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Ann and I just finished listening to the Reiner/CSO performance of Scheherazade (RCA Living Stereo, 1960) and we were entranced once again by just how great a performance this is. Since our transition to digital-only listening, I have missed being able to listen to this performance in really superior sound quality. Our standard from our... Read More »

Symmetria Pario: Creation, Pekka Kuusisto, violin, Joonas Ahonen, piano. Yarlung Records 2023 Pure DSD256 HERE When you take contemporary compositions from nine different composers (six of which were commissioned for your recital), and you add the brilliant artistry of Pekka Kuusisto and Joonas Ahonen, and you record it in a world class, acoustically magnificent music hall... Read More »

With La Petite Bande's 50th anniversary in 2022, Challenge Records celebrated with the release of a nine CD box set, which you may have seen. All nice, but that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about something even more wonderful: the release of the original DXD recording resolution files! (HERE) From... Read More »

This transfer in Pure DSD256 directly from the original Desmar master tapes recorded by the great Bob Auger is hugely impressive. So clean, open, detailed and dynamic. Just beyond excellent! And the performance is one of the most compelling, most thoroughly convincing, performances of this symphony among the six alternate recordings I have in my... Read More »

In this edition of Notes on Recent Finds, I offer you a diverse set of albums I've been enjoying and replaying frequently. There is no theme to this assemblage other than I like them, I think they are all very nicely performed and recorded, and I find the music they contain most engaging. I hope... Read More »

With this release of the Third Piano Concerto, Anna Fedorova's wonderous traversal of the four Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos reaches a triumphant conclusion. It is a scintillating, powerful, gorgeously emotional performance. Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, Youth Symphony, and Valentin Silvestrov's The Messenger.  Anna Fedorova, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Modestas Pitrenas conducting. Channel Classics 2023 (DXD) HERE... Read More »

Ah, and THIS is how it's done, my friends. A completely scrumptious new release from the queen of the Baroque violin, Rachel Podger. In partnership with keyboardist Kristian Bezuidenhout, Rachel gives to us a bit over an hour of completely entrancing music by the often underestimated Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788), fifth child... Read More »

You may have seen that NativeDSD recently decided to expand its catalog offerings to now offer albums originally recorded in PCM 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, and 192kHz rates in addition to the DSD/DXD recordings they have always featured. See the announcement HERE. So, after a month under the new policy, I've been watching to see what... Read More »

Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfer (HDTT) has long been known for its excellent transfers from analog reel-to-reel tape. Both Dr. David and I have written many articles about Bob's very fine digital releases of vintage classical and jazz recordings, many of which sound better than the digital reissues from the major labels.  And now... Read More »

Recording label 2L and its well-respected producer and recording engineer Morten Lindberg are known for their surround-sound recordings, with multiple GRAMMY Awards and Nominations. If you have multichannel playback capability, and if music in the round is your thing, 2L's recordings are some of the best recordings in that style. I listen only to stereo... Read More »

The Norwegian classical music label, Lawo Classics, makes recordings I've come to quite enjoy. They find outstanding musicians and make recordings of exquisite sound quality. As I've been exploring their catalog (over 240 titles since 2008), I'm finding a deep treasure of wonderful performances in excellent DXD recorded sound quality. I'm always delighted to see... Read More »

Sasha Matson is an interesting contemporary American composer. Some may recall my earlier review of his jazz opera, Cooperstown (HERE). Jazz opera? Well, indeed yes. And I'd really enjoyed this funky take on opera with a contemporary jazz setting, and featuring baseball no less! Recently, our Positive Feedback world headquarters got a call: "Would we... Read More »

Saint-Saëns, Symphony No. 3 "Organ Symphony," Paul Paray, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with Marcel Dupre organ. 1957, 2023 (DXD DSD256) HERE Paul Paray's 1957 performance of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony is another of the great recordings in the Mercury Living Presence catalog. Its release by HDTT in gorgeous high resolution sonics is cause for celebration! The Mercury... Read More »

There are some artists whose music I find so compelling they force me, compel me, to stop and listen and absorb. Such is the impact of Maya Fridman—cellist, composer, singer. Born in Russia, making her home in the Netherlands, fierce advocate of support for Ukraine in this current war of Russian aggression, Maya is a... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfers (HDTT) has released the great Erich Leinsdorf recording of Die Walküre—let there be celebrations in the streets! With the greatest cast ever assembled, and led by a great Wagner conductor, this recording should have been the start of a full Ring Cycle for RCA. Unfortunately, it was not. By the time... Read More »

This episode provides a potpourri of musical gems that I thought worth bringing to your attention. All are available from HDTT or NativeDSD or Octave Records in either DXD or DSD256. I apologize for the length of this article with well over 20 albums discussed, but publishing opportunities kept pushing this article further and further... Read More »

Over the past 40 years, Jonathan Horwich has been making very high resolution reel-to-reel tape recordings of live jazz concerts. He works out of the Chicago area, but travels quite broadly to capture these performances.  Wherever he can get permission to set up his microphones and reel-to-reel tape deck (15 or 30ips, 2-track), he's likely... Read More »

Base2 Music, located in West Sussex, UK, is a fairly new label, founded in 2017 by owner, producer and recording engineer, Jake Purches. Jake captured my attention because he's been focusing on a love of mine: well recorded organ music on some of the great organs around the world with internationally respected musicians. A fellow... Read More »

This is a brilliant new release by pianist Katelyn Bouska, recorded and mastered in Pure DSD256 by Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records. But what makes this recording truly special are the musical works selected and the stories of the composers, all women who were at the cutting edge of the contemporary music scenes in their... Read More »