまでの内面的な演奏が特徴のこちらの演奏も、ベートーヴェンに劣らない名演です。むしろオイストラフらしい凛とした表現や繊細さをも随所に感じさせる演奏ではないでしょうか。
音質的には今回、本国にあるオリジナルの2Chのアナログ・マスターテープから、従来を超える192kHz/24bitでデジタル化を行ったフラットマスターを使用し最新でマスタリングを行いました。そのためか、今回の音質は緻密さと幅広いレンジ感、近接感をより獲得しており、リアルになった音質で最上の演奏をお楽しみいただけます。一部にはノイズ等も散見されますが、今回もオリジナルを尊重し、バランスを含め、あくまで最小限の範囲で音楽的なマスタリングを目指しました。尚、解説書には檜山乃武氏による新規文章を掲載しています。
このシリーズでは、SACD層では伸びのある高域と柔らかなニュアンスと共に高い解像度と豊かな音場を、CD層はまとまったしっかりとした音と共に押し出される実在感ある音色を目指しています。CD自体のポテンシャルも高く、むしろ両方の良さを堪能できるSACDハイブリッド盤としてもお楽しみください。今回のDefinition Series第36弾は、計3タイトルを発売いたします。
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy – Elgar: Symphony No. 2 (2009) [Japan]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 55:06 minutes | Basic Scans included | 1,51 GB
or DSD64 2.0 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Basic Scans included | 1,37 GB
or FLAC Stereo (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Basic Scans included | 1,14 GB
Far less frequently performed and recorded than the darker First Symphony, Edward Elgar’s Second Symphony in E flat major is a work written on an exceptionally grand scale. Elgar scored the symphony for an extended triple woodwind section, extra percussion, and even two harps. The first movement is filled with quintessential English pomp. This may be in part responsible for the unfavorable reactions that some have on first listening to this symphony. Beyond the first movement, however, Elgar’s gifts shine through with a marvelously lyrical, somber slow movement; a nimble, rhythmically sophisticated third movement rondo; and a boisterous but not pompous finale. Vladimir Ashkenazy, who was appointed principal conductor of the Sydney Symphony in 2009, puts his orchestra through its paces in this vibrant Exton album. Presented on a hybrid SACD, listeners enjoying Ashkenazy’s performance, enveloping sound filled with subtle detail and nuance, broad dynamic scope, and clear balance within the massive orchestra. Ashkenazy plays down the symphony’s moments of stuffiness and accentuates the work’s lyricism, harmonic richness, and abundance of colors achieved. The Sydney Orchestra rises to the occasion both technically and musically, providing listeners with an ideal recorded choice for this often overlooked symphony.
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Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy – Elgar: Symphony No. 1 (2009) [Japan]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 52:20 minutes | Basic Scans included | 1,43 GB
or DSD64 2.0 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Basic Scans included | 1,3 GB
or FLAC 2.0 (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Basic Scans included | 1,08 GB
Vladimir Ashkenazy, who was appointed principal conductor of the Sydney Symphony in 2009, puts his orchestra through its paces in this vibrant Exton album. The first volume of Edward Elgar’s series features the Symphony No. 1, one of the composer’s two completed symphonies, which enjoyed enormous success after its premiere and has been beloved ever since.
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Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy – Elgar: Enigma Variations & In The South (2009) [Japan]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 51:33 minutes | Basic Scans included | 1,46 GB
or DSD64 2.0 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Basic Scans included | 1,34 GB
or FLAC 2.0 (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Basic Scans included | 1,08 GB
Vladimir Ashkenazy, who was appointed principal conductor of the Sydney Symphony in 2009, puts his orchestra through its paces in this vibrant Exton album. This third volume of Edward Elgar’s series features Enigma Variations & In The South overture. The people at Exton, a Japanese audiophile label, have once again produced an impressive recording with plenty of headroom. The imaging is so natural that you can almost visualize the space between the instruments, but yet the orchestral sound is rich and full of impact. The strings shimmer in the high notes, and the bass drums, rather than being heard, are felt like distant thunder. Highly recommended.
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The Conga Kings – Jazz Descargas (2001)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 73:49 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 4,28 GB
or DSD64 2.0 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Front/Rear Covers | 2,2 GB
or FLAC Stereo (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 1,6 GB
Features Stereo and Quadrophonic Surround Sound | Label: Chesky Records # SACD 224
The Conga Kings are back with their second Chesky Records release to prove that these master congueros have more rhythmic tales to tell. Featuring Candido Camero, Carlos “Patato” Valdes and Giovanni Hidalgo, Jazz Descargas is a spontaneous celebration of modern rhythm and melody, a joyous colloquium of jazz and Afro-Cuban sounds by the likes of Machito, Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente. Historically, musically and conceptually, this rhythmic dream team is creating the genuine article. The Conga Kings are joined on Jazz Descargas by special guests Phil Woods, Mario Rivera, Chocolate and Jimmy Bosch.
On many levels, The Conga Kings’ Jazz Descargas is authentic Afro-Cuban jazz. For starters, Carlos “Patato” Valdes and Candido Camero have been Afro-Cuban music pioneers for decades. Patato is recognized as one of the first to tune his congas to a song’s dominant chord, which contributes harmony to the song’s melody as well as to the rhythm of a song (noteworthy because there is no piano, and therefore plenty of melodic space, on Jazz Descargas ), and has played with Art Blakey and Dizzy Gillespie. Camero has contributed Latin punctuation to groove sessions by Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, and even Tony Bennett (on the unique The Beat of My Heart, which featured the singer against a backdrop consisting of only percussion with the occasional wind instrument). Partnered with Giovanni Hidalgo, an alumnus of Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra, the combined influence of these three congueros on Latin Jazz has been profound. These three really could be The Conga Kings.
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The 52nd Street Blues Project – Blues & Grass (2004)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 & DST64 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 49:40 minutes | Scans included | 2,84 GB
or DSD64 2.0 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 1,19 GB
or FLAC Stereo (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,01 GB
Features Stereo & Quadrophonic Surround Sound | Chesky Records # SACD 286
This collaborative effort between Queen Esther, Charlie Burnham, Mark Peterson, Aubrey Dayle and guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer reflects a singular, down-home vision of the blues and backwoods roots music. Blues & Grass is less about jamming and instrumentalists and more about chant and incantation, about old-time spirituals and story-telling.
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Maurizio Pollini – Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 28 & 29 (1977) [Japan 2015]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 63:09 min | Scans NOT included | 1,65 GB
or DSD64 2.0 (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Scans NOT included | 1,5 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Scans NOT included | 1,27 GB
Deutsche Grammmophon / Esoteric Company, Japan # ESSG-90128
Because Beethoven’s late piano sonatas are universally revered, performances of these works often invite passionate disagreements about the proper way to interpret them. Such was the case with Maurizio Pollini’s recordings (1975-1977), and the controversy surrounding them has never fully abated. While these performances are polished to an extent seldom realized on other recordings, it was this pristine quality itself that invited criticism. Pollini was alleged to have objectified the music and detached himself emotionally from his performances, leaving only cold, analytical readings without a trace of feeling. In defense, it should be pointed out that many previous performances were overly burdened with Romantic interpretations and pretensions, and that Pollini performed a great service by presenting the sonatas in as accurate and clean a manner as possible, without grandiose effects. His performances are astonishingly lucid and flowing, especially in the many contrapuntal passages that regularly appear as features of these works.
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Hideaki Yoshioka Trio – Moment To Moment (2000) [Japan 2018]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 48:55 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 1,44 GB
or DSD64 2.0 (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Front/Rear Covers | 1,29 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/48 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 590 MB
Funky jazz pianist Yoshioka Hideaki’s long-awaited first East Coast recording. Hideaki plays with Jamir Nasser and Jimmy Cobb who he was eager to co-star most. Includes “Don’t Take Your Love From Me”, “Blowin’ The Blues Away”, “Some One To Light Up My Life”, “Harlem Blues” and “Moment To Moment”, plus two Yoshioka originals. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio.
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Enigma – MCMXC A.D. (1990) [Reissue 2016]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 40:15 minutes | Scans included | 1,07 GB
or DSD64 2.0 (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 963 MB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/44,1 kHz | Full Scans included | 452 MB
MCMXC a.D. is the first studio album by the German music project Enigma, headed by Romanian-German musician Michael Cretu. It was released on 10 December 1990 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom, and on 28 January 1991 by Charisma Records in the United States. Before he founded Enigma, Cretu had released several solo records, collaborated with various artists, and produced albums for his then wife, German pop singer Sandra. Following their marriage in 1988, Cretu developed an idea for a New-age music project and recorded MCMXC a.D. in eight months at A.R.T. Studios, his home studio in Ibiza, Spain. It is one of the first albums recorded onto a hard disk. Cretu makes extensive use of Gregorian chants, dance beats, and flute sounds.
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Dadawa – Sister Drum (1995) [Reissue 2014]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 43:47 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 851 MB
or DSD64 2.0 (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Front/Rear Covers | 1,16 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/48 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 487 MB
Sister Drum is the second studio album by Chinese singer Dadawa, which is heavily influenced by the music of Tibet. The album is notable for being the first Asian album to ship over one million copies in China. In traditional Tibetan culture, Sister Drum, whose drumhead is made out of a pure girl’s skin, was used for honoring the god. This behavior has now been prohibited in modern Tibet. This studio ‘Sister Drum’ is based on this cruel context. Only the skin of a pure girl could be chosen to make the drumhead. To prevent them from disturbing in the real world, those girls are better mutes. If it is necessary, sometimes their tongues would be cut out.
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Hidefumi Toki Quartet – Toki (1975) [Japan 2006]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 41:15 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 1,66 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 945 MB
Hidefumi Toki is one of the prominent alto saxophonists in Japan. Born in 1950, he had formal and classical musical education on clarinet in high school and saxophone in college. Although he eventually quit school to become a full-time jazz musician, some say that his classical training helped him acquire his beautiful tone. Recorded in 1975 for Three Blind Mice, this debut album featured his superb regular group at the time, a pianoless quartet including the incredible Kazumi Watanabe on guitar, Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and an American expat Steve Jackson on drums.
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Hui Fen Min, Blue Pipa Ensemble, Xiao Fen Min – The Gossamer Song (2004)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 62:05 minutes | Front, Scans NOT included | 3,69 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | 61:44 m | Scans NOT included | 1,3 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | First Impressions Music # FIM SACD 063
Madam Hui Fen Min is regarded as the most esteemed master of Erhu artistry in China. Over the years, Hui Fen Min has made many recordings for quite a few labels in China. In 2001, FIM had the privilege of producing her masterful album – River Of Sorrow. It has enjoyed numerous accolades and awards worldwide and is also one of the most successful and reputed titles hitherto in the FIM catalog. The pieces selected emerged as beautifully poetic and very much a reflection of Madam Min’s supreme artistry, especially the theme piece, “The Gossamer Song”. This piece is a palatial dance portraying the old myth of the love between a hero and the Moon’s Fairy. The celestial melody brings about a truly heavenly sensation to the listener.
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Hidehiko Matsumoto Quartet – Sleepy (1976) [Japan 2006]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 43:31 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 1,76 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 975 MB
Winner of Swing Journal 2007 Best Engineering Award (in Reissue category)
Hidehiko “Sleepy” Matsumoto was one of the best jazz sax players in Japan. His nickname was given by an American soldier when he was playing in a US military camp after the war. A true giant on tenor and flute, his contributions to the jazz industry of Japan were many and recognized by many awards and honors.
This record, made in 1976 in a one-horn quartet setting, showcases Matsumoto’s brilliant playing on both tenor saxophone and flute. He is a true master of both instruments and it is a great pleasure to hear him beautifully recorded by the people of Three Blind Mice label. A masterpiece, with great sound.
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Hideto Kanai Quintet – Concierto De Aranjuez (1978) [Japan 2006]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 39:09 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 1,58 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 876 MB
Bassist Hideto Kanai has been leading the progressive jazz scene in Japan since the 1960s (see Masayuki Takayanagi’s Ginparis Session), and this 1978 recording is considered as one of his major achievements. Kanai’s regular group, consisting of three young Japanese musicians and an American expat drummer Michael Reznikoff, recorded four long numbers – ranging from six to 13 minutes each – within just six hours. “Mr. Gabe” and “Silk Road” are original compositions by Kanai. The searching and experimental quality of their performance clearly shows that they have gone through the free jazz movement, but it is not totally atonal nor without structure.
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