Stravinsky: Conducted by Robert Mandell - Ars Nova
Respighi : Robert Zeller conducts the Vienna State Opera Orchestra
"The Stravinsky CD appears to be a recording following up on a 1957 Carnegie Hall performance by Ars Nova, led by Robert Mandell, featuring Stanley Drucker on clarinet and Herbert Sorkin on violin. (I am told this information accompanies the CD now.) The recording was made on and transferred from a Westminster Sonotape 2-track. (The Respighi work that accompanies it is from a Westminster 4-track tape.) The sound is spectacular—this CD could easily become anyone's Demonstration Disc it is so clear and bursting with individual instrumental timbres. If the performance weren't so compelling—it captures this characteristic Stravinsky work extremely well (blessedly without the narration which frequently accompanies it)—the verisimilitude of the recording might even be distracting!" Bob Neill Positive Feedback Online
"This has to be one of the most amazingly "present" recordings ever made of a seven-person chamber ensemble. The original was a Westminster stereo recording made in the early 1950s and issued on a Sonotape two-track open reel tape in the mid-1950s" "I have never heard a xrcd that sounded as good as this HDTT disc!" John Sunier Audiophile Audition
I am very enthusiastic about this initiative to revive old recordings. Like preserving old buildings, once they're gone, they're gone forever, so anyone who puts as much effort into restoring and releasing such unique treasures - warts and all - has to be applauded. These productions have an attractive handmade quality, though listings of movements and timings would be useful. I would challenge one arguable claim: '...your CD or DVD-A was individually 'burned' in order to realize superior sound quality to stamped, mass-produced versions...' Is this true? I'm no expert, but I would have thought differences in encoding and error-correction rates might have an effect, but not the technique used for storing the data. No matter, I've enjoyed this L'Histoire du Soldat greatly, and will no doubt be pointing it out as a reference in future. Dominy Clements Music Web Inernational
Now, about the sound, particularly in L'Histoire du Soldat. When you listen to music recorded as well as this is, you probably don't figure its engineers recorded it over half a century ago. But HDTT transferred the music to HQCD from a 2-track Westminster Sonotape originally made in 1956. Yes, 1956. It makes a person wonder if there have been any significant advances in sound reproduction in the last fifty years, digital 5.1 this or lossless 7.1 that notwithstanding. But back in 1956 the home-stereo industry was in its infancy, and audio engineers were doing their best to capture everything the new medium had to offer. As things went on, record companies would begin cutting corners, using far more microphones, limiting the dynamic range and frequency extremes, and editing the final sound of their recordings after the fact on mixing consoles. What a joy to go back to a sound that actually approximates a live occasion in every way. John Puccio Classical Candor
Compact Disc Burned on a Gold CD-R
HQCD (High Quality Compact Disc) Playable on all compact disc players
24bit 96khz Resolution DVD Playable on all DVD players
24bit 96khz Resolution Flac Downloads Playable through most media players
24bit 192khz Resolution Flac Downloads Playable through most media players
