Every so often – not as often as one would wish – an awesome performance of a masterwork is performed by a rare and extraordinary talent that completely blows away everything that went before. Such rare occurrences can be counted on ones fingers – the two stunning interpretations of ‘The four seasons’ – one performed by Nigel Kennedy – the other by Jacques Lousier; The Royal Ballet’s 2014 visionary performance of ‘Don Quixote’ as realised and choreographed by Carlos Acosta and danced by Marianela Nunez and Carlos Acosta (available on BluRay); and Itzack Perlman’s performance of Sarasati being perfect examples of what I mean.
THIS CD contains just such performances!
When one watches an opera or ballet, or listens to a performance of a masterwork, one requires TWO things to be in place – a moving interpretation of the masterwork one wishes to savour and relish in its splendour and magnificence, and SONIC FIDELITY to capture ALL of the nuances and dynamics that the performers deliver at the flick of a baton. THIS CD delivers BOTH in SPADES!
Recorded in August 1986 on the finest recording media of the day, here we have a stunning partnership of the American conductor Laurence Leighton and the Russian conductor Dmitri Kitayenco – both conducting The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra - creating beautifully expressive and very moving interpretations of the music of Shostakovich (The Festival); Copland (Appellation Spring – which includes ‘The gift to be simple’); Gershwin (Lullaby for string quartet); Griffes (The White Peacock tone poem); Glazunov (Valse in D); and Ives (The Unanswered Question) as they take you on a deeply moving spiritual journey where East meets West.
BE WARNED – THIS CD DELIVERS!!! Not only are the performances delivered with exceptional beauty and feeling, so too is the AUDIO! Unlike most CD recordings and ALL digital media players, THIS CD performance is NOT COMPRESSED in any way whatsoever. The chief sound engineer has captured the FULL dynamic range of the orchestra, and its like ‘being there’.
What this means is that the LOUD parts may WELL overwhelm your sound system so initially KEEP THE VOLUME DOWN TO AVOID DAMAGING YOUR EQUIPMENT and then steadily seek out the volume level at a level that your equipment is capable of handling the signal without distortion, or sending the cones of your speakers across the room to land on your lap.
If you wish to savour the full rich sound that this amazing CD contains then purchase a VALVE AMPLIFIER such as the MISTRAL 307A (Bluetooth) valve amplifier (Available form Amazon for around £250 – or for £100 more you can get the Mistral Valve tube 307a amplifier with a £300 pair of Mistral 307s loudspeakers included) or the Marriola RV-100 (a ‘stupid-money’ bargain from Amazon at around £160 that wipes the floor with everything else in this price bracket).