I've had the immense pleasure of being able to evaluate a number of Impex Records' excellent LP releases over the last year or so, with results that have been uniformly superb. That list includes unexpectedly great albums, like Barbra Streisand's triumphal Live at the Bon Soir and the truly magnificent Al Di Meola/John McLaughlin/Paco De Lucia Saturday Night in San Francisco. Limited-edition, statement reissues of classic Impex catalog titles like their glorious 1STEP box sets of Patricia Barber's Nightclub and Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat have since followed, and the list has grown to include Warnes' equally classic The Hunter, which possessed an elevated level of cool pressed on HQ-180, crystal clear green vinyl. Surprising recent releases have featured Bud Shank's Barefoot Adventure and The Youngbloods' Elephant Mountain, both of which caught me off guard with impressive sonics and entertaining performances. But little could have prepared me for my shock upon opening the shipping box that contained Impex's latest LP reissue, violinist Jascha Heifetz's 1957 RCA Victor Red Seal chamber recital, The Lark.
At the outset, I didn't realize that The Lark consisted of a chamber music program; my mistaken impression was that it featured Jascha Heifetz playing Vaughan-Williams' classic "The Lark Ascending." And in another surprising twist, The Lark is a reissue of an RCA Victor mono era recording, which wouldn't seem to tick many boxes for prospective purchasers of LP reissues. Since the Impex catalog of albums is predominantly aimed at the audiophile market, this is less of a concern; I personally have a certain proclivity for mono recordings, and my dual-turntable setup features a vintage Rega P2 fitted with an Ortofon 2M Mono cartridge exactly for occasions such as this. For those who may not have mono-equipped turntables, there's no reason for concern; I also didn't initially realize the LP was mono, and promptly plopped it on the platter of my ProJect Classic table that's fitted with an Ortofon Quintet Bronze MC stereo cartridge. The sound quality was exemplary, regardless of my oafishness, but I simultaneously made several discoveries: 1) this most definitely wasn't "The Lark Ascending," 2) it was also definitely not an orchestral recording, and 3) I obviously need to look more closely at the album jacket! Even though I had no advance knowledge of this release, it was definitely a mono recording, which I should have seen on the album jacket. So much for my usual meticulous attention to detail!
I have all of Jascha Heifetz's concerto and orchestral repertoire, mostly on my digital music server; that said, I own surprisingly few of his chamber works and solo recitals. I really don't know why, it's just worked out that way, and prior to the arrival of The Lark, I had no knowledge of the album's existence. The Lark was repressed repeatedly in the first two decades following its release; but only three of those pressing runs (1957, 1960, and 1978) managed to avoid RCA's awful Dynagroove period; none of those LP pressings are currently available on Discogs. The Lark hasn't been readily available for almost fifty years, and has only seen one LP release since 1978; that was on a limited-availability 2018 Korean Analogphonic label pressing, which was sourced from tapes of uncertain origin. From the information I researched on Discogs, The Lark appeared to have never been released in any digital format, either as a CD or download. However, it has come to my attention that the contents of The Lark has been released on CDs that are part of complete collections of Heifetz's works released by RCA, and that the CD sounds quite good. That said, those CDs are the kind of thing that only Heifetz completists and collectors would likely have come in contact with. I've also been able to discern that The Lark is available for streaming on Qobuz (in CD quality), Apple Music (unknown file quality), Amazon Music (MP3), and Spotify (MP3); in all cases, the source used to create the digital files is of indeterminate origin.
Sony Music, who controls RCA's extensive catalog of albums, again for this release allowed for creation of a 1:1 duplicate of the master tape work parts which Impex used for this new reissue. Although using the work parts required a more extensive restoration, it was determined by everyone involved that they were superior to the other analog tapes in Sony's vaults, all of which had varying degrees of post-processing. Andreas Meyer at Swan Studios in New York was enlisted to painstakingly restore the masters—which included repairing several bad edits and tape splices—and to then make the 1:1 transfer. The fully restored tapes were sent to Bernie Grundman Mastering, where Bernie Grundman mastered the LPs and then cut new lacquers under the direction of Impex's Bob Donnelly. RTI then pressed the AAA, all-analog LPs using HQ-180 high definition vinyl.
The heavy album jacket was printed using Stoughton's classic, reverse tip-on process, which accurately and faithfully reproduces a near-perfect facsimile of the original. The album arrived encased in Impex's resealable, crystal clear vinyl outer sleeve, and the LP was inserted into a poly inner sleeve to protect it from dust accumulation and scratching. Impex's Abey Fonn was the executive producer of this reissue; Andreas Meyer served as associate producer, and Bob Donnelly and Charles L. "Chuck" Granata served as co-producers. Chuck Granata's entertaining and informative essay chronicles the original album sessions and the reissue process, and also provides his keen insight into Heifetz's creative process. The essay is reproduced on a beautiful, heavily-varnished insert that features rare photos of Heifetz during the studio sessions, along with all the pertinent technical information for the reissue. Impex Art Director Robert Sliger has upped his game with a level of graphic design perfection that adds immeasurably to the enjoyability and value of this album package! Impex has again outdone themselves; you can order a copy of The Lark from their partner Elusive Disc HERE.
Jascha Heifetz, The Lark. 180 gram Impex Records LP, $39.99 MSRP
If for no other reason, The Lark should be welcomed for presenting a program of infrequently performed repertoire that includes works virtually unknown to modern chamber music recitals. Like Tommaso Antonio Vitali's "Chaconne" as transcribed by Ottorino Respighi for violin and organ, which, prior to this Heifetz recording—and quite possibly because of the unusual pairing of instruments—had remained mostly unplayed since the 19th century. There's a certain level of scholarly debate as to whether the "Chaconne" was actually composed by or has simply been attributed to Vitali; questions also abound concerning the authenticity of Respighi's transcription as documented in the original liner notes. The work from which the album gets its name, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's "The Lark," was written for violin and piano; its appearance on this 1957 album marked the premiere recording of the piece. Heifetz was a champion of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's music, and assisted in helping the composer flee from increasingly fascist Italy to the United States in 1939. The album's centerpiece, French composer Gabriel Fauré's "Sonata No. 1, in A, Opus 13," for violin and piano, was initially unpublished following its composition in 1875. Apparently, Fauré's publisher felt there was a glut of chamber music of this sort in the late 19th century market, especially from a relatively unknown (at the time) French composer.
Recording sessions for The Lark stretched over a period of five years. Beginning with the recording of Vitali's "Chaconne" at the Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music on the campus of Pomona College in Claremont, California, on August 4, 1950. The location was chosen not only for its warm and reverberant acoustics, but also because it was home to a custom-built Moeller pipe organ, played to perfection here by organist Richard Ellsasser. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's "The Lark" was recorded on December 1, 1953 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, accompanied by pianist Emmanuel Bay. Both Jascha Heifetz and original session producer Jack Pfeiffer felt the recorded results left room for improvement, and the players reconvened at Radio Recorders a few months later on March 30 for additional recording. Finally, Fauré's "Sonata No. 1, in A, Opus 13," featuring Brooks Smith as the accompanist on piano, was recorded on December 15, 1955; that session also took place at Radio Recorders. In each of the recording sessions, Heifetz played a priceless 1742 Guarneri del Gesù "The David," which he purchased from violinist Ferdinand David in 1922. As Chuck Granata notes in his essay, "The David" was not only the most famous violin Heifetz owned, but it was also his favorite. The Lark was eventually released in 1957 on RCA Victor Red Seal, LM-2074, and the album was repressed regularly by RCA, always in the original mono. Only a 1978 repress was issued in stereo, but it was very likely electronically rechanneled from the original mono.
Listening Results
You can see the equipment from both of my systems by clicking on my name in the header. I used my all-analog system to evaluate The Lark; that setup now incorporates an excellent PS Audio Stellar phono preamp which has resulted in significantly improved sound quality during LP playback. As I mentioned above, I inadvertently first played The Lark on my stereo turntable setup before realizing my mistake and switching to the mono equipped Rega P2. But the sound through both was superb, even though my PS Audio phono preamp doesn't have a mono switch. Playback via the stereo setup at first fooled me into believing The Lark was an early stereo album, but I very quickly realized my error.
My review copy was flat and perfectly centered, and RTI's HQ-180 LP was beautifully glossy, with no surface or groove noise evident during playback. As side one began to play the opening track, Vitali's "Chaconne," I thought there was an elevated level of noise; I soon realized that what I was actually hearing was the Moeller pipe organ idling. Once I reconciled my brain with that fact, my enjoyment of this excellent album was unimpeded by any further hiccups. The sound quality was exemplary, especially for late Fifties mono; as is typical of mono recordings of this vintage, the sound projected in what I like to call "wide mono," and gave a palpable impression of realism to the performances. Jascha Heifetz and his accompanists very likely have never sounded as good as they do on this perfect reissue. Heifetz, who was in his fifties at the point of the recording, was at the height of his powers here, and he solos sublimely and effortlessly on "The David" throughout the recording. And the support provided by the three accompanists is equally superb!
This New Reissue from Impex Records Deserves Your Consideration
Chances are, like me, you've probably never heard, or even heard of this album. Especially considering that it's mostly been out of print for such a very long time, and has only seen limited availability in any digital disc format. No original LP pressings are currently listed on Discogs, nor or any that fall outside RCA's awful Dynagroove period; they very likely wouldn't sound anywhere nearly as superb as this Impex reissue does. And as I mentioned earlier, most pressings of this LP were probably sourced from one of the vault tapes that not only had audibly bad splices (that were corrected for this reissue), but also suffered from significant signal processing. Kudos to Matt Kelly and Tom Tierney for the excellent research of Sony Music's massive vault to find the best possible version of this classic for Impex's new reissue.
While the results of the improved technology is truly impressive here, the real reason you should consider getting this excellent reissue of The Lark is because Jascha Heifetz's playing throughout is almost otherworldly, and the album's program presents an opportunity for many listeners to expand their chamber music horizons significantly. While a high-end reissue of a mono classical recording seems something of a calculated risk, Abey Fonn and everyone at Impex Records should be commended for going forward with this outstanding album. As I read Chuck Granata's excellent essay, his passion for The Lark was irrepressibly obvious, and after hearing the record, I totally understood. It's not only a great album filled with magnificent performances, but an important piece of musical history as well.
The Lark is another perfectionist audiophile release from Impex Records that deserves your utmost attention. I give it my highest recommendation!
Impex Records
All photos courtesy of Impex Records and the author.
